Latest news with #NapervilleCentralHighSchool
Chicago Tribune
07-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Naperville native publishes debut novel, hosts talk at Anderson's Bookshop
Claire Jia, 31, thought she would become the U.S. ambassador to China when she grew up. 'Every single activity I did, I did towards that end,' the Naperville native said, taking her studies in Chinese language seriously and pursuing activities like Model United Nations at Naperville Central High School. Plus, it seemed like a practical dream and it was one that her mom said she encouraged. 'I wanted to engage with my Chinese culture from this political standpoint. And it wasn't until later that I decided I actually wanted to unpack it from an artistic standpoint,' Jia said. Even when she was working on her political science thesis in college, she realized that she did not want to write another academic paper. So, she took her thesis – which explored how propaganda influences the romantic and intimate lives of people in Beijing – and turned it into a novel. Now, nearly a decade later, that novel is finally published. Jia's debut book, called 'Wanting,' follows the story of two estranged best friends who reunite in Beijing after 12 years apart. One friend, Ye Lian, leads a content, stable life in Beijing while the other friend, Luo Wenyu, leads a much more lavish lifestyle as an influencer in San Francisco with an American fiance who is a millionaire. The novel, as Jia describes it, is a story of comparison – a story exploring the 'what ifs' of life and how much one person is allowed to want or settle for. The book has been well-received. Oprah Daily included 'Wanting' in its list of 'The 25 Most Anticipated Books of 2025.' The magazine Harper's Bazaar listed the book as a top read for the summer and The New York Times gave 'Wanting' an overall positive review. Last Saturday, Jia had the opportunity to talk about her book at Anderson's Bookshop in downtown Naperville – a full-circle moment for the 31-year-old who got to see some of her favorite authors speak at the bookstore when she was younger. 'My mom pulled out a photo … where me and my sister, we went to go see my favorite author back then – and maybe just of all time – Kenneth Oppel,' Jia said. 'I just remember going to his event at Anderson's and just sobbing in the back.' Now, Jia got to be the one speaking in a room filled with dozens of people, including old teachers and friends from high school. She even got to speak alongside her longtime friend Wendy Wei, who she started a National History Club chapter with at Naperville Central. 'I never doubted that she could write a novel,' Wei said. 'In her acknowledgements, she has this part where she says, like, 'I never thought I could write a novel. I thought writing was for other people,' but throughout our entire friendship, she was always writing.' That included sharing notes and passing around a shared journal during class throughout middle and high school, Wei recalled. Jia also remembered loving to write when she was younger, but she never saw creative writing as a dream to pursue. 'I was very practical-minded as a kid, and my parents told me that I couldn't make money from writing, so I should pursue something else,' Jia said. 'And, well, first of all, they were right. And secondly, I agreed with them.' But after being surrounded by film students while studying abroad in Paris and watching her younger sister apply to art school, Jia questioned why she couldn't have that creative life for herself and instead had to read 'boring political theory.' That's when she realized she could, in fact, chase her artistic dreams. After graduating college, Jia moved to Los Angeles where she pursued a career as a screenwriter. As for her political science thesis-turned-novel, Jia initially viewed it as nothing more than a 'great creative endeavor.' But that would all change when a New York Times Modern Love essay she wrote caught the eye of a literary agent. 'I sent her my novel, and she really liked it, and it was a short novel at the time,' Jia recalled. 'And she was like, 'This is too short to sell, but can we work together on expanding it? And I was like, 'Yeah, sure, how hard could that be?' And that was 2016.' While Naperville specifically does not make an appearance in her novel, she said that the city and Illinois suburbs have a strong influence on her writing in general. The friendship between the two main characters in the book also mirrors aspects of her friendship with Wei in high school. 'I felt like we were both very smart and very like political minded. We both did Model U.N., we both did human rights club, and we founded the History Club chapter together. And so I always felt competitive with her and wanting to do as well, if not better,' Jia said. While Jia does not feel this sense of competitiveness anymore, she enjoyed exploring these emotions in her book. 'It's funny, because in adult life, we both ended up studying political science in college, but then our lives kind of diverged. She's remained more on the political side of things, but at the same time, she's also a writer,' Jia said. 'It's like, in a way, we have come back together, and we are doing similar things again, even though it's in different fields.' For Wei, reading Jia's novel was special because it gave her the opportunity to read from the perspectives of contemporary Chinese people in a way that was accessible. But most importantly, it was special for her to see her friend finally come out with her book. 'I've read so much of her personal letters to me written as herself, but it was really awesome to see her as a fiction writer and take on the challenge of writing not as herself, but as a character she developed over all these years,' Wei said.
Chicago Tribune
10-07-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Naperville teen headed to international climbing competition in Finland
Anderson Fuhrer learned a tough lesson when he first competed in a national-level climbing competition four years ago. When participating in local and regional competitions in the Midwest, the Naperville 18-year-old could easily climb his way to the top through strength and endurance alone, he said. But that would not be enough to win at the national level. 'At the national level, it's a lot more complex,' Fuhrer said. 'It's a lot more like problem solving on the wall rather than just being able to be strong and pull through.' That effort yielded results when he took second place at this year's USA Climbing Youth Nationals in Portland, Oregon, and earned a spot on the U.S. Youth National Team when it competes in the International Federation of Sport Climbing Youth World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, during the last week of July. 'It definitely took some time to sink in because I've been dreaming about this for so long,' Fuhrer said. 'But once it sunk in, I was very relieved that the hard work paid off.' To train for the international competition, he has been climbing any wall he can get his hands on, including some at gyms in Chicago and Arlington Heights and others as far away as Indiana, Wisconsin and Minnesota, he said. He even has a home wall in his room built by his dad and his dad's friend. 'I think he's the most driven athlete I've ever seen in terms of his work ethic, but he's also independent in the sense that he really knows his own body,' said Connor Druhan, Fuhrer's coach. 'I don't need to sort of helicopter and be right over his shoulder the whole time. I can trust him to go off on his own and do his own training.' Fuhrer, who graduated from Naperville Central High School in May, said he fell in love with climbing when he first tried it at a birthday party in elementary school. He begged his parents to take him back to a climbing gym. 'We had a day off. My daughter was with my husband at the swimming pool,' said Susan Fuhrer, Anderson's mother. 'I'm like, 'We have the day off, what do you want to do?' He's like, 'I want to go climbing. I love climbing.' I'm like, 'OK, where do we even climb in Naperville?'' A quick Google search sent them to the climbing wall at the Life Time fitness facility in Warrenville. 'When I first saw the wall at Life Time, I was just amazed at how big it was, even though it really wasn't that big, but it just looked like a giant playground,' Fuhrer said. 'I was never afraid of heights or anything like that so as soon as I could get on the rope and just keep going higher, I was having a blast.' Within six months, he completed three levels of classes. A coach at Life Time took notice. 'He basically said, 'I think your son's really good at this, and he probably should go somewhere outside of Life Time,'' Susan Fuhrer said. 'There's nothing really close to Naperville so we started going to Vertical Endeavors in Glendale Heights. And so he tried out for the team and got onto the team when he was 10.' When he started with the group, he realized he was not as good as he thought he was, he said. There were team members there who started climbing a lot earlier than he did, and he knew he would need to practice consistently to improve, he said Initially Fuhrer was both climbing and playing football while at Naperville Central, but decided he needed to commit to one if he really wanted to go to the next level. 'He really, really loved football, and he loved being with the team,' Susan Fuhrer said. 'He played with the same boys all through middle school, then freshman year, sophomore year. It was just kind of a big decision. … I was kind of nervous about him not being connected to Naperville Central anymore but obviously it was the right choice.' This fall Fuhrer is headed to the University of Utah, where he plans to study kinesiology while competing as part of the school's climbing team. In his free time before school starts, Fuhrer has been coaching younger climbers at ABC Climbing Academy in Naperville, which opened in June 2024. 'It's been awesome to see first-time kids come in and try climbing because I kind of (see) myself in a lot of them,' Fuhrer said.
