SMHS Library

As part of The Big Read: NH Reads To Kill A Mockingbird, Mr. Moynihan’s grade-8 English class restaged the trial of Tom Robinson.  The library was the courtroom, Mr. Reed the judge, and students in the class served as the defense and prosecution teams.  Serving as jurors, several study hall students reached a verdict of innocent.

The Big Read: NH Reads To Kill a Mockingbird is a project of the Center for the Book at the NH State Library.  The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.

This month’s book choice is Walking These Halls by SMHS senior Alex Burube.  Alex authored and published the book of poetry himself as part of completing his senior project.  Walking These Halls contains forty-five original poems revolving around themes such as Life, Love, and Lounging, and Nijas, Zombies, and Slams.  While Alex is going off to college in the fall to study computer science, he definitely has an artsy side.  In a recent interview for this website profile, he talked about his interest in poetry.  Here are some excerpts:

Question: Why a book of poetry? Alex: I think people have always seen me as a poet and I saw poetry as the best way to express myself.

Question: Did you have any regrets after taking on this project? Alex: I was told that I’d probably end up hating poetry after writing this much of it and, truthfully, I did hate it after about half way through the book. I took a break, though, and then went back to it.  In the end, I finished the project with a great deal of respect for the writing process.

Question: So, you went through Lulu in order to publish it? Alex: Yes.  Mrs. Porter told me about it.  I checked it out, liked it, and then simply chose my formatting.

Question: Do you have any favorite poems? Alex: I like Small Town Girl because I think it might especially speak to kids in Sunapee.  The girl’s in a big city and she finally gets the help she needs to move on.  After that, I’d choose Reminisce, which is about an older man reflecting on life.

Walking These Halls is now available in the library.