Jiang, M., Key, B., Meng, Y. S. & Grey, C. P. Electrochemical and structural study of the layered, ‘Li-excess’ lithium-ion battery electrode material Li[Li 1/9Ni 1/3Mn 5/9]O 2. Chem. Mater. 21, 2733–2745 (2009). Noah inhaled and slowly let the air out. His stance softened and so did his voice. “If you’re scared, tell me. If you need to cry and scream, then do it. And you sure as hell don’t walk away from us because you think it would be better for me. Here’s the reality, Echo: I want to be by your side. If you want to go to the mall stark naked so you can show the world your scars, then let me hold your hand. If you want to see your mom, then tell me that, too. I may not always understand, but damn, baby, I’ll try.”

As each realizes what the other is really like, they gradually begin to fall for each other, though social pressure prevents them from being together. Echo’s popularity is once again on the upswing, and she is afraid that being involved with someone like Noah will damage it, making her an outcast again. Noah, very taken by Echo, is worried that he will not be able to treat her right because of his unstable past and living situation. House, R. A. et al. Lithium manganese oxyfluoride as a new cathode material exhibiting oxygen redox. Energy Environ. Sci. 11, 926–932 (2018). Qiu, B. et al. Gas–solid interfacial modification of oxygen activity in layered oxide cathodes for lithium-ion batteries. Nat. Commun. 7, 12108 (2016).From the first line of this book, I was drawn right into Echo’s world. With a mentally ill mother, an overly controlling father, and her beloved older brother dead, Echo’s life is far from perfect. Its stifling. And you can totally feel it. The story just grabs at your heart strings. Lyu, Y. et al. Atomic insight into electrochemical inactivity of lithium chromate (LiCrO 2): irreversible migration of chromium into lithium layers in surface regions. J. Power Sources 273, 1218–1225 (2015).

Geng, F. et al. Monitoring the evolution of local oxygen environments during LiCoO 2 charging via ex situ 17O NMR. Chem. Commun. 55, 7550–7553 (2019). It’s beautiful.” Echo stared at the fountain, her eyes darting to the different flowers etched in the metal. No, she was beautiful. Lee, J. et al. Reversible Mn 2+/Mn 4+ double redox in lithium-excess cathode materials. Nature 556, 185–190 (2018). Wang, H. et al. Short O–O separation in layered oxide Na 0.67CoO 2 enables an ultrafast oxygen evolution reaction. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 116, 23473–23479 (2019).Naylor, A. J. et al. Depth-dependent oxygen redox activity in lithium-rich layered oxide cathodes. J. Mater. Chem. A 7, 25355–25368 (2019). Should you achieve some impressive feat of strength or speed or endurance, use that as your new benchmark, not only for related goals, but to everything. Did you hike a mountain by walking for 17 hours straight? Did every muscle in your body ache for days afterwards? Did your feet literally bleed? Then the next time you need to push yourself hard, you can say, “Sure, this is going to be hard, but it’s not going to be ‘mountain hard,’ so I can definitely do it.” Ghanty, C., Basu, R. N. & Majumder, S. B. Performance of wet chemical synthesized xLi 2MnO 3-(1- x)Li(Mn 0.375Ni 0.375Co 0.25)O 2 (0.0≤ x≤1.0) integrated cathode for lithium rechargeable battery. J. Electrochem. Soc. 159, 1125–1134 (2012).

Dogan, F. et al. Re-entrant lithium local environments and defect driven electrochemistry of Li- and Mn-rich Li-ion battery cathodes. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 137, 2328–2335 (2015). And even if you do reach an obstacle that you can’t overcome – you have the internet! Surely, someone somewhere has faced a similar obstacle as you! There is an answer out there somewhere. Look to learn from the experiences of others to navigate the waters you’re unfamiliar with. 7. Supplement your weaknesses. By the cli­max of both Echo and Noah’s sto­ries I was weep­ing uncon­trol­lably. I still cry when I think about those two parts of the book. McGarry’s writ­ing is pow­er­ful, emo­tive. Her char­ac­ter voices for both Noah and Echo were very well done – reflect­ing on their dis­tinct per­son­al­i­ties and char­ac­ter­is­tics. The plot con­tained lit­tle action and was largely car­ried by the myr­iad of rela­tion­ships and the mys­tery of Echo’s past – so fans of more fast paced, active nov­els may want to steer clear. The characters. Both Echo and Noah were smart and cautious about many things. Echo was a great example of showing how it's okay not to have sex if you're not ready. Noah was a great example of how a teenage guy can be horny and hormonal and wanting to get laid, yet still respectful of a girl's wishes if he cares about her. His honesty was refreshing. He didn't stop wanting sex, even though he let Echo have her space when she needed it. Liu, H. et al. Communication-enhancing the electrochemical performance of lithium-excess layered oxide Li 1.13Ni 0.3Mn 0.57O 2 via a facile nanoscale surface modification. J. Electrochem. Soc. 163, 971–973 (2016).Grimaud, A., Hong, W. T., Shao-Horn, Y. & Tarascon, J. M. Anionic redox processes for electrochemical devices. Nat. Mater. 15, 121–126 (2016).

Let’s say you’re a very busy person. You have work and studies going on. It’s a lot to deal with, and you often find yourself being spread thin. In that case, you may be using your time ineffectively to keep up with everything else you want to do in your life. For example, perhaps you want to work on your physical health, but you just can’t seem to find the time. Learning time management skills and scheduling out how you spend your days can help you reach that next level. People who want to accomplish their biggest goals need to find their limits and go beyond them. The limits of what you think you can accomplish are a comfortable, secure place where growth is hard. Why is growth hard in comfort? Because discomfort provides motivation to fuel the fires that keep you working toward something bigger. Noah and his family - I knew how it would end, and it's the way it's supposed to be (although a bit idyllic but oh well :D). Klinser, G. et al. Continuous monitoring of the bulk oxidation states in Li xNi 1/3Mn 1/3Co 1/3O 2 during charging and discharging. Appl. Phys. Lett. 109, 213901 (2016).Delmas, C., Fouassier, C. & Hagenmuller, P. Structural classification and properties of the layered oxides. Physica B+C 99, 81–85 (1980). Contemporary YA is probably my favourite genre. And I like books that challenge me emotionally. But while I had no real problem with Noah and Echo’s respective Issues-with-a-capital”I”, something about this just felt off to me. It didn’t feel sincere, and therefore it didn’t resonate with me. Do you want to push yourself physically? Why? What is the driving force behind your desire to run faster for longer, or to lift heavier weights or do more reps? Is it for health reasons? Is it to achieve a more sculpted body? Is it to attract a date? Is it for the mental health benefits and feel-good chemicals? Petersburg, C. F., Li, Z., Chernova, N. A., Whittingham, M. S. & Alamgir, F. M. Oxygen and transition metal involvement in the charge compensation mechanism of LiNi 1/3Mn 1/3Co 1/3O 2 cathodes. J. Mater. Chem. 22, 19993–20000 (2012). But when you’re a teenager thrown into the foster system… it’s hard to live life on the straight and narrow.