Book Review: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

“The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.”

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is a beautifully written standalone novel about illusions, passion and one fierce competition. This competition has two opponents who have trained their entire lives for victory. The catch? Neither of them know what the challenge is or who the other person is. The book spans decades about their lives and the infamous Cirque de Reves (Circus of Dreams), the competition venue.

These two opponents in question are Marco and Celia. Both were born with extraordinary powers of magic. Both are skilled in illusions. Both are very lonely and have been isolated from the world to train with their respective masters. Both are unknowingly drawn to The Cirque de Reves that Marcos’ master insisted on creating to be a venue for ultimately display this showdown.

“Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents in an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called “Le Cirque des Reves’ ,and it is only open at night.”

Through a twist of events, Celia comes to work at Le Cirque des Reves. Here she meets Marco and they begin to fall in love. Neither of them realize who the other person is or why they are subconsciously attracted to each other.

Even though the book takes place over decades, its a quick read. Not because the book is low on content but because the content is so mesmerizing its hard to put down. At the same time, it is a book that leaves you with a lot of thoughts afterwards. “How far will we go to pursue our dreams?” and “What will we do for love” are two questions subliminally discussed throughout the book.

The book is not, as described on its back cover “A passionate love story.” Love is a concept explored in The Night Circus, but it is far from the main point. You could even go as far to say its a modern fairy tale, fit for all ages. I would recommend this book to all ages and to anyone who enjoys a novel with fantastical elements and an overall theme of mystery, misconception and magic.

By Caliesha Harris

Get ready to ride!

Student Council is once again bringing you one of the most anticipated events that almost every Husky howls for: the most engaging, spirit filled event of the year. If you’re a new Husky even you have probably heard of the great “Inside Ride”.

For those of you who may not have had your Husky ears open, fear not, for I will explain what exactly the Inside Ride is. Inside Ride is basically a party with a purpose. You and a group of 5 friends join together and fundraise to improve and enlighten the world for families and children who have to deal with cancer. The party takes place right here in our very own Hayden gyms from 12:15 to 2.  Each member of your team rides a stationary bike for 10 min while all the other members cheer and support each other. There will be music to dance to and snacks to eat. Costumes are encouraged and awards will be given out.

Will your team get the Highest Mileage medal? Or the Best Team Costume medal? Or are you full of spirit, and planning to earn the Team Spirit medals? This is the time to let out your inner husky and have a fun time with your friends, teachers and the whole school community. Last year as a school we raised over $10,000 for families and children with cancer. This year our goal is $12,000 and we need your help to fulfill it.

If you’re ready to ride all you have to do is follow these 5 easy steps:

1. Get your team of 6 people together and elect a team captain. This person will be responsible for ensuring that all team members are signed up and have all their forms ready to go prior to event day.
2. Pick up a team package anytime between Tuesday, April 20th to Thursday April 22nd at lunch  in the for’em.
3. Register your team on hayden.theinsideride.com *This step is crucial and every member of your team must register online*
4. Fundraise at least $300 as a team ($50 per person) and drop off your team package on Tuesday, May 19th. Stay tuned for more information on the location.
5. Be prepared to have fun on event day with your team costumes and spirit. This is Hayden’s party with a purpose!

So now you know what Inside Ride is and what you need to do. So what are you waiting for? Get together with a group of friends and get ready to ride!

Szabi’s Photo Collection

Szabi Nagy is a grade 11 student at Hayden who is passionate about photography. He has a gift for it – check out some of his photos, and read his captions for more information about the photos!

This photo was taken at sunset in Jamaica on my vacation there. For this shot I tried to get the water splashing up against the rocks a part of the photo as well.

This was nicest sunset I have seen, I tried to silhouette the palm tree on the left side of the photo. This photo ended up looking like something that would be on post card from Jamaica.

This photo was taken at 11pm and still ended up looking really nice because of the 30 sec shutter speed I used. The waves in the water look silky smooth and the palm tree in the bottom right looks a little blurry because it was swaying in the wind. It was also a very clear night so the stars and moon really showed through in this photo.

This photo was taken with a pixel stick which was spun around in all different directions making this awesome design.

This photo was taken at Dundas Square in Toronto. For this picture I didn’t have a tripod to do a slower shutter speed so I rested my camera on a pole on the side walk and it turned out pretty good.

This photo was taken in Toronto of graffiti . I took it from the other side of the street so thats why there are care in the photo. I like this picture because it conveys a street/city feel.

This photo was taken at the world famous Niagara Falls. I used a long shutter speed for it to make the water look silky and to brighten up the dark environment it was taken in.

Taken right beside the falls, a photo of the busy street with lots of cars passing by. I used a long shutter speed for this so that the streaks from the car lights paint the street red and white.

Another picture of the falls, once again with a long shutter speed. This one is with fireworks so it adds even more interesting aspects to the photo.

This picture was taken of the huge lights that give the falls colour at night. The lights were so strong you could see the beam with a 30 sec shutter speed.

The walking trail at Crawford lake, This is one of my favourite pictures I took there because it was taken with a 50mm lens that wasn’t mine, and I really like the depth of field it created.

This is a photo of Webster`s falls in Hamilton. It is motion blur because it was taken at a very slow shutter speed of two seconds, that is what makes the after look so silky, of course you need a tripod for taking these types of photos.

This was taken at Mountsberg Conservation area, I like this picture because of how sharp it is, you can see all the details in its eye.

To see more of Szabi’s amazing photography, check out his Flickr account. Thanks for sharing your talent with us, Szabi, and keep up the fantastic work!

Are you a talented Hayden student? Would you like to share your talent with us? Submit here: https://www.cognitoforms.com/HaydenHowl/HaydenHowlSubmissions , or email haydenlibrary1@gmail.com

What’s happening in April?!

There are so many exciting things happening at Hayden, and sometimes it can be hard to keep track of it all. Luckily for you, we have a solution: the Hayden Howl will be posting monthly updates about happenings around the school. For a more in depth look, check out the school calendar!

Here’s what’s happening in April:

April 13-17 Arts Week

Zoom in on the picture to see what’s happening each day!

April 15 Arts Try It Morning

April 16 Term Turnaround- we are half-way to June!! woot woot

April 16 Hayden hosts Jr. Badminton Tourney all day

April 16 Coffeehouse (hosted by Arts Council). Tickets $5

April 20 Inside Ride opening assemblies (morning – by grade) Event scheduled for May 21

April 22        Mentoring Day – Earth GREENing day

April 23        Mid Term Report Cards – yikes!

April 24 Professional Activity Day (day off for students- sorry teachers!)

Which event are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments!

10 ways you know you’re a Hayden student

You know, if the fact that you walk into a school that says Hayden on it every morning wasn’t enough.

1. You don’t bring pens to school. Ever.

You rely on the internet to remind you what pens even are.

2. You know the difference between a black and silver chromebook.

And more than once you’ve gotten to school early, just to get a black one.

3. All of your spare change goes to your slushie/popcorn/grilled cheese fund.

Feeeeeeed me.

4. You’ve been a zombie at one point, or you hope to be one.

Mr. Mitchell, is that you? *cue the sock throwing*

5. Your teacher could be mistaken for your friend.

Mr. Hogan, we’re looking at you.

6. You know what it means when someone says “the caf cookie epidemic of 2015”

“This makes me a whole different kind of sad” (picture and quote credits to Haley Hinds!)

7. What’s paper?

This is paper.

8. If you want to know what’s going on, you check Twitter.

If it’s not on Twitter, it’s not happening.

9. At least once you’ve ran out of class to get a booth in the library.

If you say you haven’t, you’re lying.

10. Dr. Frank is your idol

Seriously. Look at those dance moves!

Post by Sherina Harris and Mikaela Bellamy