Spectrum by LASA Ezine

Spectrum

Letter From The Editors:

Hey Readers,

Welcome to this diverse magazine of literature, fashion, and music. This was a little bit hard to blend altogether, but we managed in the end. We had many difficulties, hardships, and stress, but we hope this magazine came out well. We had spent so much time focusing on other subjects, and then we ended up rushing through everything. Honestly, we had many clashing ideas and it was almost impossible to put them together. At first, we held strong, very different ideas about how the magazine should be made, which originally made conflict between the three writers. However, the magazine ended up being great and we are all proud of our final product. We would also like to thank Evlin D., Elizabeth B., Marques H., Monica V., and Sophie G. for letting us interview them. We would also like to thank the following local shops for letting us take pictures in their stores: New Bohemia, Feathers Boutique, and Maya. And lastly, a really big thank you to Ms. Young for all of her help and giving us the opportunity to make this magazine!

Thank you for reading!

-Spectrum

Writers: Fush E.-P is fifteen years old and an avid reader. There are over two hundred books in her room that she is in possession of. She has too many interests to count, and she dresses rather eccentrically. Fush is currently a second level brown belt and spends three to six hours a week in a karate classroom. She uses most of her free time for reading, writing, drawing, being on semi-popular websites, and sleeping.

Jade X.-Y is a big eyed Korean being who likes to stare off in to space and to listen to Janet’s problems. She is known as the typical Asian. Like music geeks, she likes to listen and ramble on the history of music especially Asian Pop. Currently she looks very plain next to Fush’s outfit. She does not like to procrastinate in the class of e-zine and gets all her work done in time because she does not like to be criticized by teachers. She hopes the magazine looks amazing and finished. Go Spectrum!

Janet N.-A is an overly energetic person who loves to take on as much as she can as possible. One of the things she’s loved almost all of her life is fashion with the room for interpritation. She is a musician, cook, and writer, but fashion is the most important.

Table of Contents: 1.

Editor’s Note

Writers

A Month of Typing

Undercover Austin

Finding A New Family

10.

Clothes on Lockdown

12.

Understanding the Lives of Teenagers

14.

New and Old

16.

The Best Albums on the Planet

18.

Three Books You Need to Read

20.

What’s New in Austin?

A Month of Typing People all over the world spend their November strapped to their keyboards

By Fush E.-P Most people today misinterpret the writing process. It has become canon to think that the first thing that comes out of your pen will be extremely similar, if not identical, to what goes on print. The truth is far from that. What a person types the very first time writing out their story will most likely be no better than mediocre when compared to the final product, no matter how fantastic of a writer they are. The idea is not to make perfection the first time, a nearly impossible feat, but to get down the vomit, then clean up the spill later to make

a stark and sparkling glorious story. The hard part of the process is writing and resisting editing the writing while it’s being written. NaNoWriMo, or unabbreviated, National Novel Writing Month, provides writers with the incentive to get their whole novel down. In one month. “It’s basically to prove to yourself that you can write a novel,” Evlin, a new participant in NaNoWriMo this year, tells us. Every year for eleven years, writers have gotten together to support each other

and reach the seemingly unattainable goal of writing fifty thousand words. In one month. Most writers have a problem of writing the fifty thousand words at all, let alone in one month. You have to write near two thousand words daily one thousand six hundred sixty-seven to be specific - just to be able to get to your goal. NaNoWriMo is based on their website, nanowrimo.org. NaNoWriMo sounds like a hell-bent experience for writers, and it really is. Teen writers attempt to balance school, sleep, and their word count - and are not always successful. “School obviously is first. I’m trying to do a lot more timemanagement this year, so I’ll come home and get my homework done first, and then if I have some extra time... Like last night; I was knitting

The sense of accomplishment can be a great relief. Just because a lot of writers have the ideas; they just don’t have the words. Take Elizabeth Bowie for example, “I’ve had at least sixty ideas for novels that need to be written, and I’ve never actually done them.” Evlin DuBose also suffers similarly, “It kind of became a little bit sad and depressing to me that I had started fortyseven novels and I hadn’t finished any one of them.” NaNoWriMo gives writers the real and true that need to be written, and I’ve never actually done them.” Evlin DuBose also suffers similarly, “It kind of became a little bit sad and depressing to me that I had started forty-seven novels and I hadn’t finished any one of them.” NaNoWriMo gives writers the real and true opportunity of getting just one of those seemingly untamable ideas

“It’s basically to prove to yourself that you can write a novel.” a scarf, and I thought, ‘Wait! I should be writing,’ So if I have any extra time, I will probably be writing.” says Elizabeth Bowie, a NaNoWriMo veteran. “Sleep... Well, I think at LASA it’s kind of a requirement that you can deal without most of your normal sleep,” Elizabeth laughs. NaNoWriMo sounds like a hell-bent experience for writers, and it really is. Teen writers attempt to balance school, sleep, and their word count - and are not always successful. “School obviously is first. I’m trying to do a lot more timemanagement this year, so I’ll come home and get my homework done first, and then if I have some extra time... Like last night; I was knitting a scarf, and I thought, ‘Wait! I should be writing,’ So if I have any extra time, I will probably be writing.” says Elizabeth Bowie, a NaNoWriMo veteran. “Sleep... Well, I think at LASA it’s kind of a requirement that you can deal without most of your normal sleep,” Elizabeth laughs. Despite the hectic schedule, writers also find joy in the event. “It proves to authors what they’re capable of, plus it’s just so much fun, and there’s the end of the fourth week relief of ‘Oh, I’ve actually done something; I’ve completed something!’” Evlin says, motioning enthusiastically.

down on a computer document, priceless to many block-plagued writers. “Writer’s block. Terrible thing. Worst possible thing invented,” Evlin groans. Writer’s block is basically whenever a person just has no idea what’s going to happen next, what to write, or when a writer has a temporary lack of ability to write. You may be sailing along with your novel smoothly and beautifully, when all of a sudden a wave hits your ship hard. It takes hard work to patch up before you can set sail again. When Elizabeth was asked whether or not she gets writer’s block, she merely replies, “All the time. All. The time,” with emphasis. The common cold of novelists, writer’s block is another thing NaNoWriMo forces you to learn to overcome. Or else you just won’t reach the goal. National Novel Writing Month is every writer’s dream, the perfect opportunity to force a writer to work on one of the ideas weaving itself together; and it only comes around once a year. Once someone gets out of NaNoWriMo with your fifty-thousand word goal completed, that is a projection to sainthood. “Whoever created NaNoWriMo was a real genius,” Evlin concludes. &

Undercover Austin Why Austin will never be a fashion town.

By Janet N.- A.

he United States has a great amount of cities with strong, well-known fashion scenes, such as New York, New York, Los Angeles, California, and Miami, Florida. New York, Los Angeles, and Miami, with their thriving fashion scenes, are chuck full of celebrities and social hot spots which attract people from all around making the fashion scene far stronger than that of others. Austin,Texas, dubbed a unique and “weird” town by its own inhabitants, has an outrageous amount of tourist hot spots and few fashion forward boutiques littering the city. With these attractions, one would expect Austin to be a prominent fashion an social hub in the United states, but that is not the case. The simple fact is that Austin has fallen behind in the crowd of major fashion cities and taken a somewhat undercover stance in American fashion. When asked about the fashion scene in Austin, Liberal Arts and Science Academy freshman, Sophie G., states, “[Austin] really can’t compare to a city like New York City, but I think that for a city of its size, it is very good.” Marques Harper, style writer for the Austin American Statesman states that the reason behind this is that “Austin is such a music town and it focuses more on music and technology.” In addition to its focus on music and technology, Austin has a lack of fashion forward boutiques and is not as open to new designers as those in more well know cities, such as New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. All of these are contributing factors to why Austin is not a prominent fashion city, yet the most significant reason is the fact that Austin is not focused on fashion at all. Austin, known for being the Live Music Capital of The World and bursting with technology bases such as Freescale and Tokyo Electron, is focused on maintaining its status as such, and does not reach out to embrace the finer fashion available. Many Austinites do not consider what they are going to wear when going out around the town and tend to think,as Harper puts it, “I’ll just put on a T-shirt and jeans and flip flops.” This shows that there is an overall lack of interest concerning fashion in Austin. Even at that, there are few people who embrace the topic. “There are people [in Austin] who are very much into fashion and take it very seriously,” says Harper, all of which would enjoy it if “[Austin] would reach out and branch out.’’ “Reaching out,” as Harper says, would require Austin to invest in textile factories. “Designers need factories,” says Harper, “ and there aren’t that many factories [in Austin].” The lack of fashion bases and factories in Austin causes designers to shy away from the town because there are few opportunities offered for them to create clothing and base their businesses in the town. With few fashion designers coming from the city, there is little attention drawn to it and its fashion scene. “I think that a larger part of [the problem] is that there are not a lot of very active and/or famous designers to put on fashion shows to bring really modern fashion into town,” says Sophie. Though there are few Austin based designers, there are also popular fashion outlets scattered throughout the city. Walking down South Congress Avenue, you might notice the multitude of family owned, one-of-a-kind fashion boutiques lining the street. This type of thing is common throughout the city, especially in and around the downtown area. There are only few fash-

“Austin is such a music town and it focuses more on music and technology.”

ion boutiques in Austin and, of those that do exist, majority of them are unique shops that can only be found in one place and because of that, much of the clothing is listed at a high price. “Because of the recession, people aren’t necessarily willing to spend a lot on clothing and [that] is not helping the local economy,” says Harper. This leads to very few people going to the fashion boutiques. The simple solution to this is for Austin designers to spread their shops throughout the city. If Austin would “branch out,” as Harper puts it and expand its fashion boutiques, the city could see an increase in revenue and its fashion scene would become more well recognized throughout the U.S. In order for Austin to achieve the goal of being a prominent fashion city, it will require an effort from both its dwellers and fashion designers. Overall, Austin is somewhat overlooked when it comes to fashion because that is not its main focus. “To get people interested in fashion is a hard task,” states Harper, though it is something that can and should be done, with the support of local fashion designers.

A photo of Marques Harper

Finding A New Family A student, Monica V was determined to find a place to fit in. By Jade X.-Y This was not happening. But it felt so real. The fifteen year old, Monica Vijarro was losing everything precious in her life. Greatly impacting her friends, who were the most important people to her, causing them to stray away. The pain from losing her friends ran deep and resonated with her. “It was because those people were the first friends I had ever made and I didn’t want to lose them for the sake of my devastating life,” Monica stated. Monica, who lived in the teen night clubs for a while, explains of a time of loss in Mexicano, a teen night club, where she worked cusing on her parents were to work and enjoy her life before she dies.

there to satisfy her life while handling stress, such as being homeless and she thought the only way she could survive without accusing on her parents were to work and enjoy her life before she dies. But, these were just the beginning terrors of her life.“I just couldn’t believe it. I often wished it wasn’t true... but it kept happening.” Monica trembled. Her life began with her parent’s divorce. Ever since her parents had divorced from miscommunication and the humiliation of cheating, Monica’s life was in shambles and chaos. Monica believes the reason why her parents divorced was because of herself. If she had not showed a picture of her mom cheating to her dad, she could have avoided the risk of divorce. “It was all my fault, but I tried not to show it.”

“I just couldn’t believe it. I often wished it wasn’t true... but it kept happening.” 08

Afterwards, her father was broke from taking care of her. “I became homeless and did not have running water, nor did I have electricity. Dad and I had to walk a hour or so to just get to school. After I got out of school and walked back, I couldn’t do my homework because I couldn’t even see my paper in the dark.” Monica explains. Her high school life was destroyed. By not doing her homework and sleeping during class, her GPA had gone down to a 2.3. She did not understand the importance of school anymore. Also during school, she had a devastating life of bullying and backstabbing. “I didn’t understand... They had hurt me and I couldn’t do anything.” She was building up stress in her heart, any type of an outlet source would have been welcome, which led her to a stress-free zone. Monica had went to a teen night club called the Mexicano. “When I first went there, I was lost and didn’t know what to do.” Monica describes of her first experience. The first hours were dull for Monica, but soon in a couple of days, she was comfortable and felt very pleasant. “It was my home just after a few days. I never met amazing and generous people before.” She made many friends along the way, who actually took care of her and made her feel safe to the world. “They had asked me, ‘Do you need me to charge your phone at my house? Do you want food?’ By those words, I was touched and thankful for these friends.” As Monica lived on in Mexicano, her life began getting better and efficient though the year. “I began a new life with my mom. She could actually give me the opportunities my dad couldn’t have given to me, which was a change for me.” Her mother, who recently found out Monica was living on the streets found her though Monica’s father and took her home. Monica still goes to the Mexicano even if she does not life on the streets anymore. She wants to help many other homeless teens in Mexicano by making the newcomers feel welcome and she also hopes many of them could lead on a comfortable life just like hers, because she did not have a great life in the beginning.“It’s simple, I hated being homeless and having no one to talk to. Now I can finally have the opportunity to help others as they had done to me.” U

Monica with her friend Ashley, who went though harsh times together.

Monica with Jose, who she became close to because of the Teen Night Clubs. 09

Clothes on

Lockdown

By Janet N.-A

veryday, LASA is littered with students who wear clothing that is inappropriate out of the desire to look “stylish.” The naive high school girls walk around the blank hallways as though they are runways: strutting the newest fashions that push the envelope, sometimes not so slightly. These daring ensembles of short shorts, low-cut shirts, and barely- there dresses show skin here and there which makes one question, “Did their mothers not teach them otherwise?” The boys are not to be left out, as they “sag” their pants or wear shirts that contain vulgar language or obscene advertisements. All of these complete violations of the school’s dress code are constantly ignored or overlooked by the seemingly annoyed LASA administrators who are the ones expected to enforce it. The general LASA student population believes that the dress code is strict enough and does not need to be revised in any way, yet many adults and some administrators feel as though it needs to be revised because. According to A.I.S.D., the High school level inappropriate dress include: Improperly fitting clothing; baggy pants, overly tight clothes, or clothes that improperly expose body parts; halter tops, tank tops, bare midriffs, low cut necklines, strapless or backless tops, spaghetti straps, sheer or see-through clothing; shorts and skirts that are short enough to be distracting; boxer shorts or athletic shorts worn outside of physical education. undergarments, pajamas, or other garments not designed to be worn as outer garment; gang-associated clothing or colors; and hats or caps worn inside the building (except for religious requirements) Many of the parents and administrators who believe there needs to be a change, feel that way because they are seeing students who constantly violate the dress code, which catches their attention and resonates with them much more than the students who actually abide by the dress code. If all students who attend LASA followed the dress code stated, those who previously advocated for a change would no longer do so, for all students would be dressed appropriately. Many LASA students, both boys and girls, roam the hallways with clothing that is in complete violation of the dress code. These students, and their violations, are ignored and overlooked by the administrators and they are free to continue their roaming causing distractions everywhere they go. The lack of enforcement of dress code could lead more and more students dressing in an inappropriate manner which could lead to much distraction in the classroom causing problems in education. The solution to this

is simple and has an immediate effect: administrators need to catch and punish those in violation of the dress code. The debate over dress code and whether or not it is a distraction to students in class is so heated that the US government got involved. “In May 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit” sided with a Nevada regulation stating that their current dress code is beneficial to the learning environment, and is necessary to keep students focused on school, rather than clothing. Keeping the dress code and enforcing it strictly will lead to less distractions in class and an overall more focused class. There is no need to go to extremes with the dress code, simply enforce it well and there will be and evident change in the amount of participation and understanding in the classroom. For this reason, the dress code does not need to be changed to see an improvement in the dress of LASA students, it simply needs to be enforced properly and in a manner that is more strict than what is currently being done. The LASA high school encourages many different programs that prepares its students in academics, college readiness, and life professions, yet it does not offer the same attention to the attire of the students. For this reason, the students who attend LASA are educated on a level that is hard to find in high schools around the United States, yet by looking at many of them, you would not think so. LASA is a place of serious learning and the clothing that the students wear should not detract from that. If administrators are to enforce the dress code in a serious manner, they will be preparing their students for professionalism in the real world. It is only fair that a school with such a high level of education would offer a professional environment for its students to learn in. Lasa needs its administrators to take charge and enforce professional dress and character. The problem is not in the code, but in the enforcement of the code. If the code that has already been adopted is kept and enforced it well enough, there should be no problem with the clothing being worn.

LASA dress code: How cute is too cute?

Trapped In a world where Teen Night Clubs are disciminated. By: Jade X.-Y

onica V, a girl who survived many difficult experiences in life such as living on the streets, finds her only reason to live. Her life only desires the feel of music and the soothing melody of the rhythms compacted together, which are found in many night clubs. Many adults and parents do not understand the stress and experiences teenagers go through, such as the dramas in schools and the misery of homework. Monica describes her life filled with family stress and of the many “fake friends,” whom backstabs her everyday. Therefore, I believe “Teenage Night Clubs” should be enforced and not banned from the hearts of parents, to save many teenagers from breaking in to the clubs, relieve stress, and to help homeless teenagers find true friends. A few years ago, Monica started going to Teen Night Clubs

were pretty new and everybody was talking about it on the streets. Never did she know about the wonders and freedom of these clubs. Parents and adults often disagree with the disciplinary ways of Teen Night Clubs because of the more negative views on the subject. Most of the reasons why parents disagree with the Teen Night Clubs are because many people see the negative impact and the negative horrors such as rape, murder, and illegal drinking/ smoking. To clarify, Teen Night Clubs have strictly banned smoking and drinking because of this cause. The rape and murder are in extreme cases and often are forecasted in a widely manner, therefore many adults mis-

understand the reasoning. I do agree however, some of these catastrophes do happen, but it is very unlikely to do occur many times. As more and more parents let their children go to these Teen Night Clubs, many more teenagers will restrain from breaking in to real clubs. Breaking in to the real clubs can be serious damage, and it could actually cause many teens to be addicted to smoking and drinking because the teens will see it more often than Teen Night Clubs. The teens will gain a new trust to

their parents and adults, and they will be able to show their responsibility to them as well. Relieving stress by dancing with friends is one of the most common ways of stress breaking. Teen Night Clubs can help reduce the amount of stress from the tremendous amount of homework from schools and the unbearable drama in families today. The symptoms of stress are the dropping of grades and the uncontrollable mood swings. By being free to be what one wants to be, the stress rates goes down and the amount of freedom increases, which helps the average teenager be happier and live a more comfortable lifestyle. Many homeless teenagers find true friends and food at the Teen Night Clubs. Teen Night Clubs are affordable and cheap, so even the homeless teenagers can find a way to go. Homeless teens do not have food or friends, but using the Teen Night Clubs as a resource to communicate with the society itself. By finding friends and food, the homeless teens can access better sources of activities and find more food resources because of the friends they have made at the Teen Night Clubs. These often lead towards survival and the lack of mental and physical stress homeless teens have encountered though their lives of being homeless. Overall, my piece is to inform the stress-relieving form of the life of teenagers. Dancing can result to happiness with many people and no one is alone at the clubs. Everyone is there for almost the same reason, to have fun and excitement with other people with the same kinds of stress. Soon many will get to understand each other and become close friends. Everyone should be able to have a chance to understand the feeling of being in a group where they belong. U

A group of people waiting for the party to start.

Lights indicating that the party is going to start. Many people are about to start dancing.

nEW AND OLD

English class: Should we be reading more current books? By Fush E.-P

t’s that moment you hate. When the teacher announces it, many groans come from your classmates. It’s time to read another hard, dull, long book. When you get home, you either grab it from your bookshelf, or ask your parents to take you out to go get the book. Then you have to read it. The process goes on dreadfully, slowly, feeling like every second you’ll just fall asleep. Sometimes you just wish you could switch out the book you’re reading for one of the books on your shelf. Students are currently unable to both be able to connect to and be interested in the books they are assigned in their English class. The problem, some might conclude, is tossing classic books into the hands of teenagers. Then might not the solution be to hand recent books to students? Not at all; the best solution would

would be to mix in and give teenagers a combination of classic and current books to read, review, and discuss in their classroom. Many teenagers spend their free time with games and electronics, but they also spend it reading books. If you enter a teenager’s bedroom, you are likely to find the DS, the computer, et cetera, but you will also probably be able to find a bookshelf with teen literature and maybe a dictionary on it. Teenagers read for fun, hardly seeing the difference between TV and books, besides the fact that reading is more intensive than watching. But if you seriously read a new book, you can find a lot of the themes, symbols, and the like that you can find in older books. They are hidden in both, but arguably better so in the recent books, because people hardly ever take new literature seriously. If teachers took current books and examined them with their students, then using the same thing later on with classic books could potentially bridge the gap of both understanding classics and currents. Understanding literature could be that easily attainable if the average English classroom wasn’t strict to books written before the twenty-first century. For the most part, the books teenagers read on their own consist of modern literature. When they get to the book they are reading in their English class, they generally can’t relate to it, therefore it doesn’t interest them. And books were written to be interesting, to occupy the reader, to make them think. And you can’t make a person think unless they are hooked. But, teenagers could easily get interested in older books if they are presented alongside the books they like and enjoy. Themes in books transgress time. Themes in classics are also themes in popular

books. Messages and lessons, which is what most books try to give, is present in both. For example, themes of adventure have always been present, as well as the themes of life and death present in both. Teenagers may be seeing the themes in popular books, but not necessarily identifying them. By showing both popular and classic books to teenagers, it will enrich their reading experience with all books. Classics were not always classics; some books written recently might turn into classics eventually. And reading something as a classic and reading something as a recent publishing should be no different. For example, dime novels. Dime novels were a commodity sold for the general public of what was considered low-literacy level in the mid 1800s and early 1900s. Back then, they were tossed around like trash and just quick reads to

entertain the working class. But nowadays, they are studied intensely in colleges, like the University of South Florida, which has a commendable collection of dime novels. The same is true for a good deal of classics; they were not half as popular when they were published as they are now. So since some novels weren’t always considered great works of literature, some well-written recently published books must be the same. Classic and well-written recent novels definitely should hold a place in a student’s life, and it is the responsibility of their English class curriculum to honestly teach and let their students learn instead of making them regurgitate the words they are made to swallow. English classrooms have a definite need to slot both classics and well-written recent books into their curriculum, otherwise they run the risk of their students not taking any real lessons or ideas

away from their classes. Imagine now, when when you are given that book, you let the cover soak into your retinas, you turn to the back and read the

“Classics and well-written recent novels definitely should hold a place in a student’s life.” story’s teaser or summary. On the ride home, you start flipping pages, engrossed in the story. You have to practically tear yourself away from the book, just so you can get the rest of your homework done - only to come back to it before falling asleep in bed. &

The

Best Albums On...

The Planet By Jade X.-Y

KAT-TUN: Change Ur World This Japanese album has been one of the hottest hits of the nation of Japan. The genre is a soft, smooth rock. The whole background music gives a simple beat and has an upbeat voice, which gives a catchy feeling of the music. The best part of the song would be the chorus. The chorus is easy to remember and it repeats multiple times to give a balance to the song. Multiple people sing the chorus and by that blending of unique voices creates a colorful, yet sad song for the audience. It is currently (12/03/10) number one ranking on the Oricon charts, which are the main music charts for Japan.

Janice M. Vidal (Wei Lan): Love Diaries This Chinese album has caused the love sensation of China. The genre is a mix of pop and ballad. There is a piano in the background, which helps delivery the concept of the song. Her voice and the background music put together gives a sad feeling because of the way she slurs the melody of her voice. The chorus is very peaceful and gives a warm, fuzzy feeling because of the way she puts emotion in to her voice. It is currently number one on the China Top 40 charts, which are the main music charts for China.

Charice Pempengco- Pyramid This American album created the first Filipino artist to make it on to the Billboard charts. The genre is pop. Heavy drums are displayed in the background, which can help the volume of the voice to overstretch. It gives a deep meaning of never giving up. This describes her life of hardship and delivers all the emotions of the song. The vocals are a wide range and the powerful belting of her voice creates a catchy melody for the song. This album was in the top 10 of the American Billboard charts.

DBSK - Mirotic The Korean album of DBSK led a wide spead of fans go wild in the whole world. DBSK has the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest fan club in the world called the Cassiopeia. The genre of this song is pop. The whole melody creates a toxic feeling to the audience, which attracts them. It gives many elegant voices with the addictive refrain. The some of the vocals are extremely high for a boy band. It leads the audience with the repetitive chorus and drags the fans to affection. The album received the Best of Asia award and known as the best album in history of Asia.

Three Books You NEED To Read By Fush E.-P

Life As We Knew It Miranda, the star of the story, is your average girl. Simply average. Then a meteor smashes into the moon. Her world is flipped upside down and it seems as if the apocalypse has come. Miranda, your average girl, is now living in a very abnormal world where morals are twisted to convenience, starvation isn’t just something you’ve heard of but never experienced, and your old life seems like heaven. Your biggest worry is no longer studying for your biology test; it’s keeping your family safe and alive. The story comes packaged in a science fiction novel in the form of a journal. Life As We Knew It is inspiring, deep, and a story of hope. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to experience complete physical depression and to have to work through it, then Life As We Knew It definitely the book for you.

Schooled Capricorn Anderson is a time traveler. Or a successful cyrogenics case. Capricorn lives in the seventies with his grandmother Rain. When she hurts herself picking plums and has to make a short hospital stay, Cap is jerked painfully into the twenty-first century. Previously living a true hippie lifestyle, Cap knows absolutely nothing about regular school life. It’s just his luck that he has to attend public school now. And it’s not as if his classmates are exactly understanding; they’d rather send him off on the fool’s errand of being school president! Schooled is a fantastical comedy, short and actionpunctuated. You can watch the transformation both Cap and the student body go through... Although this book may be of the realistic fiction genre, you’ll end up wondering if this story could actually really happen.

Thirteen Reasons Why Hannah Baker is dead. It wasn’t an accident. And now Hannah is back to haunt those who killed her. Before Hannah died, she made some tapes. Seven tapes, six with two sides and one with one side. Each side of a tape represents one of the thirteen people responsible for her death. And she made sure to put those tapes in the post office to send to every one of the people on them. Clay Jensen, our main character, receives a package in the mail, and it’s from Hannah Baker. Thirteen Reasons Why is an extraordinary novel with so much amazing story. You will never think of suicide the same way again; anyone can be a victim and anyone can be affected by it. Even if Thirteen Reasons Why is realistic fiction, it is in no way a slow story, and it’s filled to the brim with action. This is a good book for everyone and anyone.

This lovely ensemble is something that you can expect to see almost everywhere in the spring. You can find this piece at the store Maya located at 1508 South Congress Ave.

Ruffles and leather jackets are making their way back into the fashion scene this year, and they are something you can expect to see throughout the year with slight variations. This dress takes ruffles to a new level but, when accompanied by the leather jacket, it flows together perfect. This outfit can also be found at Maya.

Men are not to be left out in fashion. New Bohemia, 1606 South Congress Ave., embraces both male and female clothing, as seen in this â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bonnie and Clydeâ&#x20AC;? outfit. 20

Intricate lace patterns are another thing you can expect to see in fashion soon. This lace corsette and vest, also found at Feathers Boutique, spice up the plain white dress underneath.

This casual ensemble, found at Feathers located at 1700 South Congress Ave., is something that you can expect to see more as the weather begins to warm up. The black and white aspect of this outfit play up the layers concept, giving the outfit a subtle â&#x20AC;&#x153;wowâ&#x20AC;? factor.

This dress, found at Maya, works with layers to add a dramactic effect to a somewhat simple white dress. You can expect to see this dress in mid- summer. 21

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