Basic shows like Catfish are very popular among high school students. The show is two white guys Googling phone numbers and Facebook names and finding out people’s ‘hidden’ identities. Anyone can do that with a few bucks invested in peoplefinder.com. While some people like to stick to the Top 40 and watch shows that everyone is talking about, or read The Hunger Games, others like to go on a different route.

Music

Hailing from Canada comes musician and singer songwriter Mac DeMarco. During high school, DeMarco was involved in several bands before premiering as a solo artist in 2011.  After failing to make money off of his career as a musician, he participated in medical experiments to earn his pay, and he worked on a road paving crew. On April 1, 2014, DeMarco came out with Salad Days, which quickly earned a top spot in Canada and was listed as the #2 album of 2014 by New Musical Express. Soph. Caitlin Walsh is a fan of Demarco, “My top two favorite songs are Salad Days and Chamber of Secrets. The vibe of the music is really content and chill,” Walsh said. DeMarco’s album is just over half an hour, and regarded by the music world as jangle pop, indie rock, and psychedelic pop. Some of his songs are about his long time girlfriend Kiera, “I was made to love her, been working at it/ Half of my life, I’ve been an addict,” from the song Let My Baby Stay. “I would recommend [Salad Days] to people who like different and non-traditional music. He’s not on the top 40 with all the other artists that you regularly hear about,” Walsh said.

Check out DeMarco’s album here on youtube, or buy his album on Google Play or iTunes.

Television

Airs on The CW and the first season is available on Netflix, Jane the Virgin is a new comedy series that premiered October 13th of 2014. “It’s really good,” Sr. Austin Book said. “The show is about Jane. She’s an aspiring writer who goes to a regular checkup and wasn’t paying attention, and the doctor wasn’t either, and the doctor artificially inseminated her.” Jane is a 23 year old trying to make her way to a successful life and certainly isn’t planning a pregnancy. “She is a virgin and she’s very religious so she decides to keep the baby, but it comes in the way of all of her life. There’s much more to the story,” Book said. Jane’s life is flipped upside down from the accidental pregnancy, and not only this, but she knows the donor, too. “It was a guy who she met a long time ago, but this was just random. She had a crush on him then but they had a date and he totally blew her off because he was a party boy.” Tune into Netflix to watch Jane the Virgin and see her story unfold.

Books

Tell No One by Harlan Coben is about David Beck and his wife who was murdered eight years ago. Full of suspense, plot twists, and thrills, Tell No One is worth the read. Librarian Randi Melnyk said, “I always give this to boys who don’t like to read. They always give it back and say they loved it.” After the main character finds out his dead wife, Elizabeth, might be still alive, he hunts for her, but is warned to tell no one. “Even though it’s pretty thick, everyone enjoys it,” Melnyk said. Tell No One is a New York Times bestseller and a wonderful mystery novel.

Check out the book at our high school library, at the Herrick District library, online or in store at Barnes and Noble.