Written by Aletheia Fitch The Castle             He barred the windows and double checked the tripwire. Still it came in, undetected, through the roof. It slipped through the shingles, crawling with what could have been a million legs if it weren’t so grotesquely large.             The castle was many-storied, with

Kindred spirits. A dress with puffed sleeves. A broken slate. Tasting ice cream for the first time. The beloved story of Lucy Maud Mongomery’s Anne of Green Gables starts with the titular character of Anne (spelled with an “e,” of course). The first and most popular novel tells of Anne’s

Have you ever thought to yourself, “Gee, I wish Buttercup from The Princess Bride had more autonomy and also a taser”? That’s how this book was pitched to me. (Well, almost. The taser part is my own flavoring. You’re welcome.) “That sounds amazing!” I said to my sister-in-law and her

Written by Abigail Wagher It had been thirty-two days since the sun had died and the shadow drought began. At least, they thought it had been thirty-two days. Without the sun, it had grown hard to keep track. Now there was just a constant state of starlight. A boy did

Why is it easier to hurt the ones you love the most? In the middle of America’s Heartland, a small town in Indiana named Corehart sat. People boasted of its talent–a contrast to its small size–because everything made there didn’t just come from the townsfolk’s hands, it came from their

Written by Isabelle Portis For seven nights in a row, screaming matches in his parents’ bedroom kept Oliver awake. The weight of their war threatened to crush him as their words struck one another and the debris fell upon his shoulders. He knew that something had to be done, and

When Where the Crawdads Sing hit theaters this summer, I, like many others, found myself enchanted with this story set in the middle of the marshes of North Carolina. While I enjoyed the movie, I wanted to read the book, since I had heard that it was even better. The

What was your favorite dream as a kid? Flying dreams? Candyland dreams? Dreams in which you saw old friends, old pets, a joyful reunion where nothing else mattered? Dreams that made you powerful, a hero in a story? One of my favorite dreams was one I only had once. And

Note from the Editor: Welcome back, Cairn! We’re celebrating the kick off of the semester by sharing a story—a story that won the Dr. Jean Minto Fellowship Writing Award for Creative Non-fiction last semester! Before we present this poignant true story, let us present its author: Abigail Wagher. What first

The author of the famous Alex Rider series has struck again! Writing adult fiction in more recent years, Anthony Horowitz redefined the ideals for the British “whodunit,” in his book, Magpie Murders, while still nodding his head in appreciation for Agatha Christie’s classic novels.             Magpie Murders is a book