Storygraphs for Student Workers

by Ahlaam Abdulwali ’25

With the start of the new school year, the newsletter editors wanted to find a way to introduce the new (and old) student workers. A fun fact? Boring. A syllabus for a class about their lives? Done before. Instead, we had each student worker write a storygraph for their fictional memoir. If you want to learn more about Birdie’s non-mysterious life or Cal’s love for Warrior Cats, you can read the storygraphs below!

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A Book That Always Stays Open: A Brief Introduction to Lucy Flack (’27)

Moods:

• happy 75% 
• emotional 28% 
• relaxing 40%
• curled up in bed 30% 
• reflective 36% 
• hopeful 45% 
• challenging 18% 
• inspiring 20%
• funny 15% and/or 49% 
• lighthearted 19% 
• adventurous 8% 
• mysterious 0% 
• whimsical 9%

Pace: medium 50% | fast 30% | slow 20%

Plot or Character Driven? Character: 54% | A mix: 25% | Plot: 11%

Strong Character Development? Yes: 83% | It’s complicated: 10% | No: 2%

Loveable Characters? Yes: 86% | It’s complicated: 12% | No: 1%

Related texts / people also enjoyed:

• ●  The Great Believers – Rebecca Makkai
• ●  The Harry Potter Series – She Who Must Not Be Named
• ●  The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles – Julie Andrews

Soundtrack for film adaptation:

• ●  “Oldies Station” by twenty one pilots
• ●  “Medicine” by Dayglow
• ●  “Saint Simon” by The Shins
• ●  “Fool’s Gold” by Briston Maroney
• ●  “Dumbledore’s Farewell” by Nicholas Hooper
• ●  “Nobody” by half•alive
• ●  “cardigan” by Taylor Swift
• ●  “So Many People” by Two Door Cinema Club

First line: “You know when a dog comes up to you—tail wagging, tongue out and smiling, already so full of love for you? That’s me: perfectly content with trading in zero ‘mystery factor’ for a smile or two.”

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Certified Lingerer: A Journey Through Ahlaam’s Past Lives (Ahlaam Abdulwali ’25)

Moods:

• emotional 40%
• happy 55%
• reflective 76%
• hopeful 86%
• funny 30%
• lighthearted 20%
• adventurous 1%
• mysterious 1%
• relaxing 1%

Pace: medium 70% | fast 28% | slow 2%

Plot- or character-driven? Character: 60% | A mix: 24% | Plot: 6% 

Strong character development? Yes: 60% | It’s complicated: 30% | No: 10% 

Loveable characters? Yes: 80% | It’s complicated: 19% | No: 1% 

Related texts / people also enjoyed

• Anna Karenina -Leo Tolstoy
• Quicksand -Nella Larsen
• Bodega -Su Hwang

Soundtrack for film adaptation

• “Un Millón” by The Marías
• “Is It a Crime” by Sade
• “Francis Forever” by Mitski
• “Selfless” by The Strokes
• “Full Moon” by Brandy
• “Supermodel” by SZA
• “Pintura” by Patio Solar
• “Nagma” by King Khalid

First line: “There are infinite ways to pronounce my name, and, for each pronunciation, there are infinite versions of me.”

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Coffee Shop Cryptid: The Odds and Ends of Birdie Keller (’25)

Moods:

• Mysterious 0% (this is an OPEN book)
• Identity Crisis 30%
• Emotional 80% (crying is good for you)
• Stargazing 12%
• Funny? 10%
• Cozy Blankets and Candles 86%
• Tense 5% (when there are unread emails)
• Wanting a Cat 100%

Pace: Alternates between breakneck and very slow. (99% of the book occurs before 10am.)

Plot or Character Driven? Character: 98% | A mix: 2% | Plot: 1%  (The plot sneaks up on you)

Strong Character Development? Yes: 73% | It’s complicated: 22% | No: 5% 

Loveable characters? Yes: 96% | It’s complicated: 4%

Related texts / People Also Enjoyed

• The Dreamer Trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater
• A Psalm For the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
• The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley
• The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin
• Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
• Tender by Sofia Samatar

Soundtrack for film adaptation

• “Two Birds” by Regina Spektor
• “Blue Healer” by Birdtalker
• “Altalena” by Lino Cannavacciuolo
• “Talk it Up” by Sammy Rae & The Friends
• “King” by Florence & The Machine

First line: “It was a tragic day when Birdie lost their favorite pen.”

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Winds Whisper Songs and What Ifs (Vivian Montgomery ’28)

Moods:

• emotional 86%
• funny 59%
• adventurous 51%
• reflective 43%
• sad 33.3%
• inspiring 33%
• hopeful 29%
• lighthearted 20%
• dark 10%

Pace:  medium 75% | slow 27% | fast 16%

Plot or Character Driven? Character: 79% | mix: 46% | Plot: 34%

Strong Character Development? Yes: 67% | It’s complicated: 43% | No: 23% 

Loveable Characters? Yes: 63% | It’s complicated: 39% | No: 12% 

Related texts / people also enjoyed: 

• Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan 
• Dear Evan Hansen by Steven Levenson
• Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling 
• Heaven Offical’s Blessing by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
• Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin
• Loveless by Alice Oseman

Soundtrack for film adaptation:

• “Passing Through” – Kaden MacKay
• “From the Start” – Laufey
• “Could Have Been Me” – The Struts
• “People Watching” – Conan Gray
• “Talk Too Much”  – COIN
• “Until I Found You (with Em Beihold)” – Stephen Sanchez, Em Beihold
• “Talk to Me” – Cavetown
• “0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You)” – Tomorrow X Together
• “Revenge Party” – Mean Girls
• “You Will Be Found” – Dear Evan Hansen
• “Seventeen” – Heathers
• “More Than Anything (Reprise)” – Hazbin Hotel

First line: “Learning to love is hard, but learning to be loved the right way is harder.”

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La Chicana Rockera: Jizelle’s Place in a Weird World (Jizella Villegas ‘26)

Moods:

• happy: 78
• emotional: 93%
• relaxing: 3
• wanting to be a vampire: 72%
• funny: 90%
• spooky: 100%

Pace: medium: 72% fast | 19% slow| 9%

Plot- or Character Driven: Character: 65% | A Mix: 20% | Plot: 15%

Strong Character Development: Yes: 60% | It’s Complicated: 30% | No: 10%

Loveable Characters: Yes: 75% | It’s Complicated: 20% | No: 5%

Related Texts/People Also Enjoyed:

• ●  Ophelia After All by Racquel Marie
• ●  Borderlands/La Frontera by Gloria Anzaldua
• ●  The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobsky

Soundtrack for Film Adaptation:

• ●  “Somewhere I Belong” by Linkin Park
• ●  “Chinese Satellite” by Phoebe Bridgers
• ●  “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” by Radiohead
• ●  “The Perfect Girl” by The Cure
• ●  “Matenme Porque Me Muero” by Caifanes
• ●  “Bull Believer” by Wednesday
• ● “I Still Do” by The Cranberries 

First Line: “I’ve lost my voice many times because I screamed too hard at a concert the night before.”

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Whimsical Winnie’s Wondrous Adventure of Life (Winnie Hilker ‘25)

Moods:

• emotional 89%
• sad 45%
• tense 70%
• dark 15%
• reflective 89%
• hopeful 90%
• challenging 40%
• inspiring 65%
• informative 8%
• funny 79%
• lighthearted 80%
• adventurous 65%
• mysterious 1%
• relaxing 1%

Pace: medium 55% | fast 65% | slow 3%

Plot or Character Driven? Character: 90% | A mix: 40% | Plot: 50% 

Strong Character Development? Yes: 90% | It’s complicated: 20% | No: 8% 

Loveable Characters? Yes: 55% | It’s complicated: 39% | No: 20% 

Related texts / people also enjoyed: 

• Looking for Alaska by John Green
• Double Fudge by Judy Blume 
• Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

Soundtrack for film adaptation:

• “Two of Us” by the Beatles
• “Frances” by Role Model 
• “Red Wine Supernova” by Chappell Roan
• “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield
• “State of Grace” by Taylor Swift 
• “Tears Dry On Their Own” by Amy Winehouse 

First line: “As she looked up from her paisley print jeans, Winnie realized she had been staring out the window all day long.”

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Still Figuring It Out: A Memoir of a Life in Progress (aka Naming This Was Way Too Stressful of a Decision to Make) (Peyton Williamson ‘27)

Moods

• lighthearted 79%
• emotional 60%
• funny 53%
• adventurous 42%
• relaxing 29%
• hopeful 26%
• stressful 18%

Pace: medium 55% | fast 40% | slow 3%

Plot- or character-driven? A mix: 56% | Character: 34% | Plot: 28% 

Strong character development? Yes: 72% | It’s complicated: 18% | No: 8% 

Loveable characters? Yes: 67% | It’s complicated: 39% | No: 9% 

Related texts / people also enjoyed

• The Princess Bride by William Goldman
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
• Normal People by Sally Rooney
• Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
• The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
• The Lord of the Ringstrilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien

Soundtrack for film adaptation

• “Long Live” by Taylor Swift
• “Everywhere” by Fleetwood Mac
• “Almost (Sweet Music)” by Hozier
• “Everlong” by Foo Fighters
• “Forever” by Noah Kahan
• “Georgia” by Phoebe Bridgers
• “Wide Open Spaces” by The Chicks
• “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman

First line: “Sometimes I’ll tell a story of something that happened to me once, and then realize I was explaining a book plot the whole time.”

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Tachau’s Trials and Tribulations (Sarah Tachau ‘27)

Moods:

• Pretty ok 70%
• Calm 70%
• Sponge-like level of observance 50%
• Quiet 50%
• Distracted 40%
• Adventurous 0.05%

Pace: Slow and steady 70% | Fast 2% | Medium 1%

Plot or Character Driven? Character: 20% A mix: 10% Plot: 80%

Strong Character Development? Yes 50% | Depends on how you define that: 80% | No: 2%

Loveable Characters? Yes: 80% | Maybe: 10% | No: 10%

Related texts / people also enjoyed:

• Letters to A Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
• What is Found There/ An Atlas of the Difficult World/ The Fact of a Doorframe by Adrienne Rich 
• On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong 
• Circles on the Water by Marge Piercy

Soundtrack for film adaptation:

• “Waltz (Better Than Fine)” by Fiona Apple
• “Ooh La La” by Faces
• “All My Friends” by LCD Soundsystem
• “The Good Times Are Killing Me” by Modest Mouse
•  “Steamboat” by Adrianne Lenker
• “Triple Dog Dare” by Lucy Dacus
• “A Month Or Two” by Odie Leigh
• “Not Dead Yet” by Lord Huron
• “Dancing in the Dark” by Bruce Springsteen

First line: “I don’t know how to start a fire, but I do know it cannot possibly be done if we’re all worrying about our little worlds falling apart.”

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The third largest moon & their off-the-record archives (Cal Martinez ‘26)

Moods:

• Sleepy: 99.99%
• Social (around dogs and horses): 98%
• Just a little guy: 92%
• Sarcastic: 88%
• Caffeinated: 87%
• Witty: 79%
• Anxious: 73%
• Clumsy: 49%
• Existential: 47%
• Social (around humans): 38%
• Indecisive: 34%
• Productive: 9%
• Making unethical publishing decisions: <5%

Pace: Slow: 10% | That of a slow burning candle, and then a smoke alarm: 80% | Fast: 10%

Plot or Character Driven? Plot-driven: 8% | Character-driven: 39% | Coffee-driven: 53%

Strong Character Development? Yes: 60% | It’s complicated: 18% | It’s mental illness: 22%

Loveable Characters? Yes: 43% | More lovable dogs than human characters: 52% | No: 5%

Related texts / people also enjoyed: 

• Crime and Punishment byFyodor Dostoevsky
• Crookedstar’s Promiseby Erin Hunter
• The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia PlathbySylvia Plath

Soundtrack for film adaptation:

• “Strawberry” by Andrew Montana 
• “Slide Tackle” by Japanese Breakfast
• “Like A Dog” by Jordana
• “Not Strong Enough” by boygenius
• “Sweet Tooth” by Maya Hawke
• “Your Best American Girl” by Mitski

First line: “Old postcards of places they’ve explored only through their ancestors, morning sun in full brightness stretched across a lavender duvet, a half-greenhouse of pothos plants and montesteras, and a barking foster dog, all cheering for Callisto to at least throw their covers off of their head; and still, they hit the snooze button.“

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Thank you to all the student workers for taking the time to make a storygraph for their fictional memoir! Not storygraphed here: Eva Sturm, Bea Lloyd, and Delilah Acosta