Westerfeld’s ‘The Uglies’ tells thrilling adventure, asks thought-provoking questions

Freedom is a cancer, not a right according to many characters in “The Uglies,” a four-book series written by Scott Westerfeld.

After being blackmailed into betraying her friend, protagonist Tally Youngblood unexpectedly finds a world away from obeying the authority and realizes that the obsession with physical appearances taught to the citizens of her home was just a way for the Authority to gain control. In an epic battle for the right to their minds and their independence, Tally and her friends challenge the way of life they have always known by going against the enormity of power that the Authority holds. Filled with non-stop action, drama, romance and a philosophical outlook on what civilization should look like, this series is a must read.

 In the series, hard-to-answer questions are asked but not all answered, which is one of the many intriguing qualities that this series contains. With amazing logic that relates the reader not only to the protagonists, but the antagonists as well, these books get the reader thinking while also allowing them to enjoy a breathtaking tale of young adults fighting for their lives while participating in an inevitable war against the Authority their civilization had been taught to obey.

Although the writing style is somewhat juvenile, the story is both sophisticated and mature. Frankly, no other style would complement it any better. Facing challenges that most adults wouldn’t be able to handle, the teenage characters deal with problems in their own unique ways while still “curing” the situation.

All in all, Westerfeld tells a story that transports the reader into a world where readers participate in an extraordinary journey. This is definitely an amazing set of books that everyone should read at least once.

STRANDED: Girl fights for life in hostile airport conditions or…how I finally got home

Flying. Created to make an easier and more enjoyable traveling experience. What a joke. Flying is one of the most stressful and complicated methods of travel in the world. Yes, it may be the only way to travel around the world in mere hours, but is saving time worth losing your sanity?  Is having to deal with canceled flights, clueless flight attendants and huge, overcomplicated airports worth it? I think not.

 My exciting day of travel started at 4 a.m. at Norfolk Airport in Virginia. Let me tell you, dealing with security guards and creepy, peppy flight attendants that early in the morning is not a good mix. This travel adventure began with a humiliating experience in which I tried to go down an escalator with steps moving up. I finally made it to the plane and zipped to Charlotte, N.C., home to one of the biggest and most complicated airports in which I have ever set foot. After 30 minutes of wondering and hoping I was going in the right direction, I spied a girl who I thought was headed to the same place as I was so, naturally, I stalked her the rest of the way to my gate. Creepy? Yes, but effective. I found my next plane and boarded a just delightful, long and cramped three-hour flight to Dallas, Texas. Only one flight before I was home. Evidently that expectation was just too high for American Airlines.

After boarding what I thought was my final flight home, the pilot announced that all passengers needed to exit the plane and go back to the gating area. The flight was canceled. Attendants would assist us on getting on another flight. With groans of annoyance and frustration, the other passengers along with me on the full flight  got our carry-on bags and went back to the gate where we stood in line for 45 minutes waiting to speak to an attendant. When my turn finally came around the words I heard were, “There are no more flights to Amarillo this evening Miss Beatty, but we can book you a free hotel room for the night.” At that moment my frustration came to a boil. I shouted, “I’m 15! I can’t get my own hotel room!” After that, the attendant franticly explained that they could get me on a flight to Houston where I could switch airlines and get to Amarillo by 8 p.m., eight hours after my original arrival time. Great. I sighed, agreed, and headed to my new gate where I waited three hours to board the flight home. I used the time to get food from McDonald’s and buy a magazine–the crazy clerk gave me a life lesson. “You should put your stuff in a bag so that you will be free,” the clerk said. “The most important thing in life is to be free.”

After an eventful layover, I finally got on my flight to Houston. Once off that plane, I walked until I found myself in the baggage claim area for some unknown reason so I now had to go through security once again. But first, a much-needed drink from Starbucks. Back at security, they informed me that I must chug my drink or throw it away. Apparently, I was liable to take my frustration out on the airport by hiding a bomb in my Frappuccino. I slurped my drink down without tasting it and was then allowed through the line. Three sets of escalators, an indoor train system and endless walking through the terminal I found my gate, which is organized in not only a number system but also a letter corresponding to the number system. In other words, very confusing.

Another plane ride and finally, I’m home. I was back to find friends and family with posters welcoming me home and only memories left of an exasperating day of flying.

Sophomore meets Food Network stars

Heat touched her skin and dust filled her nose as Melanie Moore stepped out of the car to the familiar sight of the old Cadillacs sticking out of the ground. Her family surrounded her as they walked toward the paint-covered vehicles, and soon they heard a very distinctive, loud and familiar laugh. It boomed from across the field as the Moore family stared in shock at a man they had watched on TV so often.

 While visiting Cadillac Ranch, sophomore Melanie Moore met Food Network celebrities Jeff Manthorn and Duff Goldman from the hit show Ace of Cakes. 

Moore’s extended family from Arkansas was in town visiting and wanted to see the well known landmark. The family was surprised to find the crew of Ace of Cakes filming there that same day. After spotting them, Melanie and her family went over to meet the people she had watched on television ever since the show first aired.

“I was nervous and excited about meeting them,” Moore said. “Even though they aren’t big celebrities it was still cool to meet someone off of TV.”

The show Ace of Cakes is about day to day trials of extreme cake decorating at Duff’s Bakery, Charm City Cakes. It features not only Duff and Jeff as head decorators but also the rest of the bakery’s employees. Melanie’s favorite aspect about the show is how they incorporate art into their cakes and how funny all of the stars are while dealing with those unique experiences.

“My favorite person is the receptionist, Mary Alice Fallon Yeskey,” Moore said. “She’s funny.”

For one day Melanie got to witness Duff and Jeff switch from decorating cake to decorating cars.

 “They were getting filmed while spray painting on the Cadillac’s and just having fun,” Moore said.  “They painted a cake on one.”

Boys cross country team to run at home

The boys cross country team raced Oct. 3 at the Oklahoma State University Cross Country Jamboree in Stillwater OK. The team competed against 4A-5A schools from Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

Seniors Will Welling and Josh Backus placed first and second overall respectively among the 215 runners, with times of 16:32 and 16:34.  The team finished up with Jared Beatty at 38^th, Jason Ray at 41^st and Mesa Allison at 49^th.  Overall the team placed second with a score of 121 points, losing to Guthrie, OK.

The team next meet will be at Canyon High, Oct. 10 at 8:45 a.m. The boys say they are expecting to improve their times and hope to pull off the first team win of the season.

After the Canyon Invitational, the team will run at WT and then move on to district and beyond.

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