By:   Staff Writer Charley Hrobsky

“You are Eadlyn Schreave. You are the next person in line to run this country, and you will be the first girl to do it on your own. No one,” I said, “is as powerful as you.” Eadlyn Schreave, the heir to the throne of Illea, has been forced to hold a Selection of her own in the fourth addition to The Selection series by Kiera Cass. The book takes place twenty years after The One’s ending, and follows Maxon and America’s eldest learn the importance of love and dependency. The castes have been eliminated and all seems like it should be perfect, so why have a Selection for their daughter and not her twin brother? Eadlyn’s Selection is supposed to distract from the riots in the districts of Illea and show happiness throughout the country. Only one teensy problem: Eadlyn does not want it and shows it quite easily to the citizens of Illea.

Let us begin with discussing Eadlyn’s character. Eadlyn is the eldest of America’s twins, by seven minutes. This is made quite clear throughout the entire book during any of Eadlyn’s rants. The rants are not just a few either, they are all over the place. Overall, Eadlyn can be described as bratty, self-centered, and selfish. These three characteristics make no sense when readers compare it to her parents and her very own siblings. Eadlyn’s character could be described as insecure at first. She has to remind herself multiple times that she is the powerful one. However, as the book goes on, readers can see that she does that because she is self-centered. Eadlyn does not seem to care about any of the citizens of the country like her parents do. She hates it when the Selection boys come in and point out all of her flaws that are mentioned above. Or when she goes outside the castle and gets food thrown at her. It is crazy clear that she is detached from the people surrounding her. As the book moves on, Eadlyn’s character has times where she overreacts and says people are attacking her, when they barely touched her, and when she is sincere. When something happens to Ahren, her reaction was a bit creepy. Nothing horrible happened yet she was smashing items and saying how he was an idiot. She can be close to her brother, but she did not want him going anywhere without her. She did not want him to be happy without her either. Perhaps that was due to the fact that she actually was not happy in the life she was leading.  Her character development is a slow one that will hopefully speed up in the next book.

Eadlyn’s brother, Ahren, was by far a great character for pointing out Eadlyn’s flaws. It is clear that Ahren’s love for Eadlyn is one of his greatest priorities. In the spirit of Kiera Cass though, there is a love even greater: his love for the French princess, Camille. Ahren’s love for Camille is the sweetest thing in the world. He writes letters to her even after they talked on the phone for hours because he says there are things you just cannot say on the phone that you can in a letter. That is too true! I definitely wish that Ahren had a bigger role in this book, but perhaps he will show up again in the next book.

The Selection boys in The Heir did not get as much spotlight as readers had hoped. They had their parts obviously, but there were so many boys that they did not get the individuality that the girls did in The Selection, The Elite, and The One. Henri is definitely one of the happiest guys in the entire selection. He was sweet and loving towards Eadlyn, but her attraction to him took longer than it did from his side. Kile has the clichéd childhood sweethearts going for him, but his sarcastic remark and easygoing nature gives him brownie points. Ean gave off a creepy vibe towards the end of the book, but his confidence rings true throughout the entire book. There are many more boys that readers are not introduced to directly in this book, but they shall see where each relationship will lead in the next book.

The last page of the book clearly showed Eadlyn’s small character development throughout The Heir, but she will have to have more to satisfy Selectioners in the future. The Heir, and Eadlyn’s love story, has huge expectations to uphold due to the love toward America and Maxon in the first three books to The Selection series.

By:   Staff Writer Charley Hrobsky

Spelled has worked its magic into the hearts of readers. Author Betsy Schow has written her debut fiction novel in a way like many readers have never seen before. Despite the immature writing at the beginning of the book, Betsy Schow’s writing evolved to quickly make up for the beginning. The dialogue was written as how any teenagers in today’s world would speak, but with some of the lingo of the Emerald City world, where the story takes place, mixed in. The protagonist, Dorothea, had major character development that almost went too quickly. The secondary characters were phenomenally written which kept this book moving and fresh.

The plotline of Spelled has a lot of history before Dorothea’s adventures can begin. Readers learn of a curse that was improperly placed on Emerald City’s princesses and continues throughout the generations. Princess Dorothea cannot go near fire, so she and her mother are both locked in the castle. Neither has seen the outside world until an evil witch comes onto the scene and tears apart the castle. Dorothea, or Dot, ends up getting a special star that makes wishes from this disguised evil witch. When Kato, the prince of a mysterious land, comes onto the scene and talks with Dot’s parents about an arranged marriage, Dot uses the star to create a wish that makes the magic go crazy. Kato ends up getting turned into a chimera, and the evil witch is able to move past the castle’s barriers to begin a war. Many events unfold following the wish that change Dot’s character as well as Kato’s character.

Princess Dorothea is probably the queen of character development in Spelled. When readers are first introduced to Dot she seems to be the most shallow character that has ever been written into existence. She only cares about the clothes she is wearing and the shoes. Everything is about the materials in her castle that she has never left. When all goes down the wormhole, Dot changes like the wind blowing in the trees. Kato, her fianceé, tags along for the adventure along with her maidservant, Rexi. From not caring what another person thought of her, and not having any friends at all, Dot quickly cares to save both of them when in danger and thinks of them as friends until the very end. Betsy Schow knows how to write character development, and make you love a character, like a beast.

Kato is a favorite for secondary characters. When he first appears as a man covered in dirt readers may think he could never be a prince. However, they quickly learn that being a prince is more than the clothes and hygiene they may have. Kato, despite being a chimera for the majority of the book, acts like the prince that he is in the most unlikely of ways. His character also develops though not nearly as much as Dot’s.

The main antagonist of Spelled, Griz the Gray Witch, was not the normal evil witch of fairy tales. She did not spoil her plans by spilling her guts to Dot before trying to kill her. Also, she used to fear to gather up allies, which in fairy tales usually does not happen. Griz was allied with the Mimicman, also known as the Wizard of Oz. Mimicman, it was eluded to, was in love with the first princess of the Emerald City. Could it be the Dorothy? Perhaps readers will find out in the upcoming books.

Overall, readers will enjoy this quirky fairy tale with twists and turns. Advice to future readers: push through the first 50 pages and get to the phenomenal parts. You will be glad you did. Spelled comes to stores June 2, 2015, and you will want to be there to pick it up straight away!

By Photography Editor Ksenya Seager

The French Club extends the French culture to the NHS community during the 13th annual Diversity Fair on April 24.

The 13th annual Diversity Fair had a variety of activities including Henna Tatoos, Student Stage, Bouncy Obstacle Course, Driving Simulations, and opportunities for many clubs to showcase their products and raise money. The Diversity Fair was created to make students aware of the differences among them and to celebrate and accept diversity within NHS. This event will continue to be a tradition that students and staff will look forward to for years.

By:   Staff Writer Charley Hrobsky

The Hundred by Kass Morgan is a book beyond the expectations other dystopian novels have set for standards.

“Maybe here in the ruins of the old world, they could start something new.” The Hundred by Kass Morgan is a book beyond the expectations other dystopian novels have set for standards. Unlike many of the young adult dystopian authors today, Morgan writes about events that many teen-agers have actually experienced in today’s world.

The history of The Hundred is a simple one: The Earth had a nuclear explosion that caused a nuclear winter, which killed off the human race. Except for the lucky few that ended up loading onto a ship and blasting off to space. This is where they live and develop their lives for 300 years. On the ship their laws are strict because of  the living conditions. Anyone who has broken their laws automatically goes into their jail called Confinement. Criminals who are under 18 get a hearing on their birthdays. Recently, though, the teen-agers have all been getting released into space, their version of the death penalty, and not getting a fair trial. No one on the ship knows why, but readers soon find out later.

The plotline of The Hundred begins from Clarke’s point of view, and she is in Confinement for a crime that has to do with her parents. Readers quickly find out about the history of the ship, and how the Chancellor is going to send down 100 teen-age criminals to Earth to study the effects of Earth’s atmosphere on them through a bracelet. The Chancellor, however,  is quick to inform the teen-agers that no one else on the ship is to know about the mission. When the ship is about to take off, after the Chancellor says his speech, chaos begins. Bellamy, one of the main characters, decides to run onto the drop ship and shoot the Chancellor. This leaves Wells, our third main character, scared for his dad’s life, but because of Wells being in Confinement he cannot leave the ship. Glass, another main character, gets loose from the drop ship by crawling through the interior of the ship until she gets onto the main ship. Then the ship drops down to Earth leaving the teen-agers afraid about what to do next.

Kass Morgan did an interesting way of telling the story of coming back to Earth: she writes from four point of views. Many people may say that four, or even three, point of views are too much for one book. In The Hundred it works!  If The Hundred had only been written from one point of view, readers definitely would not have gotten the entire story, or even from two point of views. Kass Morgan’s characters tell the story in their dialogue and actions. This way readers can easily tell the difference when the viewpoints change.

The first character that we are introduced to in the story is Clarke. Clarke is a Phoenician, which is not from ancient times, but rather from the high-class section of the ship called Phoenix. Clarke was in training to become a doctor when she committed her crime. Next is Wells, who is the Chancellor’s own son. Wells is Clarke’s ex-boyfriend for reasons that at first is not revealed, but the tension between the two’s interactions is quickly felt. Wells’ crime has to be worse than any of the other teen-agers’ crimes because of his status, and the crime fits well. Next is Bellamy, one of the most complex characters in the book. Bellamy has a sister, which is not allowed on the ship. Because he has a sister, Octavia, he wants to get onto the dropship and be with her. He definitely does that with a flourish and bang. The last character we are introduced to is Glass. When Bellamy is getting onto the drop ship, Glass sneaks off the drop ship where she leaves to escape to her ex-boyfriend’s apartment. Glass is the only character whose point of view tells of what is happening on the ship while the other hundred are down on Earth.

Just like many books, the secondary characters stood out and contributed to the plot line. This book could not function without the two of the secondary characters: Luke and the Vice Chancellor. The Vice Chancellor works behind the scenes in The Hundred to get people killed and take power. He ends up getting Clarke into Confinement after her parent’s trials, and he also is making decisions while the Chancellor is in a coma. If that does not sound like a power hungry man, then who is? At least he wins the award for the least likable character in many people’s hearts.

Luke is Glass’ ex-boyfriend that after escaping the drop ship she goes to see. Surprise though! He currently has a girlfriend, but that does not deter Glass. She sticks around and eventually Luke and her work things out. Luke is a Waldenite, basically the Jack Dawson of the main ship. He is an engineer and has a huge part of Glass’ history that quickly reopens.

The Hundred could have easily been concluded within one book with the way that the story had been going until the last 10 pages. A plot twist was predicted about five pages before and had been confirmed without a doubt. Readers will have to continue on to reading the second book, Day 21, or watch the tv series on CW to find out what happens.

By:  Staff Editorial

The 2015 NHS prom, with theme “Arabian Nights,” scheduled to occur this Saturday at the Riverwalk Hotel in downtown Neenah has left students buzzing around school with excitement.

Some groaning is the result of the venue change from the cafeteria to the hotel, which resulted in an increased ticket price. The pricey night, however, is not the biggest concern for some students; rather, they worry about the “Arabian Nights” theme. The prom committee has put together what promises to be an enjoyable evening, and most students have been too worried about dates, dresses and dances to truly stop to think about this year’s prom. Have students been overlooking major flaws in the theme?

People may be familiar with “Arabian Nights” from the centuries old tales or the 2000 TV movie. According to a summarized version by Michael McGoodwin, after a king discovers his first wife has been unfaithful, he kills her and then begins to marry new wives every night only to kill them in the morning. One wife decides to put an end to this and tricks the king into keeping her alive for 1,001 nights by telling him a story. She ends each story with a cliffhanger so the king is motivated to keep her alive to allow her to finish telling the story. The stories the wife tells include the well-known tales of “Aladdin’s Lamp” and “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.”

An informative article by Leila Abdul Razzaq, “An Actual Arab on Arabian Nights,” tells how the Western version of “Arabian Nights” has created a generalization of Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian cultures. The original story is not just limited to Saudi Arabia, but also to India, Persia and South Asia. Orientalism, a term coined by Edward Said, “Is a way of seeing that imagines, emphasizes, exaggerates and distorts differences of Arab peoples and cultures as compared to that of Europe and the U.S.” The Western version of the tale has changed the ancient story and in turn erased hundreds, even thousands, of years of history and culture. The “Americanized” version of Arabian Nights is predominantly based on stereotypes and generalizations.

Common misconceptions and generalizations include that veiled women are oppressed, belly dancers represent sexual promiscuity and those of Arab descent are inherently terrorists. The Arab American National Museum explains that most veiled women are not forced to wear a veil, but instead choose to do so voluntarily and for religious reasons. Belly dancing originated from ancient fertility rites. Believing that all Arabs and Muslims are terrorists is a racism and destructive mindset.

Unfortunately, Americans are often ignorant of Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian cultures, which furthers the belief that the Eastern World is one large culture, when in actuality, hundreds of diverse and unique cultures exist. Generalizing the Arabian culture into one all-encompassing theme is disrespectful.

Those outside the Prom committee will have to wait until Saturday to see what the theme and decorations entail.  While it is unpredictable what will occur at prom, it is pertinent for students to de-generalize and unstereotype the Arab, Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian cultures and the subcultures within them. Coming to prom in culturally appropriative clothing, headdresses or other accessories would be inappropriate and indecent. Consider this: Is it right for Americans to weave other people’s cultures into a prom theme?

For more information on this subject, refer to “An Actual Arab on Arabian Nights” by Leila Abdul Razzaq.

https://ttsdramaturgyblog.wordpress.com/2013/11/11/an-actual-arab-on-arabian-nights/

By: Editor Addie Zwick

The upcoming Diversity Fair on Friday promises to bring enriching, educational entertainment and cultural experiences during both the assembly and the fair following.

The assembly will include appearances by musicians, a poetry reading by NHS students, a diversity video created by students from GSA titled “I am Human” and speeches from people who had an important impact on the first Diversity Fair. The fair itself will be filled with booths from clubs such as the French club, Latino Club, Spanish club, GSA, SEA club, Eco club, Culinary club and Heart club, among others, selling food, beverages and goods, and offering services such as karaoke and games.

The assembly will occur between mods two and three, and the fair will be open for all the following mods. Classes will be shortened and fourth and fifth mod will be switched. All students will attend the assembly, and students may visit the fair with the permission of their teachers. Select classes will also have opportunities to attend a performance by Improvicide, a seminar on mindfulness or a self defense class with teacher’s permission.

The theme of this year’s fair is “Raise Your Voice Now,” and it harkens back to the original Diversity Fair of 13 years ago, the year that the painted wooden figures were installed in the Link, accompanied by the poem that is still there today. This year’s fair will center around the poem and the figures, as restorations on both are currently being done.

A cultural trip to Paris and Bayonne was taken by 14 NHS French students over spring break.

French teacher Erin Meilhon led a 12-day trip to Paris and Bayonne over spring break this year. Of the 12 days, students stayed with host families from a sister school in the Basque region for five days and explored Paris for the other seven days of the trip.
Staying with host families allowed the students to explore more in-depth cultural experiences, such as seeing how a real French family lives and eating authentic French food. Students also had the opportunity, if they chose, to speak only French with their host families, which many embraced. Some students were given the opportunity to go to Spain for a day trip as well during a Saturday spent with their host families, explained Meilhon with enthusiasm.
While the group traveled in Paris, they visited many iconic locations such as the Eiffel Tower, the Champs-Elysees and Arc de Triomphe, and the Palace of Versailles. Students also visited the Notre Dame cathedral and Love-lock bridge, and took boat tours along the Seine river.
“I love watching students learn how to navigate a city like Paris, and their reaction of pride when they come back to me telling me they just spoke French to someone when they ordered something, or come back after a day when they mostly spoke French. This just validates everything we do and makes what we teach very worthwhile and real,” said Meilhon.
Meilhon has been a teacher at NHS for 10 years and has taken five trips with students and plans to take more. Trips are an option for any student who is currently enrolled in French. Interested students should contact Meilhon for details on a trip to Paris the summer of 2016.

By: Editors Alyx Prieto and Addie Zwick

A Transgender bathroom policy was passed by the Menasha School Board on Monday at the Maplewood Community Room.

The Menasha school board was approached by parents of a Transgender high school student asking permission for her to use female restrooms and change into her band uniform with other girls well over a year ago, Menasha school board member and NHS teacher Eric Thiede said.

The school board granted the student permission and also decided to draft a new police for all Transgender students. The policy ranges from issues to phys-ed classes and locker rooms to sports and bathrooms.

“I believe this policy is in the best interest of Transgender students because it allows them to be who they are and to feel safe in school at all times,” Thiede said.

The NHS GSA attended the final reading of the policy before the school board vote. Several people spoke in favor of and against the policy, but ultimately the school board voted unanimously to enact the policy.

This is the first official Transgender policy enacted by the Menasha School District.

“We wanted to make sure that we have protected the rights of all students… from now and moving forward into the future,” Thiede said, expressing hope that Neenah might enact a similar policy in the years to come.

By:  Staff Writer Charley Hrobsky  

Protagonist, Molly Barlow, has 99 days to fix all of the broken relationships she left when she ran off to Bristol, Az, from the secrets she kept; author Katie Cotugno features Molly in her second novel called 99 Days.

Day one of the story starts out with Molly’s house being egged by her ex-boyfriend’s sister, Julia. This begins the onslaught of memories from before Molly left Star Lake, the cutest small town name of which I have ever heard. The book’s synopsis does not begin to tell readers what the story is about, and more than expected meets the eye to this contemporary book. Molly begins as a girl who lays around inside her dark house all day purposely avoiding her neighbors’ eyes.

As the story goes on and Molly’s character develops, she grows to become more social through a certain someone called Gabe. I love Gabe. Gabe Donnelly is Molly’s ex-boyfriend’s, Patrick, brother. The relationships in this book are all tangled and then untangled. It is a huge mess of ropes, especially when it comes to Molly’s friends, Imogen and Tessa, and Julia Donnelly, Patrick’s twin sister. The characters all appear to be shallow characters, but just as Molly’s character develops, so do the secondary characters. My favorite characters in the book are definitely Gabe and Imogen.

Beginning  with Imogen, readers meet her as a waitress working in a diner. Imogen first appears as a stuck-up girl who does not act as if Molly is her best friend. Imogen, however, finally explodes in Molly’s face, in a nice way, and all the walls she built come crashing down falling around Molly’s feet. Imogen has such a cute, Southern charm going on throughout the book, but she also keeps the book real and moving. Molly confides in Imogen with her fears and secrets, and I can tell by how Molly views Imogen that she cares for her deeply.

Next is Gabe. When Katie Cotugno uses flashbacks, which I will talk more about later, readers dislike Gabe. Flashback Gabe was viewed as a jerk who stole his brother’s girlfriend. Deep down I knew Gabe was perfect for Molly. Gabe and Molly have a relationship in the beginning of the book, and every time Molly is around Gabe she talks about how right their hugs or hand holding feels. I felt that right along with Molly. Gabe just had this aura around the words describing him that I could imagine the feeling of rightness. Patrick on the other hand, Molly’s ex-boyfriend, felt wrong. Although he does get perks for being a great guy in the flashbacks, he is a jerk in the present time. Patrick appeared to hate Molly when we first meet him in the book, but then he messes with her head. I just cannot appreciate guys who mess with girl’s heads in books. At least he makes Gabe look better.

A concept that I really love in books is flashback mode. Flashbacks allow the readers to grasp a character’s background without the confusion of trying to mix it into the storyline in present times. When authors, like Katie Cotugno, put flashbacks into their writing it is like a little Easter egg popping up in the grass bursting their colors. Katie’s writing style has flashbacks where the reader knows it is a flashback, but she puts a break between the writing and goes right into the flashback. When I came across the first flashback I was confused, but as the book went on it felt so natural. Flashbacks should be a thing.

Katie Cotugno’s book 99 Days definitely lives up to all the hype it is getting on Goodreads and social media. Her debut novel, How To Love, was just the beginning of a Cotugno era, and I will jump on the bandwagon all the way down that lane. Just as readers should April 15, 2015!

Sophomores now have ChromeBooks, as of this past week.

The office has been taking care of problems and uncomfortable situations effectively and quickly.

The 2015 trip to France was excellent. All students had an amazing time and learned a lot.

The GSA is making strides with its video planned for Diversity Fair.

Sophomore Ksenya Seager shared her photography skills with a local Girl Scout troop to help the girls earn their photography badge.

Wisconsin Badgers nearly achieved an NCAA championship win.

We love our custodians! Thank you for making our school the clean, safe environment that it is.

R-SAT  - The Reading Student Advisory Team kicked off with its first meeting.

Slams:

Juniors and seniors still do not have ChromeBooks.

The ongoing construction in Mercury commons is becoming inconvenient to students.

The staff (and teachers, in particular) appear extremely overworked, and this is a concern to students.