“Unbroken” They were the kind of cheerful decorations you'd expect to see in any teenage girl’s bedroom. Except this was not a bedroom. It was a hospital room. And inside, 15-year-old Lauren Bendesky was fighting for her life. Lauren had a type of cancer called neuroblastoma. And so far, the treatment had been intense. Her weight had plummeted. She had endured extreme nausea and blisters on her mouth and throat. There had been days when she was so sick that she had to be fed through an IV, And all around her had been the sounds of medical machines—a percussive melody of beeps and bleeps that allowed an army of nurses and doctors to keep close tabs on her condition. “Unbroken” They were the kind of cheerful decorations you'd expect to see in any teenage girl’s bedroom. Except this was not a bedroom. It was a hospital room. And inside, 15-year-old Lauren Bendesky was fighting for her life. Lauren had a type of cancer called neuroblastoma. And so far, the treatment had been intense. Her weight had plummeted. She had endured extreme nausea and blisters on her mouth and throat. There had been days when she was so sick that she had to be fed through an IV. And all around her had been the sounds of medical machines—a percussive melody of beeps and bleeps that allowed an army of nurses and doctors to keep close tabs on her condition.“The Volcano That Changed the World” en-year-old John Hoisington stared out the window of his family’s Vermont farmhouse in shock. Itwas June 8, 1816, Summer was just two weeks away. Yet outside, a wild snowstorm was raging. Nearly a foot of snow covered the fields the family had planted only weeks before. The vegetable garden was buried. The apple and pear trees shivered in the Freezing wind, their delicate buds coated with ice. Like most people in 1816, the Hoisingtons grew. almost everything they ate, from the corn in their morning porridge to the chicken and potatoes in their supper-time stew. John saw the look of fear in his 1ed the snow swirling outside. This storm would kill all the crops. There would be little food for the family or their animals. How would they survive? father’s eyes as they wat “The Volcano That Changed the World” a -year-old John Hoisington stared out the window of his family’s Vermont farmhouse in shock. Itwas June 8, 1816, Summer was just two weeks away. Yet outside, a wild. snowstorm was raging. Nearly a foot of snow covered the fields the family had planted only weeks before. The vegetable garden ‘was buried. The apple and pear trees shivered in the freezing wind, their delicate buds coated with ice. Like most people in 1816, the Hoisingtons grew almost everythit yg they ate, from the corn in their morning porridge to the chicken and potatoes in their supper-time stew. John saw the look of fear in his father’s eyes as they watched the snow swirling outside. This storm would kill all the crops. There would be lite food for the family or their animals. How would they survive?“Is It Time for Cursive to Die?” ou love writing in cursive, right? Your pen flies across the page, creating words so beautiful you want to frame them. Wait, what did you say? Your cursive looks like the scribbles of a 2-year-old? Dont worry. Today, many people believe that cursive is a relic of the past, and that the ability to use it is way down on the list of what's important. Until recently, though, writing in cursive was considered one of the most valuable skills taught in school. Kids spent months clutching their pencils, practicing tricky q's and strange- looking zs until they were perfect. In fact, students were graded on their penmanship the way you are graded on math,