For teens today, keeping up with recent events can feel like a daunting task. News sites use terminology that can be hard for adolescents to understand or relate to. Gen Z can also find the long, dull articles a chore to read. The plain, unimaginative words do not hold the attention of young learners who simply want to know what is happening in this ever-changing world. News articles also do not have context for the year’s worth of events news sources are reporting on, leaving teens frustrated and causing them to avoid keeping up with what is happening. 

Introducing “Cramm This Book: So You Know WTF Is Going on in The World Today,” the not-so-official, official teen-friendly guide to the happenings and important events that led to where the world is today. 

“Cramm This Book” covers an array of topics such as the -isms and the phobias, the wars, the movements, the disasters, and the book even includes sources and pictures so that readers can further research topics they have more questions about as well as have visuals. “Cramm This Book” goes into detail about the major events that made the world the way it is today. Due to the fact that “Cramm This Book” covers such a wide range of topics, it is hard to describe and rate it as a whole. Going section by section, here is the basic overview of what you can expect when reading this book, as well as how the section adds to the book. 

The -Isms and the Phobias. 

This section does a very good job describing how and why prejudices occur and more specifically how they impact the people they are directed towards. The illustrations under each type of prejudice speak volumes on their own, but as these illustrations are paired alongside definitions and thorough descriptions and scenarios where these events can occur, they give the reader a good understanding of where these -isms and phobias can occur in the world. Not only does the author describe these topics using words, but models such as graphs are also included, providing ample information for the reader to read and look at. 

This section dives deep into how fear and power can drive individuals to do cruel things. The author does not leave you asking questions and even takes the time to define words and phrases that may not be familiar to readers. 

The Wars

As a student, we may think that this section is pointless because school can teach us all we would ever need to know about the wars that this book includes. As a reader myself, I was in the same boat. Don’t be fooled though. This book goes further into what was happening and how different wars played off each other. 

The author displays country interactions as text messages, which not only makes it easier to understand but also more engaging and interesting to read. Headlines from popular news media sites in the US are also included, giving the reader a look at what the news was covering at the time and the thoughts of other Americans too. This section is very thorough to get different phases of each war, and how they impacted other things. It also introduces popular figures of the war and how they played their part to influence the outcome. 

The Movements

Like a road map (literally, there is a road map you can follow in this book) this book maps out each of the important movements that occurred in history and how they led to changes in the world. Following the theme from the other sections, the author adds models, graphs, pictures, text messages, and headlines that add depth and more information for the reader to help them understand the important information that can be taken away. The author also adds a questions section, that goes over questions that could come up while learning about these movements. There are also solutions from different sources covered with each movement that can help the reader formulate their own opinions on what can be done about each topic. 

The Disasters 

This section is very specific as to the disasters that are included. Not all disasters ever are included but mainly the ones that had a huge impact on other topics in this book. Including everything from COVID-19 all the way to oil spills, this section gives vital and descriptive information as to how these disasters have impacted human life and changed history as we know it.

Not only does the book have user-friendly language that is easy to understand, but it is also presented in an engaging way. The author has given this book a voice and tone of its own, with lines like “Okay. Moving on,” and “Told you I’d come back to that.” Most of the topics in the book are difficult to cover, while still being engaging and brief at the same time. The author does a good job of reminding readers to reflect and really think about the content being presented. The information is given in a neutral manner, allowing the reader to make up their own opinions. This is one feature that is not always available with other news sites, and thecramm.com and “Cramm This Book” both do a splendid job of giving the information while being neutral and not boring. 

The author of “Cramm This Book,” Olivia Seltzer, started writing newsletters for teens after the 2016 elections. She named it “TheCramm” and used her platform to write daily newsletters dissecting the news and rewriting it making it easier for teens to read. Since then her newsletter has become more and more popular, being featured in Teen Vogue, NPR, TODAY, and many others. Seltzer has also spoken at NATO conferences and has also been selected as a recipient of the Three Dot Dash Global Teen Leader Award in 2016. Her target is to educate others and change the world. 

“Cramm This Book” and thecramm.com both have the important mission of educating the next generation- Gen Z, in a way that allows them to create their own ideas and gives them the information to take action on the things they really care about. This book is highly recommended to every middle and high school student, but especially if you want to learn more about our world and want to change it for the better it’s a good place to start. 

If you would like to learn more about “Cramm This Book” check out https://www.thecramm.com.