The Night We Met is BookTok’s latest darling, teenagers are wearing pimple patches in public, and Super Mario Galaxy brought tweens to the box office on Easter weekend. But first:
Slang of the Week – “Clipped”
Getting “clipped” has a few definitions, but we’re going to focus on the idea of someone candidly taking a bad photo of you. With the ubiquity of camera-equipped smartphones, there’s always the threat of someone snapping a picture when you’re mid-hamburger bite, with bad posture, or asleep on an airport bench. “Clipping” is often a harmless way to lovingly poke fun at each other, especially in a world with a “camera-ready” veneer, but, of course, it could also be used to bully someone.
And now for our three conversations..
1. Not So Spicy
What it is: The Night We Met is Abby Jimenez’s latest romance novel. It follows characters Larissa and Chris, who meet at a concert. The book is already climbing the New York Times’ bestseller list, and it stands out for leaning into emotional storytelling rather than explicit content.
Why it’s refreshing: Romance readers seem to be looking for something fresh: closed-door, no/low spice stories that feel emotionally rich, comforting, and easy to recommend. Only two weeks after this book’s release, the “booktok girlies” on TikTok are flooding the app with reviews saying this is a “green flag” read. (One poster said, “…they didn’t even touch each other for 300/390 pages, yet one of the best love stories ever imo.”) That kind of hype shows how fast teen and young adult reading culture moves when a book lands with this community. For parents of teens, it reveals how much online chatter, aesthetics, and emotional appeal can drive what young readers will pick up next. But parents should also remember that while bright, pastel cover art might make a book look soft or “wholesome,” not every story behind it is as tame as The Night We Met. Checking Goodreads or trusted reviewers first can help teens find reads that truly match their values.
Continue the conversation: When influencers recommend books online, how do you decide if it’s actually something you want to read?
2. I’m not a regular pimple, I’m a cool pimple
What it is: Pimples, a longstanding and infamous insecurity for young people, have evolved into an unexpected opportunity for accessorizing.
Why people are putting stickers on their faces: Pimples are par for the course for teens. Now, instead of crossing their fingers, hoping nobody would notice their blemishes, young people are decorating them. Brands like Starface and Hero Cosmetics rose to popularity during the pandemic, but when in-person rhythms resumed, the patches remained— perhaps because it is easier to resist picking at your skin when you have a nice little sticker on it. And it’s not just teens—adults at the airport, grocery store, or even at work will rock them. While the trend has its haters, it also has influencers cashing in, including Hailey Bieber. Her brand’s newly-announced hydrocolloid patches, debuting next week, come in fun shapes like mushrooms, jelly beans, and bubbles, and retail for $16.
Continue the conversation: When you are insecure about something, do you try to cover it up or embrace it?
3. The Known Galaxy
What it is: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie made over $372 million in its opening weekend—the latest in a string of Hollywood hits that all happen to be rated PG.
Why it was notable: There’s nothing especially compelling about the sequel to 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie. There was no big-belting moment from Bowser (Jack Black) in this film, no big plot surprises, and the premise itself—a princess gets stolen by a fire-breathing cartoon Koopa turtle—is very similar to the original. But that’s not really that surprising. Viewers old and young are showing up in droves to see something familiar, with plenty of fan service along the way. The Super Mario Bros. Movie was a cash grab, and its sequel is following suit. But are they anything else?
Let’s translate this one further…
Last week, I sat with my three kids in the theater, waiting for Super Mario Galaxy to light up the cinema screen, surrounded by tweens screaming “6-7!” and throwing popcorn at people. They were primed and ready to see the iconic plumber brothers jump, battle, and brave through the Mushroom Kingdom down to Bowser’s Castle.
The house lights dimmed, and for two hours, the excitement around me grew. Character names were shouted. Sets from video game levels were recognized. It felt less like a watching a movie and more like we were all having the same dream, together—a smattering of symbols standing in for meaning, assembled in dazzling color.
In Carl Jung’s book, Man and His Symbols, the psychoanalyst writes, “A story told by the conscious mind has a beginning, a development, and an end, but the same is not true of a dream. Its dimensions in time and space are quite different; to understand it you must examine it from every aspect, just as you may take an unknown object in your hands and turn it over and over until you are familiar with every detail of its shape.”
There’s a reason why the most popular movies of all time include so many franchise sequels like Zootopia 2, Inside Out 2, and yes, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Stories told on film are fun, but we’re that much more delighted when we recognize what we see. Our brains are tickled when our fantasy world and our physical realities intersect. It makes our unconscious feel conscious, and we enjoy it. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie doesn’t break any new ground, but that wasn’t really its goal, anyway. We came for the symbols, and it didn’t disappoint.
The symbols in a movie based on a video game don’t offer us much in terms of spiritual meaning. But as we transition out of Lent and into Eastertide, it can remind us that our hearts, our minds and our souls were designed to see meaning made manifest through stories and symbols—and why the deepest truths God has to offer us often feel strange and familiar, all at once.
For more context and nuance, check out our Roundtable podcast on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts. In the meantime, here are three questions to help you continue the conversation with your teens:
- Why do you think people enjoy watching movies where they know what will happen?
- What do you think is the best movie franchise of all time?
- Do you prefer movies with new characters, or characters you already are familiar with?
Parenting together,
Kate Watson and the Axis Team
In Other News…
- A squishy stress-relieving toy called NeedOh has taken over the internet, and they are sold out everywhere. It’s safe to say that teens and tweens are obsessed.
- Olivia Rodrigo announced her first single from her new album is called “drop dead” and will be out on April 17.
- Anticipation is building for I Have Proof, a new horror movie that will be recording on old VHS tapes. The filmmaker purchased 30 tapes from eBay and recorded the movie over people’s old home movies—feel old yet?
- RAYE’s new album, “THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE.” is all about how faith in God pulled the singer out of darkness.
- The show might be over, but the movie is still ahead of us. The Summer I Turned Pretty will begin filming in Wilmington, North Carolina on April 27.
PS: Know someone who could use our conversation starters with their teens? Share the CT with a friend!