Author: Tiffany Jablonowski

The Quill #6: True Crime

MAy 7,2025

The Hinterkaifeck Murders

Trigger warning: home invasion, mass murder, and child murder.

The farm where the murders took place.Unsolved homicides are one of, if not the most terrifying concept to come out of the true crime genre. Whether they occur within the U.S. or not, these crimes often leave many questions unanswered and keep citizens on edge for years, which only adds to their unsettling nature. Coming out of Waidhofen, Bavaria, Germany, our case this week, known only as the Hinterkaifeck murders, surrounds the gruesome slaughter of the Gruber family, a family of five, and their maid by an unknown assailant at their Bavarian farmstead on March 31, 1922.

On the evening of March 31, 1922, four of the six victims: Andreas Gruber (63), Cäzilia Gruber (72), Viktoria Gabriel (35), and Cäzilia Gabriel (7) were lured one by one into the family barn on the property and killed by the assailant who struck each of them in the head with a mattock (a small pickaxe). After murdering the first four members of the Gruber family, the assailant hid their bodies in the barn under a large mound of hay and moved into their home. Once inside, the assailant immediately located and killed two-year-old Joseph Gabriel with the mattock as he slept in his bassinet. After murdering Joseph, they silently crept into the bedroom of the family’s maid, 44-year-old Maria Baumgartner, and, with a few powerful blows to the head, murdered her in her sleep, as well.

Following the murders, the assailant lived in the home for three days with the six bodies of his victims hidden away in the barn right outside. During this time, they ate food from the fridge and around the house, fed the property’s barn animals, and started fires in the home’s fireplace. After the three days had passed, they simply walked off the property and were never located. German police wouldn’t launch any
investigation until days later when the bodies were finally discovered. They considered and investigated many suspects as a part of the search for answers; however, due to several inconsistencies between them and what was known based off the evidence from the crime scene, no one was arrested and formally charged in the Gruber family’s murders. To this day, this case remains unsolved and is considered to be one of the most gruesome and puzzling unsolved crimes in German history.

—Seth VanEss, True Crime Editor

The Quill #6: Eco-Actions

May 7, 2025

The Services an Ecosystem Provides

forest
Photo by Davide Comunian / Pexels.

Many of the practices that degrade ecosystems and the environment are driven by short-term economic gain. For instance, it costs more money to selectively harvest a forest than it does to clear-cut an area, even though clear-cutting has severe environmental repercussions. However, ecosystems provide services that we use every day; we can, at times, overlook their value, because we have never lived in a world without them. Ecosystem services range from things that merely make our lives better to things that are essential to our survival.

Pretty much everyone can probably agree that nature is pretty. The joy you feel when going for a hike in a forest or watching birds at a feeder is an ecological service. The forest itself is an ecosystem, and the birds cannot survive without the ecosystems they rely on. Many people travel around the world to explore particular ecosystems; eco-tourism is a significant source of income for multiple countries.

Even more importantly, however, ecosystems provide us with clean air and water. Different ecosystems affect how water is evaporated, how it is moved from place to place as rain, and how it is stored in aquifers, rivers, and ice caps as fresh, drinkable water. Ecosystems, such as forests, not only filter carbon and other pollutants out of the air, but they also create the oxygen we need to survive. All terrestrial ecosystems help make and protect the soil we need to grow our food, through the accumulation of nutrients and protection from erosion.

We cannot survive without the services provided by ecosystems; scientists have estimated that these services are worth trillions of dollars to us. Since I’m only going to be writing one more article for this section, I thought this would be a good time to remind you why this is important. We are facing many large issues today — just remember that small actions matter even when it seems like they don’t. Something as simple as buying food from local sources, taking your own bags to the grocery store, or biking or walking somewhere instead of driving can have far-reaching effects. Every day, we have the ability to make decisions that lessen our impact on the environment; when we make the best choices available to us, we can reduce stress on the ecosystems that keep us alive.

—Neesa Peak, Eco-Actions Editor

The Quill #4 Recommended Reads 2

April 1, 2025

Calling on Dragons
by Patricia C. Wrede

 There are a lot of books from my childhood that I love and were influential on me — however, this is April Fools. This is a time for humor, instead of a serious discussion about whether a book made me more compassionate (yes) or more invested in a particular issue (also yes). While children’s books do embrace humor and goofiness more than those aimed at adults, there are few that make me smile and laugh as much as Dealing with Dragons and its sequels.

Princess Cimorene is bored. Her parents expect her to be a proper princess and learn how to curtsy and the correct times to scream. Cimorene wants to do other things — literally anything — magic, fencing, astronomy, cooking, arithmetic. So, when her parents arrange a marriage for her, she runs away and becomes a dragon’s princess. Her parents can’t even complain because it’s perfectly proper for her to be abducted by a dragon, and no one believes her anyway when she says she volunteered.

Unfortunately, her efforts to organize her dragon’s library and treasury keep being interrupted by would-be rescuers. As soon as she gets rid of one, another one turns up. On top of that, wizards keep popping up where they shouldn’t be and are acting suspicious. Why is the son of the head of the Society of Wizards picking dragonsbane? What’s so important about the Caves of Fire and Night? One of her would-be suitors even releases a genie who, for some reason, insists he has to kill them now. Each event builds on the one before it to create a hilarious read suitable for all ages.

 

—Neesa Peak 

The Quill #4 Recommended Reads 3

April 1, 2025

Stone Fox
by John Reynolds Gardiner

Stone Fox, although a short read, was able to pack such an emotional punch in my childhood and has stuck with me ever since. It’s the perfect blend of adventure and life lessons — with an ending that will leave a scar on your heart forever.
 
The story revolves around a young boy named Willy and his loyal dog, Searchlight. Willy’s grandfather, who is bedridden with depression, risks losing their farm because he cannot pay the taxes anymore. In a desperate fight to save their home, Willy enters the town’s dog sled race, with a grand prize that would be just enough to cover the debt. Yet, the issue isn’t that Willy is a 10-year-old boy with no experience but, rather, that his main competitor is Stone Fox, a Native American man who has never lost a race. Willy has Searchlight, but Stone Fox has five beautiful Samoyed dogs that would leave Willy in the dust. I remember reading it for the first time in middle school and being on the edge of my seat, rooting for Little Willy and feeling every bit of his determination and fear during the race.
 
What makes Stone Fox so memorable to me is the sheer emotional depth that it manages to convey in less than 100 pages. The bond between Willy and Searchlight is incredibly heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. It’s one of those stories that makes you realize how powerful storytelling can be — even in a book meant for kids.
 
Stone Fox is not just a simple tale of a boy and his dog — it’s a story about fighting for what you love and the sacrifices you’re willing to make to achieve those goals. If I’m ever looking for a good rush of emotions, Stone Fox is the way to go.
  

—Katie Frank

The Quill #4 Recommended Reads 4

April 1, 2025

Another Take on the Warriors Series 
by Erin Hunter

On my shelf in my mini library, the biggest series with the most beat-up spines is the Warriors series by Erin Hunter. The name “Erin Hunter” is a pseudonym for the authors Cherith Baldry, Rosie Best, Kate Cary, Victoria Holmes, Clarissa Hutton, Inbali Iserles, and Tui T. Sutherland. The series has 97 books in total, the first being Into the Wild, which was published in 2003. I haven’t bought another book for the series since I was in middle school, but my collection is still about 20 books. It’s a little wild to see that the authors are continuing to expand on this series to this day.
 
Warriors follows along the adventures of feral cats who live in Clans that each have their own territory and unique characteristics. There were five main clans: ThunderClan, RiverClan, ShadowClan, SkyClan, and WindClan. Each Clan adheres to a strict warrior code that holds honor and emphasizes loyalty, bravery, and skills in combat. The Clans themselves are guided by their ancestors in StarClan through their sent prophecies and other signs.

At the very start of the series, we meet a housecat named Rusty who joined ThunderClan. The first series (The Prophecies Begin), consists of six books and follows the adventures of Rusty. He is renamed Firepaw after joining ThunderClan and is searching for the honor of becoming an apprentice following a fight with one of ThunderClan’s warriors, Longtail.”  Further into the series, Firepaw discovers a prophecy of a fire, the struggles against the rival sinister ShadowClan, and the dark ambitions of betrayal within ThunderClan.
 
If you’re ever in the mood to walk down nostalgia lane, this series offers all the right points of those great middle–school memories!
  

—Jenna Fintelmann 

The Quill #4 Movie Recs 2

April 1, 2025

The Last Airbender

The Last Airbender posterWater. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.

Have you ever watched Nickelodeon’s critically acclaimed 2005 animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender and thought to yourself, “Boy, this sure is garbage! It would be so much better if it were live-action!” Well, you and me both! How that cheesy cesspool of amazing character development and masterful worldbuilding ever reached our TV screens is beyond me. I mean, don’t the executives at Nickelodeon have any idea what people enjoy in stories? But never fear, for not all is lost! In 2010, film director M. Night Shyamalan took on the difficult task of turning garbage to gold with his live-action remake, The Last Airbender.

Masterfully summarizing the events of the show’s first season (in which protagonist Aang travels to the North Pole alongside his friends to learn the art of waterbending), this film is an Avatar hater’s fever dream. A heavy emphasis on bad acting? Changing the pronunciation of protagonist Aang’s name to “Ong”? Whitewashing the cast to remove all sense of cultural representation? The Last Airbender succeeds in accomplishing all of those, correcting the inexcusable mistakes that were made in the original. It has stood the test of time for nearly 15 years. It is no exaggeration to call this work of art the magnum opus of the human species, overshadowing any and all works that have preceded it by several miles.

There is no comparison to be made: M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender is the GOAT of the entertainment industry, and naysayers shall be shunned until the end of time. As a matter of fact, this film was so good that the geniuses at Nickelodeon decided to scrap all plans for a sequel, to end the series on the highest possible note. Naturally, this decision sparked heated discussions amongst the Avatar fandom. Why would the studio throw away such easy money? How could they rob the fans of such a promising, and arguably perfect, film trilogy?

Unfortunately, the natural order of the universe simply hasn’t been the same since this groundbreaking decision was made. Clueless souls have attempted, and ultimately failed, to replicate the sheer success of the 2010 masterpiece, such as the more recent Netflix adaptation. But both critics and casual viewers alike have dragged that hollow bid at a cash grab, and rightfully so. How dare they cast actors who accurately represent the ethnic background of their animated counterparts. How dare they strive for acting that is anything but soulless and uninspired? And lastly, how dare they pronounce the name of Aang, a character whose name has been heard by millions for two decades, any differently than the improved pronunciation in 2010? The audacity of these studio executives is unbelievable! We can only hope that someday, lightning will strike twice, and another flawless adaptation of a criminally flawed series will grace our television screens.

Wow, that was tough to write. Happy April Fools’, everyone!

—Noah Spellich

The Quill #4 Movie Recs 3

April 1, 2025

Happily N’Ever After (2006)Happily Never After poster

Critics hate it; weirdos love it. Happily N’Ever After (2006) was another movie that went platinum in my house. This animated film is a reimagined Cinderella story from the perspective of Prince Charming’s servant, Rick (Freddie Prinze Jr.), who mostly works in the castle’s kitchen. Right away, Rick shows his distaste for Prince Charming (Patrick Warburton) and annoyance at others, like Cinderella (Sarah Michelle Geller), due to their obedience to following the usual storyline of their fairytale. Though often irritated at Cinderella, Rick’s crush on her is still strong, even if he knows there’s zero chance of anything happening. That is, until the Wizard (George Carlin) heads out on a golf trip, leaving his two helpers Mambo (Andy Dick) and Munk (Wallace Shawn) with the task of guarding FairyTale Land and keeping the scale of good and evil from being tampered with.

The film follows a lot of the usual storylines people know: Cinderella gets invited to the ball, and her evil stepmother Frieda (Sigourney Weaver) and stepsisters torment her before leaving her home. It starts deviating from the usual structure as we meet Fairy Godmother (Lisa Kaplan), who shows up, name drops a few other fairytale characters in this world, and helps Cinderella get ready for the ball. With this switch in storytelling, we are also given a chance to see Prince Charming’s character a bit more. He’s beloved by all, as per usual in retellings, but because we get his story from Rick’s perspective, we are shown how empty-headed Charming is as he reads from a book about his life for short, quick reminders of how he’s supposed to act and what to do.

As for the two unknown characters Mambo and Munk, we finally see them again when Cinderella arrives at the ball, in the same castle as each other, mind you. As Mambo and Munk look into the glass that shows each fairytale in current time, Frieda breaks in, sending the two away before she takes control of the scale, turning it to evil and watching different fairy tales fall apart and change. Now in control of the fairy tales, she ruins her stepdaughter Cinderella’s story by changing her back to her servant clothes early and sending an army of fairy tale bad guys after her, giving Rick his opportunity to save the day.

As the story nears the end, Mambo and Munk stumble upon Cinderella first, and the trio is saved from attacks by Rick, leading to the audience getting to watch a short-lived montage of Cinderella realizing that she loves Rick and not the Prince, breaking out of the mold Rick despised. After three minutes of screentime together though, Cinderella is captured. Rick, Mambo, and Munk go to save her, but things once again shift from the original story. Instead, Cinderella decks Frieda, sending her through a portal and saving the day. After all seven minutes of screen time Rick and Cinderella had together, the two get married, and everything else is restored to the balance of good and evil just in time before the Wizard returns from his golf trip. Is this one of the best reimagined Cinderella stories? It’s questionable, but trust me, back in the early 2000’s, this was fire.

Available on YouTube.

—Kendall Cox

The Quill #4 Movie Recs 4

April 1, 2025

The Women

The Women posterThe Women (2008) is a comedy-drama that my mother and I settled on after trying to find something interesting to watch together. The film follows Mary Haines, a wealthy fashion designer and mother, along with her group of friends, as she experiences betrayal in her relationships. Her best friend Sylvie Fowler discovers that Mary’s husband is cheating on her with a perfume saleswoman named Crystal Allen, thanks to a gossipy nail technician. Instead of telling Mary this discovery first, Sylvie tells their mutual pregnant friend, Edie Cohen. Mary eventually finds out on her own, through the same nail technician. For a part of the film, Mary’s friends wonder when a good time to tell her would be, not knowing that she already knows. Eventually, it is discovered everyone knows that Mary’s husband is cheating on her, and she leans on her friends for support while starting the divorce process.

And what better way to support your friend than to leak her personal struggles to a gossip columnist to save your career? Mary, hurt when learning Sylvie did this at her expense, ends their friendship. This doesn’t stop Sylvie from stepping up for Mary’s daughter Molly, without Mary’s knowledge, after catching Molly skipping school with friends and smoking cigarettes. Mary’s daughter confides in Sylvie that she feels distanced from her mother because of the divorce. Sylvie uses this opportunity to support the girl without telling Mary about her concerning behavior.

Just when you think things can’t get any worse, Mary’s father fires her from his fashion business for not having work good enough for the industry. Finally hitting rock bottom, Mary decides to start over and create her own fashion brand. To signify her transformation into a new life where she is the one empowering herself, Mary straightens her beautiful, luscious, curly hair for the remainder of the film. As someone with curly hair, I felt that was such a power move! It almost convinced me to finally buy a straightener, as that was obviously the main takeaway of the movie.

The group of friends then have to rush Edie to the hospital as she had gone into labor. The movie takes a turn as Mary receives a call from her ex-husband. Seeing her succeed in her independence, he wants her back and asks her out. With her friends’ encouragement, she says yes to a dateand throws out all of her achievements and character development.

Ultimately, The Women is a feel-good movie filled with themes of betrayal, women friendships, and personal empowerment. My mom and I give it a solid 10/10 despite the ending.

—Clover Cicha

The Quill #4 Movie Recs 5

April 1, 2025

Ernest Goes to School

Ernest Goes to SchoolWhen Chickasaw Falls High School’s (CFHS) faculty comes under scrutiny, maintenance worker Ernest P. Worrell (Jim Varney) is forced to return to high school to obtain his diploma or be fired.

For Ernest, a klutzy adult with a low IQ, having to return to school and earn a diploma is a recipe for disaster. Navigating high school at a time when it is still good to be bad, he falls victim to the school bullies and mistreatment by cruel faculty members. Happily, he has some friends in the school who take notice of those difficult situations and want to help him. Two of those friends, science teachers who have been developing an intelligence-enriching device, offer Ernest an opportunity to increase his knowledge, enabling him to pass his classes and earn a diploma. Ernest accepts, and after each session, he is less ignorant, less clumsy, and, unfortunately, less likable.

While attending CFHS as a student, Ernest develops romantic feelings for his music teacher, who makes him the drum major of the marching band. With his newfound knowledge, he trains and teaches the band to follow his lead toward the best football half-time show to ever be performed at CFHS. Meanwhile, the school’s bullies vandalize the mind machine, causing Ernest’s cognitive abilities to return to normal. This forces him to lead the marching band and finish his quest for a high school diploma on his own merit.

In true Ernest fashion, he finds himself an underdog in a failing fight to succeed and prove himself a worthy recipient of kindness, respect, and love. With the help of real friends and some hard work, Ernest studies hard and passes his classes without the mind machine, truly earning the credit and praise he so often craves.

—Karrie Wortner

The Quill #4 Bingeable TV 2

April 1, 2025

Full House

Full HouseWhat ever happened to predictability? The milkman, the paperboy, and evening TV? Full House, which originally aired from September 1987 to May 1995, is a show that is full of nostalgia for a lot of kids who grew up in the ’90s and into the 2000s. The show was always a family favorite in my house and was pretty much always on in the background. It was a comfort show and made me feel like maybe growing up wasn’t so scary; As long as I had my family there to help me, I would be okay. Plus, Uncle Jesse. I, like many other young girls who watched the show, had my first ever celebrity crush because of Full House. Can you blame me, though? The bad-boy attitude with a face like that. … Have mercy!The show follows the Tanner family after the death of Pamela Tanner, the wife of Danny Tanner and mother to DJ, Stephanie, and Michelle. The new widower Danny must take care of his three daughters, which he knows is a tall order. To help the family adjust to their new normal, he brings in his brother-in-law Jesse and best friend Joey to help him. Full House is a feel-good sitcom that deals with themes like love, loss, growing up, and the importance of surrounding yourself with good people. It is a show held close to the hearts of many, and it is not hard to see why. Its lovable characters and relatable plot make you feel like part of the family while watching.

Available to stream on Hulu, Disney+, Max, and Amazon Prime.

—Payton Rhyner