Book Review: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum My rating: 4 of 5 stars I remember having this book read to me as a first-grader and being surprised at how different it was from the movie. Beyond that, I only had a vague recollection of the plot, so I thought it was time I …

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Book Review: Loki: Where Mischief Lies

Loki: Where Mischief Lies by Mackenzi Lee My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars The problem with writing a book about one of the most popular characters in the MCU is that every Loki fan goes into the story with high expectations of how they want their boy to be written. As a fan of the …

Tales from the Fourth Grade: Make a Joyful Noise

While my students were writing out their first book report for the quarter in cursive (my kids will have non-forgeable signatures, thanks very much), I decided to play some music to keep them motivated. Eva was enjoying my classical music and asked if we could listen to songs from Phantom of the Opera. I first …

Tales from the Fourth Grade: Sing, Sing a Song

Something had to be done. The majority of my fourth grade girls had been singing “My Favorite Things,” loudly and off-key for a good minute now. I took a deep breath and approached the throng clustered around a poetry book that contained the lyrics. My students, singers and non-singers alike, eyed me with cautious curiosity. …

Book Review: Fowl Play

DuckTales Vol. 4: Fowl Play by Alessandro Ferrari My rating: 4 of 5 stars Ducktales: Fowl Play continues the comic tie-in to the wildly popular reboot TV show. This collection seems to have a theme of "family," as various members of the McDuck and Duck tribe realize what their family means to them. These comics …

Ignoring the Elephants in the Room: A Review of Avengers Endgame

You might be aware that I am a huge MCU fan, and I wrote a rather scathing review of Infinity War which can be found here: https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/peruseandmuse.blog/657. I ended that review by saying the writers had a chance to redeem many of their issues with the introduction of time travel in Endgame, but that I …

Out on a Limerick

"I don't get what I'm supposed to do," one of my middle school boys whined. "You're writing two haiku, one about nature, the other in riddle form, and then you're writing a limerick," I reiterated my previous instructions. Because it's not teaching unless you repeat yourself 47 times during the course of an hour. "How …

What is Love?

If you've clicked this post and are of a certain age group, chances are the jaunty rhythm of the Haddaway tune is running through your head right now. Hopefully my question is more intellectually stirring than a pop song making a mournful inquiry into the steadfastness of romantic love. Though it might be less entertaining. …

Shout Outs and Just Plain Old Shouting

This blog post is not going as I had anticipated, but sometimes you have to follow your muse where it will lead you and not force it into any creative corner. Yesterday I attempted to set up a Twitter account. I say attempted because about 64% through the set up process (according to the helpful indicator), Twitter …

Sacrificing Characterization and Plot for an Ending: An Analysis of Avengers Infinity War

I have to admit something that is probably going to be unpopular: I thought Infinity War was a hot mess. I, of course, have been told--mostly by offended Marvel fans who are appalled that I dared to speak out against their Holy Bible of the MCU-- my opinion is invalid. According to them, I am …