Radical Friendship and Fashion

Empire Waist, the debut teen comedy written and directed by Claire Ayoub ’11, is about loving yourself and your friends. While that seems gentle, in the wake of the 2024 election, it’s nothing short of radical. The film tells the story of Lenore, a fat teenager who wants more than anything than to be invisible. But when her new friend Kayla discovers Lenore’s secret talent for fashion design, she pushes Lenore to spread her wings and embrace confidence.

With Kayla cheerleading, Lenore designs clothes for her new friends (the fashion in the film is based on designs by Project Runway winner Ashley Nell Tipton), but more than that, she creates a community around her. These teenage girls learn to embrace each other’s differences and their own, chasing off bullies and strutting the high-school hallway like a catwalk in Milan.

But don’t be fooled—Empire Waist isn’t just a lovefest. Led by hard-hitting comedic performances by Rainn Wilson and Missi Pyle, plenty of laughs break up the sweet moments and teen drama. I was delighted by Lenore’s cohort of misfits, each with their own spunky and hilarious personality. Especially charming is church mouse Diamond, played by newcomer Kassandra Tellez, who has a delightfully weird staring competition with Rainn Wilson and a surprise post-credits sequence. (I won’t spoil it, but be sure to stick around!)

Something beautiful about the making of Empire Waist that shines through when you know where to look is that Ayoub built a community around this project. She spent the last five years traveling the country, doing table reads and reaching out to her various networks (Wellesley proudly included) to help her create this film. Just like one of Lenore’s beautiful dresses, Empire Waist doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It exists because Claire drew her community near, listened to the people she made the movie for, and created something for everyone. She’s not just spreading a message of empowerment and community-building; Ayoub is the living embodiment of it.

Night, Night

More than half of all Americans reportedly have difficulty falling or staying asleep. Kat Craddock ’05, editor of Saveur magazine, and Marie-Pierre St-Onge, a nutritionist, to the rescue. They team up in this cookbook to explore the powerful connection between diet and sleep. Craddock developed the recipes with ingredients that trigger melatonin and serotonin in the body. Her approach aligns with a Mediterranean diet and will help readers create a healthy circadian cycle so they feel energetic during the day and ready for sleep at night.

Hemingway Reexamined

Mary Claire Kendall ’81 delves into the complex spiritual journey of author Ernest Hemingway, who converted to Catholicism at age 18 during World War I. Kendall uncovers Hemingway’s evolving relationship with faith, spirituality, and religion throughout his life. Drawing on personal letters, interviews, and literary analysis, the book reveals the impact of his beliefs on his writing and personal struggles. Kendall’s analysis offers a new lens on a writer more often remembered for his machismo than his inner life.

Navigating Adolescence

Adolescence is often considered the most difficult stage of parenting. Yet despite its importance, we have a limited grasp of what it actually takes to help teens through. In Letting Go, Demie Kurz ’68 sheds light on what is needed. Based on numerous interviews with a diverse group of mothers, Kurz details negotiations with teens and young adults over control, trust, and letting go to offer an overview of the real dilemmas contemporary parents face every day.

School for All

In 1977, the school district of Tyler, Texas, informed parents that, unless they could provide proof of citizenship, they would have to pay for their children to attend public school. Four undocumented families fought back in a legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court. One of the children was little Alfredo Lopez, a second grader. This book by Cynthia Yenkin Levinson ’67 tells the story of how Alfredo and his family fought to ensure that all children may learn for free in the United States.