No Name

A common dilemma for teens in this era is that there’s not a third space to hang out and spend time. The options are primarily school or things that cost money. While there are other options like the park or just walking outside, you can’t really do that in the winter and that brings the question if walking outside every day is really fun for teens.  I present libraries as an option to solve this problem. I know that lots of people think that libraries would be a really boring hang out spot, but it’s actually not! Not only can you look around at the books, but most libraries host all kinds of events that are completely free. Most people that live in the same area have a library card so it is easy to obtain. For example, the Champaign Public Library hosts a teen lounge almost every week day at 3 o’clock. There is also something called Club Fred that is marketed for teens where you can do crafts and fun activities. These are just a few of the options that the Champaign library alone ...

                                All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven follows two broken teenagers, Finch and Violet, and their personal conflicts. Violet is grieving the loss of her sister and struggling to return to everyday life. Finch, on the other hand, lives with bipolar disorder and suicidal ideations, which he hides behind humor and impulsive behavior. The two grow close through a school project, and a relationship slowly forms between them as they bond over their shared hardships.               My favorite part of the book is how openly it centers around mental health. Both characters struggle with serious emotional pain and share the feeling of being “different” from the people around them. Jennifer Niven says the story was inspired by personal loss in her own life, explaining why the book talks about grief and ment...

Paper Towns by John Green follows the life of senior Quentin “Q” Jacobsen in his last month of high school. His life is pretty normal, even a bit boring. That is, until his old friend Margo Roth Spiegelman comes back into his life (who, coincidentally, Q has loved all his life). They have a wild night of getting revenge on all of Margo’s enemies and breaking and entering into various places. But in the morning, Margo is just…gone. No note, no voicemail, nothing. Q then spends the rest of his senior year trying to find Margo by decoding the cryptic clues she left for him. I have a lot of things to say about this book, but one of the first things I notice in a book is the characters’ personalities. And I have to say, there was nothing special about the characters in this book. Q is your stereotypical “nerdy kid” who thinks way too much about everything. I guess he has some character development over the course of the book, but it’s kind of hard to tell. His best friends really don’t have...

    Wilderness F irst Aid  is a book that I had to read for, you guessed it, a wilderness first aid course, which is often required for high adventure trips in scouting. This means all but about four people will not give any mind to this book, and I figure that's perfectly fine. Wilderness First Aid  is a 32-chapter e-book used as a prerequisite to taking the wilderness first aid course to get the certification. If any of the scouts are interested in taking the wilderness first aid course, get in contact with anyone from Crew 1. They tend to run the course over the weekend at Camp Drake.     Wilderness First Aid  covers about every condition/injury you could possibly come up with and teaches you how to perform first aid for the condition/injury. The book teaches how to deal with anything from dislocations to being struck by lightning. If you have taken first aid courses before, Wilderness First Aid will likely just be a review except for some of the m...

    Paul is the son of the head of house Atreides. Leto Atreides (the house head) is ordered by the emperor of the universe (or something like that) to take over Arrakis in place of house Harkonnen. Arrakis is a desert planet spotted with patches of a cinnamon-like substance called spice which is only found on Arrakis and is crucial for inter-planetary travel. Arrakis is also home to a group of natives called the Fremen who are great fighters and have adapted to the desert life along with giant sand worms that react to vibrations in the sand. Spice is one of the most expensive and coveted materials in the universe and house Harkonnen has just had it taken and given to the Atreides. Do you see where this could go wrong? After a small time of control over the spice, house Harkonnen takes back control of Arrakis, killing most of house Atreides including the Duke Leto, but Paul and his mother Jessica escape. They make their way into the dessert and meet up with some of the Fremen ...

                 I recently read the first book of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, a short comedy sci-fi that follows the intergalactic travels of a very mismatched crew of aliens, humans, and animals. The main character, Arthur Dent, is the only human aboard the ship. He’s joined by his friend Ford Prefect (an alien researcher for the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy who’s been stranded on Earth for 15 years), Zaphod Beeblebrox (the two-headed, ex-hippie, President of the Galaxy), Trillian Astra (mathematician and astrophysicist), a guy named Veet Voojagig, Marvin the perpetually depressed robot, and two hyper-intelligent mice. Arthur and Ford escape Earth moments before it’s demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass, and from there, the story evolves into a quest involving a fabled planet and the meaning of life. The humor is definitely the main component of this novel and is what keeps it going. The author’s...