Monthly Archives: April 2022

Romeo and Juliet: What’s in a name?

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Romeo and Juliet are madly in love after meeting for just a short time and are willing to give up many valuable things in their life to be with each other, which shows how blinding falling in love can be. The two discuss what is in a name, and agree that what “we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” (2:2:46-7). Romeo is a Montague, Juliet is a Capulet, and their two families have been enemies for an extensive time. If Romeo or Juliet gave up their last name, they would still be the same person, just as a rose would be just as pretty and sweet if it had a different name.

The name of an individual does not change who they are as a person. After hearing Juliet speak about her troubles and Romeo’s family name on her balcony, Romeo says, “Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptized” (2:2:54). Romeo is willing to give up his family to be with Juliet, which is surprising considering he just met her and he has been with his family for years. In addition, Romeo completely forgot about Rosaline, whom he professed his love to right up until he met Juliet. Romeo would “deny thy father and refuse thy name” (2:2:36), showing that he would abandon his whole life just to marry Juliet, which is a very bold action. Romeo’s surname not only signifies his relationship with his parents and family, but also their family’s reputation, their inheritance, and personal identities. Romeo and Juliet would both be giving up more than just a name if they decided to marry each other. This decision could affect and impact their future forever.

However, both Romeo and Juliet do not understand the significance of their names as Juliet says, “What’s Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, nor arm, nor face, nor any other part belonging to man” (2:2:43-5). Juliet is right that a name is not identified with certain body parts and who one is as a person. However, giving up one’s surname does impact one’s future and relationship with their family, which could, in turn, end up affecting their life together.

-Abby V.

Gabe and Izzy: Standing up for America’s Bullied by Gabrielle Ford and Sarah Thomson

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Bullying is a huge problem and Gabrielle Ford took on this problem with full force. While on her journey, she hit a few rocks and fell, but she always got back up.

Gabrielle was diagnosed with Friedreich ataxia when she was 13. Friedreich ataxia is a disease that affects the central nervous system. It makes it very hard to walk and it may affect the heart. Gabrielle’s passion was dance, she knew jazz, tap, and ballet. Imagine, not being able to do the one thing that you love the most? She went through a hard time all throughout her life but especially in 8th grade; she was bullied constantly because of her disease. Boys would tease her and say “You talk like you’re drunk! You really ought to lay off the booze, Gabe!” (Ford and Thomson 31). She slurred her words because of the disease. She would also sometimes trip and kids would push her and kick her heels. She could have given up, she could have let the kids get to her but instead, she held her head high and brushed it off. 

A few years after graduating high school, she adopted a coonhound named Izzy. Later, it was discovered that Izzy had a liver shunt and muscle problems. Gabrielle did everything in her power to get Izzy’s treatment, and after all her and her family’s hard work, they did! The story reached “Animal Planet” and not long after that, Gabrielle and Izzy had their own episode on “Animal Planet!” 

Gabrielle and Izzy went to speak to schools about bullying all around the world! Gabrielle’s story is so inspiring. It speaks to all kids and tells them that you shouldn’t let what everyone thinks and says affect you. I hope you read this book and help spread Gabrielle and Izzy’s message to others!

-Ella Y.

Gabe and Izzy: Standing up for America’s Bullied by Gabrielle Ford and Sarah Thomson is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.

Book Review: Children of Dune

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Minor spoilers for other Dune books

Children of Dune is the 3rd book in Frank Herbert’s Dune series. It was published in 1976 a whole 11 years after Dune, and 6 years after Dune Messiah. The story follows Paul Atreides’ children, the twins Leto II and Ghanima as they navigate political plots, religion, and mental turmoil. Both twins are “pre-born” meaning they have the knowledge of all those who came before them. This causes them to struggle, as they navigate physically being children, but mentally being thousands of years and thousands of people all in one. The Bene Gesserit are incredibly afraid of pre-born believing that they could turn into abominations. This simply means that they can become possessed by the evil people of their past who haunt their minds. Ideas like this are what make the story so interesting. Herbert always shows the dark side of power and the consequences of losing your humanity. The twins acknowledge and know about this dark side, seeing it in Alia, and in Paul’s supposed death. Yet, they are forced to use their powers and risk their humanity for the greater good. In Leto II’s opinion, they must go where Paul never could go, where he even was afraid to go. 

Many would consider this blasphemous to say, but it’s a bit like Star Wars Episode 7. By this I mean the story is a bit of a retelling of the original story. But it’s more fun and has enough new and interesting content to make it a great read. Some might even find it superior to the original. I probably would if it wasn’t for a few specific issues I had with the story. I dislike the ending of the story; it’s too similar to the first book and doesn’t show enough of Leto II’s potential. Perhaps this is on purpose to get us excited for the next book, but I’m not a fan. I also dislike how little Herbert does with Ghanima. I find her far more interesting of a character than Leto II (who in many ways is the same character as Paul) yet she hardly does anything. That being said I’m certainly looking forward to seeing what the next book and the books after that have to offer. 

-Parker K.

Children of Dune by Frank Herbert is available at the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Libby.

Neverseen – Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger

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In the fourth book of this series, our main character Sophie and her friends escape to the Black Swan, having just figured out that there is a second rebel group (aka the Neverseen). To keep their families safe and avoid the Council’s punishment, they leave. Upon getting to the Black Swan’s hideout, they meet an old gnome named Calla. She tells Sophie that she helped make her during the experimental stage of her creation. She also talks about a plague that has been killing gnomes. Sophie, (being the curious girl she is), decided to do some research. Mr. Forkle has other plans. He wants to only use this time to read and research. Nobody liked that idea (especially Dex and Keefe)!


This is one of my favorites in the series. It has the best ending so far, and it is tense (but still exciting). I can see major character development within all of the characters, and it is when many memorable actions happen. Some of which are Fitzphie jokes, meeting the twins Tam and Linh, plus some miniature showdowns with various different people. I very highly recommend reading this series, you can get very invested in the series quite quickly.

-Izzy W.

Neverseen by Shannon Messenger is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Libby.

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket

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The Ersatz Elevator is the 6th book in the Unfortunate Events series by Daniel Handler, pen name Lemony Snicket. Published in 2001 the book tackles the problems of wealth, the phoniness of pop culture, and the necessity of arguing. Similar to the previous novels it does this whilst exploring the lives of the Baudelaire orphans as they are passed to yet another guardian, who inevitably turns out to be a disappointment. 

The book immediately starts with the children meeting their new guardians, Jerome and Esme Squalor. They quickly learn that Esme only cares about what’s “in” and what’s “out” or what is popular and what is not. Lucky for them, orphans are in, thus they are allowed to stay in the roughly 76  room penthouse. Jerome on the other hand is an incredibly kind man who doesn’t care about popularity, but also hates arguing. To the point that he does whatever Esme says even if it involved eating salmon, a food he despises. Inevitably their enjoyment in the penthouse is short-lived after they spot Count Olaf, who is once again attempting to get his hands on the orphans and their fortune. From this point onwards the book is filled with mystery, adventure, and emotion. 

The book is by far one of the greatest in the series, as it walks the fine line between fiction and reality. It teaches the Baudelaires about the failings of adults and why the world is as bad as it is. Yet it also teaches them about how important it is to be brave, even in the face of total darkness. As well as expanding upon the mystery that has been growing throughout the series. You are left asking even more questions, and wondering why the Baudelaires are in the predicaments they are in. 

-Parker K.

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Libby.

Music Recommendation

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As a music lover, I am always looking for new music that is similar to what I already know I love. My taste has evolved constantly over the years and it’s been an adventure to try and find artists in which I love all of their songs, and not just certain particular ones. Right now, some of my favorite artists are Lewis Capaldi, Alec Benjamin and Harry Styles. There is one other artist who lies more under the radar that combines all of these styles of artists together.

Coming from Australia, one of my all time favorite musicians, Dean Lewis, has a really interesting combination of upbeat and slower songs for whatever you’re in the mood for. He discusses a lot of topics that he himself went through, mostly centered around heartbreak and starting new things (as much music is nowadays). When I first discovered him, I started with some of his more popular songs. As I began to listen more and more, I discovered how much he was like other artists I already listened to, such as Lewis Capaldi. 

If you’re looking for some new music and we listen to similar musicians, I highly recommend Dean Lewis. His songs all carry something special and are completely different songs to one another. You can have multiple favorites of his because his songs span many different types of the same genre. Some of my favorites include, “For The Last Time,” “Don’t Hold Me,” and “Half A Man.” 

-Danielle B.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus

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I like to consider myself a Pokemon connoisseur. I have played all of the Pokemon games at least 3 times each and would like to think that I have a good understanding of which of these games and my favorite and which ones I would recommend playing.

This game combines the fun of catching and battling a wide variety of Pokemon throughout a specific region. It also has the same open-world charm that Breath Of The Wild had in the Zelda franchise.

The backstory behind this game is that for one, it takes place in the Sinnoh region, the fourth region in the Pokemon franchise. The first games that featured this region came out in September of 2006. They were the original Diamond and Pearl. They showcased brand new Pokemon and even brand new mechanics such as the Underground, where a player can dig for fossils which had never been featured prior to this game.

In November of last year, the Pokemon company released Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. These were the faithful Gen 4 remakes that most Pokemon fans were hoping for. This game added more mechanics related to the Underground, such as new areas where Pokemon could spawn. This was a really good way to acquire some rare Pokemon that could only be obtained by trade between other consoles.

This was the only new feature that they added to this game, so people were not that happy about this because they wanted new mechanics. Oh, but what they didn’t know was that they would get what could very be the best Pokemon game ever made up to this day.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus takes place in the Hisui region which is what the Sinnoh region was called in the past. This game has a story about how the Sinnoh region came to be and takes place very far in the past regarding the Sinnoh region. The part of the name with the word Arceus is also the name of the supposed god of all of the Pokemon universe. This game focuses on how Arceus came to be and how the world of Pokemon was created.

Now onto the mechanics of the game. The first noticeable one is the feature of Outbreaks. Once you get far enough into the game, everytime you move between locations, each location has a change to have an outbreak of a specific Pokemon. This means that you will be able to locate and catch 4-12 of the same Pokemon. These also have a very boosted Shiny chance.

Just a bit of background info, a Shiny is a Pokemon that has a different color than its original version, and are very rare and prized possessions.

These are all ways to improve your in game experience and trust me when I say, this game is the peak of Pokemon as of right now.

-Jasper D.

College Stress: Tips While You Wait for Decisions

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Applying to colleges is stressful. But what many don’t tell you is that waiting to hear back, and then having to pick a college, is even worse. I was lucky enough to hear back from my dream school in December. But many of my friends don’t have that same luxury. Though we all finished our applications around the same time, many of them have to wait until March to hear back from all their schools. After that, they then have to go through the process of which school you want to go to.

On top of the stress of the waiting game to hear back from schools, you’ll have people at every corner telling you whether or not you should go to this school or that. Everyone around you is lobbying for their favorite. Parents, of course, usually want their kids to stay close by. Relatives are hoping you’ll be near them. It can be hard to block out the people around you and figure out what you truly want for yourself.

When you have more than one top school, it can be hard to find the one for you. I always recommend that my friends visit the schools they are most interested in. That way, they can get a feel of the campus as well as some of the people they will be surrounded with for the next four years of their lives. On top of that, make sure you do really good research on the living situations, meals, and transport on campus.

I found that the two most important things when I was picking a school were extracurricular activities and job opportunities. I wanted to make sure that I had fun on campus and would have things to do outside of just going to school and the occasional football game. Perhaps even more important than that was that I would be able to get job experience while on campus, whether it be internships or even just making connections with people in my industry. 

So even though college can be stressful, hopefully you have some tips to help you pick the right school and relax a little while you wait for colleges to return their decisions. 

-Danielle B.

Finding Ruby Starling by Karen Rivers

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When twelve-year-old Ruth Quayle uses a face-recognition app to search for images of herself online, she finds plenty of photos of herself, as she expected. Then she stumbles across a couple images of a complete stranger—yet one that resembles Ruth almost identically. Ruth soon comes to the conclusion that the stranger, Ruby, is her identical twin!

Ruth and Ruby communicate over the Internet, learning more about each other, themselves, and their families. They share many differences and similarities—Ruth is an extroverted American adoptee, while Ruby is a shy English girl living with her single mother.

Yet both carry lives bursting with family, friends, and blooming romances. Together, Ruth and Ruby investigate the truth about their birth and separation, all the while balancing their busy lives and learning how to navigate them.

Ruth and Ruby’s story turned out to be one of my favorites! Throughout the massively complicated shift in Ruth s and Ruby s lives, they are still only twelve-year-olds learning to deal with the small changes in their lives that come with growing up.

I absolutely loved that this novel was written only in emails, handwritten letters, Tumblr entries, and film scripts. The way the characters wrote their emails and letters really helped embody their personalities, and this format was such a unique, inventive, and expressive way to write a novel.

Finding Ruby Starling by Karen Rivers is a creatively crafted story of family, friendship, and love. I truly enjoyed it so much, and I found myself rereading certain scenes over and over after I had finished the book. I’d definitely recommend Finding Ruby Starling! Happy reading!

-Lam T.

Finding Ruby Starling by Karen Rivers is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.

Significance of the Title “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”

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If one were to commit a murder, the last thing you would expect them to do is to tell everybody about it before it actually happens, in most cases at least. Gabrielle Marquez’s novel Chronicle of a Death Foretold shows the unlikely case where an entire town knows about a murder except for the victim. Through the plot, characters, and point of view, the significance of the title “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” becomes apparent.

Chronicle of a Death Foretold’s plot effectively helps show the significance of the title through what the Viccario do to Santiago. Despite not having clear evidence, the Viccario twins decide to hunt down and murder Santiago for taking the virginity of their younger sister, Angela. However, the twins decide that instead of keeping it a secret to avoid getting caught, they will tell everybody in a boasting manner. This detail of the plot shows how the death was foretold, yet nobody decided to warn Santiago about it, assuming he had already heard about it or that the murder was justifiable. Everybody knew about the murder prior to when it actually happened, showing how the lack of action from others in the town directly costed somebody’s life, a very preventable mistake.

In addition to the plot, the characters of the story also greatly relate to the title of the book. Throughout the book, there are many instances of the Viccario twins straight up telling people about what they are going to do to Santiago. However, the characters’ decisions to dismiss these claims as bogus directly shows the predictability of the crime. Through these characters who decide not to warn Santiago or take any further action, such as Colonel Aponte, the word “foretold” is appropriate to use, as everybody in the town was aware of the crime to take place, yet they decide not to tell Santiago.

The perspective of the story is told by an anonymous narrator, which shows the significance of the title. The narrator decides to tell the story in non-chronological order, jumping between different people and time periods frequently. Such shows the irony of the title due to how it is not actually a chronicle. Because of this, the reader is required to piece information together throughout the book, which can help them understand the events that took place more clearly. 

The significance of the title was effectively shown through these aspects of the novel. Because of this, the reader can connect the dots easily and have a better understanding of what goes on in the book, along with any potential purposes or messages posed by the author.

-Jeremy L

Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.