分类： 赛事资讯

By Zayden Li, 16, Horace Mann School, Bronx, N.Y.

Ralph Fiennes as the notorious urban planner Robert Moses in David Hare’s play “Straight Line Crazy.” Zayden Li, 16, suggests you check out the trailer on YouTube to “catch glimpses of Fiennes digging into Moses’s sullied glory.”Credit...Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

We get it. You got caught up in the hysteria last year over The New York Historical’s 50th anniversary exhibit of Robert Caro’s epic “The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York.” Now you feel guilty for jumping the gun and buying the “I Finished The Power Broker” mug at the gift shop. Let’s face it. It’s a ridiculously long book, clocking in at over 1,300 pages. Sure, it’s a gripping, meticulously researched account of how one man, Robert Moses, ruthlessly yielded his power to transform New York City into the congestion choked metropolis it is today. But if you are a mere mortal and need some cheerleading to make it to the last page, here are three Power Broker-adjacent diversions that may shake things up and keep your reading fresh. (And if you want to enjoy a cup of coffee in, let’s say, your “I Finished The Power Broker” mug, go right ahead. We won’t judge.)

1. Escape into the fantasy realm. Does it feel like New York City traffic is the brainchild of an evil wizard? The dungeon and dragons series Dimension 20 on DropoutTV runs with that concept in “The Unsleeping City,” where the main villain is named Robert Moses, an undead magical mystic who is the architect of the Highway Hex. After your fantasy fix, you can hear creator Brennan Lee Mulligan discuss why he made the master builder into a master villain on 99% Invisible’s “The Power Broker: Episode 11.” The whole series is a perfect companion piece to the book as the host Roman Mars breaks down each chapter with fanboy insight. When you’re ready to head back to reality, check out the episode with the not undead former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, too.

2. Dive into the negative space. Caro shortened his original, million-word manuscript by a third to make the book physically bindable. Sadly, the entire chapter devoted to the journalist Jane Jacobs was removed, but sometimes what’s left out speaks volumes. Anthony Flint takes a fascinating closer look at the activist who stared down Moses in “Wrestling With Moses: How Jane Jacobs Took on New York’s Master Builder and Transformed the American City.” Flint gives us plenty to chew on, even though it’s a snack of a book coming in at a mere 195 pages. Washington Square Park would have been plowed over by a ten lane super highway called the Lower Manhattan Expressway if it weren’t for Jacobs. If that was left out, then what in the world was kept in? Curiosity piqued!

3. Go for the drama. Caro knew that he needed legendary storytelling to keep people interested in public infrastructure and bureaucratic procedures. He never over dramatizes, but his work begs for dramatic re-enactment. Enter “Straight Line Crazy," which ran briefly in London and Off Broadway and starred Ralph Fiennes as Moses. Nowadays you can find the National Live Theatre trailer on YouTube to catch glimpses of Fiennes digging into Moses’s sullied glory. Or you can dip into the excellent book by David Hare and soak in reimagined scenes of Moses manipulating his way to dominion over New York City. Stage adaptations may not be your thing, in which case you can hurry back to the original text and take the high ground. But there’s something delightful in hearing an onstage Jane Jacobs say, as only a New Yorker would, “He’s straight line crazy!” And knowing Voldemort is playing Moses is purely priceless.

By Riya Srivastav, 16, Cerritos High School, Cerritos, Calif.

Ariana Grande’s music “isn’t just about love; it’s about the in-between,” writes the 16-year-old Riya Srivastav.Credit...Chris Pizzello/Invision, via Associated Press

Love in the modern age is confusing. We ghost, orbit, breadcrumb, and somehow still end up texting “you up?” at 2 a.m. In a world where commitment is optional, but jealousy is inevitable, situationships have become the ultimate emotional gray area — something more than a fling but not quite a relationship. And nobody captures this tension better than Ariana Grande.

Grande’s music isn’t just about love; it’s about the in-between — that intoxicating, frustrating space where mixed signals thrive, emotions run high, and no one wants to define anything. From steamy distractions to heartbreaking realizations, her songs soundtrack the situationship experience in a way that feels both cinematic and deeply personal.

So, should you check out these five Ariana Grande songs? If you’ve ever been trapped in a relationship that wasn’t really a relationship, the answer is yes — but be warned: it might hit a little too close to home.

1. “Boyfriend” (ft. Social House)

💔 “You ain’t my boyfriend, and I ain’t your girlfriend, but you don’t want me to see nobody else, and I don’t want you to see nobody.”
➡️ This is THE situationship anthem. The whole song is about wanting commitment but not being able to fully commit, all while feeling jealous when the other person moves on. It’s toxic, it’s relatable, it’s real.

2. “Bad Idea”

😈 “I got a bad idea … Forget about it, yeah, forget about him, yeah, forget about me.”
➡️ Situationships are often about distraction, and this song is exactly that. It’s about keeping someone around to escape your feelings, even if you know it’s probably not the best decision. That late-night “you up?” text energy.

3. “In My Head”

🌀 “Look at you, boy, I invented you … Your Gucci tennis shoes, running from your issues.”
➡️ This one HURTS because it’s about falling for someone’s potential, not who they actually are. You convince yourself they’re the one, but in reality, you’re stuck in a cycle of expectations vs. reality. Situationships THRIVE on this delusion.

4. “Just a Little Bit of Your Heart”

💔 “I know I’m not your only, but at least I’m one … I heard a little love is better than none.”
➡️ This is for when you know you’re getting crumbs but still hold on because you’d rather have some of them than nothing at all. The pain of knowing you’re not their priority but still hoping? Too real.

5. “Almost Is Never Enough”

🥀 “If I would have known that you wanted me, the way I wanted you …”
➡️ Situationships always have that “what if” energy — like, if things were just a little different, maybe it could’ve worked. But instead, it’s all mixed signals, bad timing and regret.

你会永远记住童年的哪些小时刻？

无论出于何种原因，过去几周或几个月的哪些时刻都很突出？

你有哪些经历让你了解了家庭的一些重要事情？你的友谊？你自己？

这些只是我们在这份相关分步指南中提出的几个问题，以帮助您在 2025 年 10 月 22 日至 12 月 3 日举行的第四届年度 100 字个人叙事比赛中集思广益，讨论生活中有意义的时刻。我们希望它们能帮助您想到一些您想讲述的真实故事。

需要一些例子吗？以下是从我们 2022 年、2023 年和 2024 年比赛的获胜者中选出的六本小型青少年回忆录：

1. Baby Tim

6 p.m.: The words “I dare you” were muttered at an empty park. 6:05 p.m.: I slid my legs into a baby swing. 6:15 p.m.: My friends and I laughed hysterically as my legs dangled. 6:30 p.m.: I was stuck. 7 p.m.: No one called for a parent in fear of stark punishment. 7:30 p.m.: My legs became red and numb, but we finally called a parent. 8 p.m.: The fire truck arrived with baby oil and bolt cutters. 8:15 p.m.: Freedom. Four years later: My friends still call me “Baby Tim.” — Timothy, 15, Derry Area High School, Derry, Pa.

2. Pacific

When I was 10, my father was already asking me about colleges and careers — already digging into my skin to uncover what shade of the American dream I would become.

At 10, he was sweltering in heavy Vietnamese heat, each vision of the future a repetition of the past.

Now I’m 14, around the same age my father would have discovered life, liberty and happiness, breaking my back behind a desk trying to follow and feeling indescribably strange to still be lost at sea when my father has already crossed thousands of miles of it to get me here. — Kassidy Khuu, 14, Hunter College High School, New York, N.Y.

3. My Queendom and Yours

I come from witchlike brews of turmeric tea and elderberry syrup that rise to the ceiling and waft through every door in the house. She comes from pantries stocked with Kit Kats, Costco muffins and eating disorders.

She turned into blue-green irises and Connecticut family affairs. I turned into coconut-oiled hair and seven-day-twenty-cousin-weddings. Mother always warned friendships won’t last if values don’t align. Surely two people who raised each other couldn’t go home to such mismatched queendoms.

Unicorn sanctuaries in overgrown backyards weren’t enough. Withered pages of old diaries murmured sacred memories, but new parchment felt the absence of her name. — Zoya Prabhakar, 16, Palo Alto High School, Palo Alto, Calif.

4. multiplication and division

When my mom met Steve, I was worried that the love she had for me would divide. Especially with the addition of his son, I thought my home would be cramped and loud. At first, I was correct. My room had to be shared. My house became louder. These changes made me resent my stepbrother, Steve and, at some points, my mother. That was until I went to Steve’s office, and next to the framed pictures of my stepbrother was a framed picture of me. Seeing how he accepted me made me understand: Love doesn’t divide. It multiplies. — Oliver Watson, 14, Centerville High School, Centerville, Ohio

5. Messi in the Making

On the soccer field, things were getting heated, literally, as it was a summer day around 98 degrees. My first-grade teammates were ready to take on the competition; I was too busy picking flowers. “Run, Kirian! Get the ball!” my coach shouted.

The flowers fell as the ball touched my foot. I got it! I could see my destiny before my eyes — with the goalie distracted, my talent would finally shine through! I thought to myself, she shoots, she scores, my moment, and the crowd goes … mild? Confused, I looked to see my coach’s disappointed face.

Oh, wrong goal. — Kirian Veach, 16, Westchester Country Day School, High Point, N.C.

6. Imperial System

When my family and I hurriedly left Shanghai for Boston, I only had a day to say goodbye to my boyfriend. The torment of a three-month long lockdown lingered. After he let me cry into his shoulder for hours, he said, “Y’know that America still uses the imperial system, right?” I laughed and said yes. We were supposed to graduate together, go to prom together, have dates by the Bund together. But I never imagined my first love ending like this: watching his figure shrink from my car window, the distance between us growing from meters to miles. — Jessica Zhang, 17, Northfield Mount Hermon, Mount Hermon, Mass.

如果您需要更多帮助，这里有一些其他问题，您可以在此 PDF 中找到更多提示，这是我们分步指南的一部分。

要找到一个主题并考虑如何制作您的作品，请考虑以下问题：

请注意上述六篇文章中的主题范围，看看这些青少年是如何写出友谊、家庭、浪漫关系、运动、童年等普遍主题的。还要注意不同的语气：有些是严肃而凄美的，而另一些则是轻松而有趣的。你最喜欢哪些？为什么？

上面的三首青少年作品只关注一个时刻，并生动地描述它。 另外三个描述了几个月或几年内发生的事情，但由于作者专注于一个主题，所以可以用 100 个字清楚地讲述故事。哪些是哪个，你怎么知道？

你生活中的哪些小场景可以成为好的 100 词故事？哪些“时间时刻”对您来说是有趣、有趣或有意义的？为什么？

你有什么更大的主题想写出来，像这些学生一样，展示随着时间的推移会发生什么？你怎么能用 100 个字做到这一点？