Hello! I’m Charlie, and I’m the new graduate assistant for the Uni Library for the 2020-2021 school year. This is also my first year in the U of I’s iSchool school library licensure program, and as it happens I’m also a Uni High alum (class of 2011).
Lately, reading has been an important source of human connection for me. Like so many of us, I’m doing my best to not get or spread COVID, but it’s been difficult not being able to see my friends or family. I know for high school students, too, things are weird– you get all of the boring parts of high school through Zoom, without any of the socializing. When I’ve been lonely, I’ve been escaping into books, particularly re-reading old favorites.
I don’t need to tell you what your old favorite books are, though, so I thought I’d put together a collection of books about people in similar spots. Whether as friends, more-than-friends, or alien-exploring-the-ruins-of-a-dead-race, these books are all about characters who make meaningful connections to others that aren’t in front of them. Through email, through video games, through letters, the characters in these stories find that, even when they’re not in front of you, other people can still touch your life.
Though all of these are great reads, I think a couple are particularly cool. Illuminae is a sci-fi thriller about two teens in a spacefleet on the run from a shady corporation. While they knew each other before, they’re now on two separate ships, messaging back and forth as they try to unravel the mysterious things happening around them. The stakes in the book get higher and higher as it goes on, and the authors make some avant garde choices beyond regular text-setting that I think really work.
Griffin & Sabine makes some avant garde choices as well, but takes it a step farther. The plot unfolds through letters back and forth between the characters, but the letters aren’t just printed in the book- there are separate letters tucked into the book you can pull out! It’s a cool enough book that the U of I’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library decided to tuck one away, so don’t miss this one.
Finally, Outer Wilds is… not a book?!?! Yes, I am in fact recommending a video game. It’s a game not quite like any other: the only way you make ‘progress’ through the game is by learning. With an absolute minimum of tutorial, you’re set loose to explore a small solar system and unlock its mysteries. There’s no keys to find, no power-ups to unlock, only knowledge. What drew me to include it is the relationship between the player and an ancient race, the Nomai. There are no Nomai left in the galaxy– only their writing remains, and as you explore the miniature planets you genuinely come to know these long-dead aliens, in the same way you get to know a book character. While I’m unlikely to be putting League of Legends on a library display soon, Outer Wilds was such a readerly game that I couldn’t help but put it alongside books.
Here’s a list of the books pictured above. While requesting books from us is a little bit tricky right now, it is doable! Get in touch with me, Ms. Arnold, or Paul if you want help getting your hands on a physical copy of these. Many of these are available from the public libraries as well, either physically or in digital formats.
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Kay Kristoff (Uni High Call # K162i1)
Griffin and Sabine by Nick Bantock (Uni High Call # B2282gr)
Paper Towns by John Green (Uni High Call # G823p)
Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (Uni High Call # M4599re)
Don’t Read the Comments (Available from Urbana and Champaign public libraries)
Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi (Uni High Call # C4522em)
Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater (Uni High Call # St522ca)
Simon vs The Homosapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (Uni High Call # Al146s)
The Outer Wilds (For PC, PS4, and XB1)
“Graciela Iturbide was born in México City in 1942, the oldest of 13 children. When tragedy struck Iturbide as a young mother, she turned to photography for solace and understanding. From then on Iturbide embarked on a photographic journey that has taken her throughout her native México, from the Sonora Desert to Juchitán to Frida Kahlo’s bathroom, to the United States, India, and beyond. Photographic is a symbolic, poetic, and deeply personal graphic biography of this iconic photographer. Iturbide’s journey will excite readers of all ages as well as budding photographers, who will be inspired by her resolve, talent, and curiosity.” – 
“A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about a girl in Sudan in 2008 and a boy in Sudan in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours’ walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the “lost boys” of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way.” –