If any on you have ever viewed a television show on HBO, you know that they often feature naked women.  A lot of naked women.  HBO’s GIRLS is no different.  However, one aspect is.  The women on this show look like women that you see every day.  None of them conform to what the entertainment industry deems as beautiful.  Let me make it clear that when I say “entertainment industry beautiful” I do not believe that this is a legitimate definition of beauty, but I’ll get into that later.  Recently, on this show the star (and head writer and director and also she’s only 28), Lena Dunham, engaged in explicit acts with the actor Patrick Wilson.  Wilson absolutely fits the description “entertainment beautiful.”  He is tall, muscular and has a jawline that could cut granite.  After the episode aired, and audiences had seen an eyeful of these characters, there were some shocking reviews.  Real journalists, with actual journalism degrees, tore this episode apart because they found Dunham’s writing wildly unrealistic.  They claimed that a guy like that could never go for a girl who looks like that.

This statement is ludicrous for a number of reasons.  The first one being the absurd idea that a woman’s only worth is determined by the way she looks.  Are the attributes of this character immediately discarded simply because she is not a size two with bright skin, and shiny hair?  The fact that people find the idea of a handsome man having sex with a woman who is less hot than him unrealistic is simply horrifying.  There are many, many examples of female “10s” hooking up with male “5s” in television and movies.  If you need proof, look at every raunchy, high school-themed comedy that has come out in the past 20 years.  Every time one of these movies comes out, there are no comments on the sexual eligibility of these male characters.  So why are female characters subjected to this kind of judgement?  The negative reviews of this demonstrate the fact that, in our culture, it is absolutely normal to view a man as more than a body, but ridiculous to look at a woman for the whole woman that she is.

The second problem I have with these reviews is this: who the hell has the right to say that Lena Dunham is not beautiful?  Who has the right to determine the beauty of another?  Despite what we are led to believe by the Internet, there is no one standard for beauty.  Someone cannot be too fat or too skinny to be beautiful.  Someone can not be too pale or too dark, too tall or too short.  I don’t mean to preach, but I despise the fact that we are continually encouraged to view our bodies as inadequate.  If you still believe that a guy like Patrick Wilson will not get with a girl like Lena Dunham, then I suggest you read this tweet from Wilson’s wife.

This issue is very important to me because I believe that it provides a single example of a major issue in our country.  We are bombarded with images and statements that enforce negative opinions of ourselves.  We are set up to feel inadequate and inferior, when in reality the only thing to be ashamed of is claiming that a guy like that could never get with a girl like her.  I am not going to tell you that real beauty is on the inside because I am sure that wonderful message is being spread by mothers everywhere, but I am going to tell you that no one has the right to judge your beauty.  That privilege is yours, and yours alone.

For this edition, the newspaper staff is going to try out a new type of article for you guys: a group movie review of none other than Fifty Shades of Grey. Everybody had their own opinion on this fine cinematic creation and after much debate at our meeting, we all had to share our views with you guys. Comment below if you agree (or even disagree) with our expert opinions.

DRaab: Hearing about this movie was enough for me to vow to never actually see this movie in any way, shape, or media format. The movies I enjoy the most and the ones I like to see have at least some basis in reality. The mark of good fiction is that it is realistic enough that you can really imagine it happening. From what I have heard, Fifty Shades miserably fails that test. It portrays an abusive “fantasy” relationship between Anastasia and Christian that I cannot possibly condone. Words that come to my mind to describe the movie are: morally outrageous, repugnant, and vile filth.

Lauren Bilton: On February 15th, a few of my friends and I went to view this “must-see” movie of 2015. I would not go nearly as far as DRaab to call it “vile filth,” but it surely is a risqué movie. I may be a sucker for rom-coms and movies about love, but I promise you this isn’t any love story. Don’ get me wrong, I didn’t hate the movie; I actually ended up liking it more than I had expected to. Before seeing the movie, I had read the first 50 pages of the novel, unaware of the storyline. Let me tell you: pages 1-50 of the book are completely clean. So here I am sitting in the theater anticipating the movie, thinking “how bad could this be?!” But about 20 minutes into the movie, I realized why people were making such a big deal about it. How are they even allowed to make a movie based solely off of sexual relations and abuse?? The “R” rating is no joke. In Fifty Shades of Grey, Anastasia Steele is a journalism student whose life changes the minute she meets Christian Grey. I will choose to end my review there.

Eric Carey: Honestly, such a steamy flick. I was sweating throughout the whole movie. It was just so mmmmm perfect. Don’t even get me started on the guy who played Christian Grey. O-M-G, can you say hunk? Hunk. There, I said it for you. I often see myself as Anastasia trapped in a rugged, tall, good looking body. On the inside, I’m a beautiful 21-year-old who is attracted to a masochistic weirdo into BDSM. Seriously, the book, the movie, and anything relating to this hot garbage of a franchise should be eradicated. I didn’t watch the movie, but I’ve read some hilarious quotes from the book and I don’t know how anyone can read such schlock without dying laughing.  I got to the word “inner goddess” and it was goodnight, Irene for me, I was done. Yeah this sucks so…. yeah.

Callie MacDonald: An open letter to Anastasia Steele:

Dear Anastasia Steele,

First of all, you have a beautiful name.  I am sorry that people will refrain from naming their children Anastasia for the next five years, out of fear that people will think they are naming their sweet angels after a Fifty Shades character.  Second of all, you need to stop shaking so much.  You look like you are going to pass out the entire movie.  I mean, yeah, I would be intimidated too in the majority of those scenes, but in one scene you were working in a hardware store and looked as though you might pass out.  Pull yourself together!  Third, I do not know why you bite your lip so much, it seems like a rather unnatural habit.  Lastly, you seem like an intelligent girl, you could have a good journalism career in the future, so I advise you to get out of this abusive relationship, no matter how hot Jamie Dornan is.

With love,

Callie.

Andrea Bilton
Sitting in the theater awaiting the start of Fifty Shades of Grey, I expected what anybody was bound to expect when viewing such a controversial movie. I expected a lot of heavy nudity, a slight violence factor, and graphic sexuality that pushed the brink of what is usually permitted on the big screen. But after the movie came to an end and the final credits rolled across the screen, my expectations were vastly underwhelmed. The movie was surprisingly tame, considering all of the harsh criticism surrounding it for being overtly sexual and inappropriate. I had never read the book, however I’ve heard from many about how graphic and almost disturbing the unconventional sex scenes are. However, when brought to life in the cinema, the sex scenes were brief and subtle, showing no more nudity than would be suitable for an adult romantic comedy. And the violence, although jarring in such a romantic and sexual context, was definitely not as heavily involved as I anticipated. In fact, the movie threaded the concepts of BDSM in as merely supplements to the romantic storyline- the movie was not focused primarily on these elements as many people assume. The directors of Fifty Shades of Grey definitely made the right choice of focusing the movie on the storyline and romance between the two characters of Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele, rather than jolting the audience with graphic sexual encounters as the book supposedly does. I entered the movie expecting to laugh at the overkill of violence and sexuality, but I left very shocked by the lack of explicit nature and touched by the love story portrayed onscreen. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, don’t be deterred by all of the hype and controversy. I promise you the movie is much tamer than it seems.

The age of Netflix: it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. As I’m sure any fellow binge-watcher can attest, there is almost no better feeling than curling up with a cozy blanket and the first three seasons of any TV series. Too much of a good thing can be dangerous, however, and I’ll be the first to admit that finding out whether Mr. So-and-so gets the girl can often come at the expense of other, ahem, more educational activities (that next episode button is just so conveniently placed!). On a recent snow day I was feeling really guilty about all of the brain cells I had killed staring blankly at a screen, so I decided to search for something to watch that would actually enrich my knowledge. I stumbled across the documentary section of this fateful website and was immediately surprised and pleased. Now, I know what you’re thinking: documentaries are meant to be watched when you need something to help you fall asleep and usually fall into the category of vicious animals/cool nature, Americans are fat, or semi-inspirational biographies. In reality, there are hundreds of films about almost anything you can imagine. I watched just three of the first few options that I saw, and am so glad I chose to open my eyes up to the world we live in rather than indulge in the trash TV shows I could have wasted my time on. Here are a few of the documentaries I would recommend:

Girl Rising

This 2013 documentary was directed by Academy Award-nominated Richard E. Robbins and follows the stories of nine girls around the globe as they fight the oppression they face in their society. The girls themselves are featured, and their stories are told by actresses including Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, and Selena Gomez. As HHS seniors learned when they watched the movie here last fall, each of the girls faces her own unimaginable challenges. Sokha in Cambodia was born an orphan and grew up picking through the village dump for scraps of metal. But when she receives an education, Sokha works to teach other girls in her community and attends youth leadership conferences around the world including Washington DC. Wadley is just 8 years old when her native Haiti is struck by the huge 2010 earthquake that forced half the population to live in tent camps and shut down her school. But Wadley refuses to give up her education and starts a school in the tent camp itself. Suma in Nepal is forced into bonded labor at the age of 6 to help support her family, and spends her childhood working for a variety of “masters.” When Suma is taught to read, however, she glimpses a brighter future and makes her way to helping herself and other girls to freedom. Yasmin in Egypt is sexually assaulted but rather than hiding in shame she tells her story to the world to illuminate a problem, and Ethiopian Azmera refuses to marry at the age of 13 in order to continue her studies. A girl named Ruksana in India lives with her family on the streets so they can afford an education, while Senna in Peru uses poetry to bring beauty to her desolate mining town. Mariama lives in war-torn Sierra Leone, but stars on her own radio show and helps girls with real-life problems. Finally, Amina in Afghanistan is a child bride but pushes the limitations of a male-dominated society. Each of these stories is true, and all are equally amazing.

The Dark Matter of Love

Fourteen year old Cami Diaz and her family live in a suburban Wisconsin town not too different from good ole’ Hanover, MA. The Diaz family has always wanted more children, but after being unable to conceive for over a decade, they decided to adopt Masha, 11, and twins Marcel and Vadim, 5, from an impoverished area of Russia. Having never experienced parental love, it is unclear whether Masha and the twins will be able to reciprocate the love the Diaz family plans to give the children. The family works with developmental psychologists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine to learn more about the bond parents and children share to help these children to know they are valued and cared for. This documentary is about the psychological and scientific explanations of love, but also follows the orphans as they experience a collision of cultures and become part of a family for the first time.

Food, Inc.

Did you know that the average American meal travels 1,500 miles before reaching your plate? Would you believe it if I told you there was some form of corn in every meal you ate? Food, Inc. focuses all about the corporate side of American food consumption. Almost all of the chicken we eat comes from one of two huge corporations, and cows, pigs, and poultry are being genetically engineered as we speak to provide customers with more bang for their buck. The documentary features interviews from farmers to CEOs, and even gives viewers a glimpse into meat-packing factories, industrial hen houses, and Midwestern farms. I found this movie fascinating but also pretty terrifying . . . let’s just say I only ate salads for a few days after watching. If you’re really big on meat, I’d steer clear of this one, you may never want to look at a filet mignon again!

These days, it seems that listening to the radio can’t really compare to listening to music on your phone.  With iTunes, Pandora and Spotify letting you choose the songs and eliminating obnoxious commercials, the radio can be an annoying alternative. It is much easier to enjoy a song when you are not dreading the upcoming chant of “K-A-R-S cars for kids.” (donate your car today)  Honestly, I would agree with all of these statements, if not for the exception of one radio station.  Despite the long commercial breaks, 92.5 The River provides a better listening experience in my opinion than any other music medium.

The River is on a mission, a Blues Brothers-esque “mission from God,” to provide us with good music.  No one is paying them to play certain things, or advertise products during the talk show.  There are no high-level executives dictating what they play.  They play songs because they are good and for no other reason.

Although many stations boast their variety, this station actually has it.  They do not commit themselves to one style of music.  They just play songs that they feel have value to them.  You may hear “Uptown Funk” played in the same hour as a Bob Dylan song, and then maybe they’ll play an acoustic version and then a live version.  No matter how diverse the playlists may be, the DJs always have an artistic ability to align the music so that each song flows nicely into the next.  Even if the genre or age of the songs are vastly different, there is never a jarring transition as they change.  The diversity of these playlists suit those who pride themselves on liking all kinds of music, but benefit the majority of us who have only been exposed to the music of our friends or our parents.  The River opens you up to kinds of things you have never heard, and never would have heard if not for this station.

Another annoying aspect of listening to the radio is having to hear the trivial squabbles of the DJs.  It seems they are either telling everyone a fake account of their weekend or promoting a product that they are paid to advertise.  Thankfully, the DJs on The River don’t seem to follow the actions of their neighboring stations. Before a certain song is played, the DJ will provide interesting background that makes you notice more things while listening than you would have otherwise.  They discuss an artist’s writing process, the meaning behind the song, or even their personal thoughts on the song.  When they build up a song, they do it so genuinely that it makes you eager to listen and share in their excitement.

I would even argue that listening to The River is good for you.  It opens you up to new things and broadens your horizon.  It reminds us what radio DJs are supposed to do and what radio executives are not.  It teaches us that broadcasting should be independent, so the only motive is to benefit listeners.  In this case, the benefit to listeners is providing them with diverse, genuinely good music.

Whether you’re a fan of their genre of music or not, everyone likes at least one song by Imagine Dragons. It could be “It’s Time,” “Radioactive,” or “Tiptoe,” but when Imagine Dragons released its first album Night Visions, it became one of the biggest selling albums of 2013. With a response like that, the pressure was definitely on for the band to make a follow-up album just as awesome as the first. And in my opinion, they succeeded.

Their new album, Smoke +Mirrors, is astounding, with strong melody writing and captivating lyrics. My favorite song from the album right now is “I Bet My Life.” This album will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions. Smoke + Mirrors has a whole range of musical styles that anyone can appreciate including mellow melodies, guitars filtered with alternative-rock, powerful bass or beats, and floor drums.

It’s hard for me decide if this album is an improvement over the last because the sound is different. With saying that, a lot of reviews comment on how it doesn’t sound anything like their first album and they want the old Imagine Dragons back. But here’s my question for you if you think like that: Iif a band stuck with the same old sound for every album, wouldn’t it get rather boring? I mean they only have one other album, so it’s perfectly reasonable if a band wants to change up their sound and try something different. Dan Reynolds, lead vocalist, said while making this album, “We embraced a lot of hip-hop influences with Night Visions, but I think the next record will be more rock-driven.”

The rest of the reviews have all been really positive, some calling it a “modern pop-rock gem.” I recommend this album for anyone; even if you’re not a huge rock fan, Smoke + Mirrors will be sure to rock your mind. (Wow, I ended the article with a really bad pun, good job me!)

Since ancient times, there has been a lot of thought about what happens when we die — if we are drawn to a bright light, reborn as a stinkbug or sacred cow, or ascend to some version of heaven. If I Stay, by Gayle Forman, explores not just what happens after we die, but what goes on as we are dying and imagines we have a choice on whether to hang on or let go.

Mia is a 17-year-old musical prodigy who enjoys a pretty happy life with her hipster parents, 8-year-old brother and budding rock star boyfriend. All of that changes on a snowy day when a family road trip ends in a terrible car accident. Thrown from the car, she is plunged into a coma, which allows her spirit to escape from her body and witness the scene unfold. With her parents dead and her brother critically injured, she watches as doctors work on her battered body and as her family and friends gather at the hospital. She becomes aware of the choice she has to make: fight her extreme injuries and the grief of losing her parents to survive, or give into the sadness and let go. When she seems ready to give up, her body experiences complications and she is rushed back into surgery. When she is hopeful, her body seems to grow stronger. Taking such an emotional journey with Mia was heart-wrenching, and I agonized with her as she waffled between wanting to live and giving in to death. It reminded me of the whispered conversations I had with my own mom in the last hours of her life: stay because I want you here, but if you’re too tired to fight anymore, it’s okay if you go.

The book takes place in the span of one very long day, with flashbacks interspersed to tell us more about Mia’s family, boyfriend and future hopes and dreams. The flashbacks made her feel like a real person, one whose decision I really cared about. I never saw the recent movie made from the book, so I can’t compare the two. But the book was an engaging, fast read that I had a hard time putting down.

Fifty-four years ago, Harper Lee wrote the outstanding novel “To Kill A Mockingbird.” I remember reading this sophomore year, and groaning over how much I hate books that have anything to do with trials. But the book was more than just a trial. It stressed the importance of moral education and showed a major lack of social equality. I also found the novel incredibly charming, especially because the book is from the perspective of the little girl protagonist, Scout. This was actually one of the few books I did not use Sparknotes on.

Despite the novel being an amazing success, “To Kill A Mockingbird” was the only book that Harper Lee ever published. But that is about to change. A year ago, Lee’s friend and lawyer rediscovered a manuscript that Lee wrote before Mockingbird that was never published. The book was called “Go Set a Watchman,” and featured Scout as an adult returning to her hometown of Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1950s to see her father Atticus.  Lee actually wrote this book before “To Kill a Mockingbird,” but when she presented it to her editor, his favorite scenes were the flashbacks to Scout’s childhood. He persuaded her to write a novel from the point of view of the young Scout, which she agreed to do. The result: Mockingbird became a hit and Watchman was lost and presumably forgotten.

After the manuscript was found, the media-shy author was encouraged by her friends and family to publish it. Lee issued a statement saying she is “happy as hell” about the upcoming novel. “I
hadn’t realized it [the original book] had survived,” she said. “After much thought and hesitation, I shared it with a handful of people I trust and was pleased to hear that they considered it worthy of publication.”

“Go Set a Watchman” is set to be released July 14th, but if you want, you can pre-order right now on Amazon. I am stoked about the novel and July 14th cannot come soon enough.

Every Wednesday at around 2:07 pm, I step into the news club conference room to talk with my fellow writers and editors. Usually I suggest to the chief, David Raab, that I write an article about whatever crazy event is going on at the time. But on this particular Wednesday, I was told by David that I would be writing an article on pop music. Rather than lash out in front of my peers with my feelings toward pop music, I decided to follow through with the article. Here it goes . . .

Do you ever get the most annoying song stuck in your head because it was played on the radio a good 42 times that day? I have a feeling that you have a pop song stuck in your head! Do you ever get the aux cord taken away from you because you were playing songs that nobody wants to hear? I bet you were playing pop music! Now if you truly enjoy pop music, or specifically any pop song from the hit top 100, please read the rest of the article at your own risk.

Let’s start by sinking our eyes and ears deep into the song “Lips are Movin” by Megan Trainor. Now I really have nothing against Megan Trainor, she’s just a young woman trying to bring out everybody’s confidence with repetitive song lyrics and techno noises. But I do have to say I learned many things from this popular tune. I learned that if my lips are moving in any way, I am lying. So for all you gum chewers and pencil biters, you are all lying. In her first verse I learned that Megan Trainor supposedly came from outer space. When Megan sings “I come from outer space,” I guess you could say that she’s the one who’s lying considering there is proof she was born right here in Massachusetts. And might I remind you that her lips are moving throughout her whole music video, so maybe Megan is the biggest liar of them all!

As we skip past more songs that hurt my ears, we arrive at “Blank Space” by Taylor Swift. Does anybody remember the Taylor Swift who wrote country songs? And does anybody know where she disappeared to? I don’t even know how people are still calling her music “country.” I hate to break it to you but this is hardcore pop music. In the music video, clips switch off between Taylor in her bedroom with two white horses and Taylor smashing things with mascara all over her face. In all honesty, I just don’t really understand the song lyrics or the music video or Taylor herself. If this song were to be described with four words, many would suggest “Corrupting To Today’s Youth.”

To continue ranting about this mind-damaging genre of music, I bring up the song “Happy” by Pharrell Williams. I just wanna start by saying that there is nonstop clapping in this song and frankly it makes me unhappy. It’s annoying (as is the beat of most any pop song). But anyway, in this song I learned that I need to clap along if I “feel like a room without a roof.” I regret to tell Pharrell that I don’t know what a room without a roof feels like so I will not be clapping along. He then repeats that exact verse six more times in the song, making it nearly impossible to even listen anymore. Sorry to anyone who adores this song if I’m making you the opposite of happy.

To wrap up this article, I’d like to say that at the moment I am surprisingly tolerating a pop song. “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars is a guilty pleasure of mine right now and I actually think everybody should give it a listen. But if it’s any other pop song you go and listen to, I hope you find yourself lost with the old Taylor Swift and her acoustic guitar.

I could watch Benedict Cumberbatch read from the phone book and enjoy myself. I love the blend of quirky genius and nerdy awkwardness he shows in Sherlock. I also adore the unabashed goofiness of his countless appearances on awards shows and TV (This clip of celebrity impressions is one of my favorites). But I have to be honest and admit that I haven’t seen many of his most famous movies, such as The Fifth Estate and Hawking. When I get to the movies, it’s usually to see something my 10-year-old daughter will enjoy, not high brow, intellectual “cinema.” So when I had the chance to see a grownup movie recently,  I chose The Imitation Game for the chance to see Cumberbatch in action.

Cumberbatch plays Alan Turing, a British mathematician who helped crack Nazi Germany’s most complicated code during World War II. Using ideas far ahead of his time, he created a machine that allowed the Allied forces to decipher Nazi messages and anticipate attacks, saving thousands of lives and, experts say, shortening the war by years. But Turing had a secret, one that would not only embarrass him in the repressed times in which he lived, but could make him a criminal: he was gay. Although his work during the war was nothing short of heroic, he was condemned after the war for his sexuality, publicly humiliated and forced to undergo chemical castration (hormone therapy that made him impotent). He committed suicide in 1954.

As expected, Cumberbatch was brilliant. He makes you feel that Turing’s arrogant pursuit of his ideas is justified, his social awkwardness is endearing, and his persecution is beyond unfair. Keira Knightley gives one of her best performances as Joan Clarke, a lone woman on the code-breaking team who is Turing’s biggest ally and, for a brief time, his fiancee. Together, they make the work of the code-breakers feel as important, and dangerous, as that of any soldier on the front lines.

In the past decade, the British government declassified Turing’s work, giving him the respect and recognition he long deserved. The government also apologized for prosecuting him for being gay. Still, his story is one I had never come across, which is incredibly sad when you think of the influence his work had. (The code-breaking machine he invented led to the development of a little something you may have heard of, the computer)

While not exactly light, “feel-good” fare, The Imitation Game is a moving and thought-provoking film worth seeing. It sheds light on a little-known aspect of World War II while also exploring what it means to be different. Whether it was for his sexuality or his abrasive genius that rubbed many of his colleagues the wrong way, Turing lived most of his life as an outcast. Most of us can relate to feeling like a misfit at one time or another. But the message of the film, repeated by several different characters, is inspiring: “Sometimes it is the people who no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine.”

Ever since I picked it up in the summer of my seventh grade year, The Book Thief has been my uncontested favorite book. I have since read it three or four times, each repetition resulting in a few more dog-eared pages and underlined phrases. For those of you who have never opened this excellent read (or even worse…just saw the movie), it follows a young girl named Liesel and her foster family who shelter a Jew in their basement during World War 2 through the narration of death himself. Morbid, I know.

So, I was thrilled to open All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr on Christmas morning. I had heard great things about this book and could not wait to start reading. All the Light We Cannot See is a novel about the Holocaust, but it doesn’t include a single concentration camp or starving prisoner, meaning that if you are worried about the graphic horrors usually found in books of this genre, fear not. This novel alternates between the stories (and viewpoints) of two children who are growing up in the 1940s at the height of the Second World War. The first is a girl named Marie-Laure, who lives with her father in Paris and went blind at a young age. Her father was the keeper of the keys at the Paris Museum of Natural History, so even without her sight Marie-Laure lived in a world of knowledge and discovery as she roamed the museum each day while her father went to work. When the Nazis take over Paris, however, Marie’s father knows that his blind child will not stand a chance, and they quickly escape to the seaside town of Saint Malo to live with her uncle Etienne, who suffers from severe PTSD, and his mother-like housekeeper, Madam Manec. Marie helps bring her Uncle back into the world, and must find her own place in resisting the war.

The flip side of the story is told by a young German boy named Werner Pfennig. Growing up in an orphanage with his younger sister Jutta to to care for, Werner never had many opportunities. Other children made fun of him for his bright white hair and oversized ears, but one day when Werner discovers an old transmitter radio locked in an old shed, his life changes completely. The boy quickly realizes he has a natural gift for mathematics and mechanics, and the radio is fixed in no time. Word gets around about the strange looking boy and his brilliant mind, and it is only a matter of time before the Nazi generals themselves are having Werner fix their broken equipment. One such general proves to be a guardian angel and paves the way for Werner’s admission at the Sculpfora, a German academy for soldiers and Nazi youth. In saving Werner from the future of mine working he otherwise would have been forced into, the general open his eyes to a new type of punishment. The boys at the academy are cruel, and the instructors have a heartless, “weed out the weak” policy that results in Werner’s best friend becoming permanently brain dead. He does learn from his physics professor however, and soon becomes a master of radio transmissions and trigonometry. As Werner grows and leaves the school behind, he becomes immersed in the war where it is up to his quick thinking to save lives or end them.

By the end of the book, Werner and Marie-Laure’s lives have come together in an amazing, complex way I would probably go crazy even trying to describe. I really enjoyed this book, the writing was so beautiful and unique, and I enjoyed the way the point of view switched off between the two characters. Similar to the Book Thief, the novel is told through the experiences of children, which puts this awful time in a whole new light. I would recommend this book for anyone who read the Book Thief and loved it as I did, or anyone who is interested in learning more about the civilian side of World War Two. Something tells me I will be reading this book again in the near future, because any read that can transport me to another place and time is an A+ in my book (pun fully intended).