Yearly Archives: 2022

Coping with Stress and Emotions

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Lately, in my personal life, I’ve been experiencing a lot of stress and emotional mood swings, so I thought I’d share how I’m dealing with it. As a teenager growing physically and emotionally every day, I’ve recently been feeling a lot of confusing and unexplainable emotions. I’ve also been extremely stressed with school and the excessive workloads I’ve had to deal with, especially as the school year begins to come to a close.

With the help of all my loved ones, I’m doing much better now and I’m really enjoying myself amidst all the homework and stress. Without further ado, here are four ways to deal with stress and difficult emotions.

1. Write it down! When you are feeling stressed or confused, try writing it down on paper, whether it’s in a long paragraph of thought, a free verse poem, angry bullet points, or indecipherable scribbles. It feels great to release your thoughts and emotions, and you can really get creative with a pen to paper. Also, you can just throw away or shred up the paper later!

2. Talk to someone about it! One thing I’ve realized is that keeping secrets to yourself will not help. Bottling up emotions just consumes you and makes you feel so much worse, and you will feel disconnected or isolated from your loved ones. Mine have always been there for me, and I’ve found that they definitely have my back, and I can trust them and just have a nice long talk about my life with them. Talking to someone you love is a huge help.

3. Do something/find something you love! One of my favorite ways to spend my free time is listening to music. I love music because it puts me in a good mood and takes my mind off of whatever is going on at the moment. Do something that makes you happy, like reading a book or watching a nostalgic movie!

4. Don’t get distracted from your work! When you’re doing homework or trying to get something done, don’t let yourself be distracted. I’ve found that in the past, having my phone beside me when I’m working is an extremely unproductive arrangement. Every time I get a notification, I pick up my phone and can’t put it down for a long time. Recently I have been putting my phone far away from me when I work, and I’ve been so much more productive. Also, in the cases that I am productive and get a lot of work done, I’m really happy with myself and I allow myself to feel good and have a good day.

I hope this helps! Good luck!

-Lam T.

Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson

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This captivating fantasy novel follows Kazi Brightmist, also known as the notorious pickpocket “Ten,” and her fellow members of the Queen’s elite guard to venture to neighboring settlements on orders to investigate disturbances in these areas. Upon reaching their destination, Kazi discovers Jase Ballenger, the newly crowned lord of the land after his father’s untimely death. Each suspicious of each other, they quickly become enemies but are forced to work together when they are captured by slave traders and chained at the ankle. Worried about his city and determined to complete her assignment, the two make the long journey back, finding themselves attached at the hip by the end of their adventure (or leg 😉). However, trials await the pair when their secrets threaten to uncover. Trying to outwit each other, they enter an exchange of ploys and tactics to each secure what they desire. They dance the dance of thieves.

This book is such a fun read. You are enveloped in the beautiful world of Venda and the Ballenger Empire with its endless deserts and colorful bizarres. Kazi is a strong, witty warrior who, despite all her hardships has become a member of the Queen’s personal guard. Jase is very clever and the leader of his large family and city. I really enjoyed the two protagonists’ banter and outwit each other in a constant battle to determine who was more clever. This book quickly became one of my favorites and I highly recommend you read it so it can become your favorite as well.

-Gia S.

Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available for download for free from Libby.

Charlie Bone and the Beast by Jenny Nimmo

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Charlie Bone and the Beast is the sixth book in the Children of the Red King series by Jenny Nimmo.  The author had originally planned to write a series of only five books, but after the success of those books, she decided to add another three books to the series.  In this story, Charlie Bone faces a mysterious new enemy at Bloor’s Academy.  A student named Asa Pike, who magically changes into a beast every day at dusk, has suddenly disappeared.  Meanwhile, a new student named Dagbert Endless has enrolled at the school.  Charlie notices that Dagbert hangs around with Manfred Bloor, who has been known to cause trouble in the past.  Charlie suspects that the two of them are plotting something evil.  Charlie and his friends know that they must rescue Asa before something terrible happens.

Along with Charlie Bone, my favorite characters in this book and throughout the saga are Lysander Sage and Tancred Torsson.  They both possess very powerful abilities and are very helpful to Charlie and his other friends.  Also, an intriguing new character is introduced in this book.  He is a mysterious knight without a name, known only as the Red Knight.  Not much is known about his identity, and it’s not clear in this book whether he is a friend or foe of Charlie Bone.

One of my favorite parts in this book is when Charlie and some of his friends are forced to cross a dangerous river, by walking across a thin iron bridge in the middle of a thick fog.  The river suddenly rises to the height of the bridge, and the bridge begins to tilt violently.  I found this part very suspenseful because it seemed that everyone could drown in the vicious current of water.

Like the other books in the series, this book is very exciting.  Charlie and his friends risk their lives on numerous occasions as they embark on perilous adventures.  I am very glad that Jenny Nimmo decided to write more books in the series after her intended final book, Charlie Bone and the Hidden King.  This is one of my favorite books by Jenny Nimmo, and I would highly suggest it to anyone who has read the first five books in the saga.

-Simon H.

Charlie Bone and the Beast by Jenny Nimmo is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.

Violet Evergarden by Kana Akatsuki

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A detailed and charming light novel written by Kana Akatsuki has gained the attention of many. Violet Evergarden is a slice of life light novel that surrounds a veteran from the Great War, Violet Evergarden. After recovering from her wounds, she witnesses many people’s feelings and thoughts as she transcribes them onto paper as an Auto Memory Doll. Her job as a Doll takes her on an adventure that leads to self-discovery, and the reshaping of her clients’ lives. 

Kana Akatsuki beautifully crafted this book with many emotions and vivid moments that fill readers with many thoughts. I personally enjoyed both the anime and light novel. The animation and illustrations are amazing and it’s visually pleasing to one’s eyes. I also love the character development shown through Violet in her quest to find the meaning of emotions. The details used to describe her in the story gradually change to display her growth as a person as well. Viewers can see her shift from an emotionless soldier to a compassionate and kind young girl. These aspects of Akatsuki’s work always made it enjoyable to read.

This light novel is a good read for anyone who enjoys slice of life and romance books with a bit of adventure. I would  also recommend this to those who love gorgeous art and tear jerking plots. If anyone is looking for a good romance novel to read, I would definitely recommend Violet Evergarden.

-Kaiya T.

Cookie Run Kingdom: A recipe for success?

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Cookie Run Kingdom was definitely my favorite game that was released during 2021.  I downloaded it in late September and instantly became addicted.

This game features a large cast of characters ranging from plain gingerbread cookies to wizards and even to wolves.  It has a very large campaign mode and a very intricate storyline.  It also has a gacha feature which you can use to acquire more cookies to add to your team.  

It is better than most RPGs in this category because it is more leaning toward a free-to-play lifestyle.  Meaning you can enjoy the game just as much without needing to spend a lot of money on it.  

I found this game on Youtube when I was scrolling through my home page.  I instantly clicked and fell in love with this game.  My favorite part of this game is the gacha feature which I do as much as possible.  So far I have collected all of the cookies except for 2 of the rarest ones which are Pure Vanilla and Sea Fairy, but I recently got them on my luckiest day ever in this game.  This game has a lot of fun things to do and can be played for hours on end.  Can be played does not mean you should play it a lot more than you should.  

In conclusion, if you like to play gacha games and don’t want to have to spend money to progress and have fun, then this is the game for you.  Just look up Devsisters in the App Store on Android and IOS.  

-Jasper D.

Forager

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Forager is a game made by Hop Frog and is a very good game at that. It has a very simple 2D game design but the goal of the game is anything but simple. The objective is to buy all of the neighboring islands, unlock all the skills, and obtain all of the possible objects.

You start off on one tiny island with some rocks, trees, and berries. You use your pickaxe to mine the trees and the rocks to get resources. You eat the berries to replenish your stamina. When you get enough resources you can build a furnace if you get enough ore from mining the rocks. If you do not have enough resources, do not worry because rocks, trees, and berries respawn after a certain amount of time making it so you don’t need to worry about resource shortages.

Then once you start unlocking more items by leveling up then you can get access to markets which can help you buy rarer items and you can sell the items that do not have any use left for you. This helps with progression because of scrolls. There are a couple different scrolls that can spawn a lot of ores, animals, trees/berries, or digging spots. Digging spots have chances of giving rare items but when you combine digging spots with lighthouses, which give a boost to items gathered within the radius of the light, then you can get a lot of items from the ground.

If you like simulation crafting games then this game is definitely for you. You can get it on Steam for computers or on the App Store for mobile devices.

-Jasper D.

Tiny Tower

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Tiny Tower is as it says in their own description, “the one and only building simulation that lets you manage your own tower, customize each floor, and the bitizens that inhabit it.” This is all true. The amount of customization that you control is amazing. You can change the color of the background, floor, and certain decorations inside of each floor of your tower. You can also change the people too. You can give them cool costumes and also change the colors of their clothes.

My favorite thing to do is pick an elevator, roof, and lobby design that all fit together, such as the pyramid set or the tree set. Then I change the colors of each floor to either brown or green for the tree set, then make all of the people in the tower wear a monkey costume so it is all one big tree! The possibilities are nearly infinite.

Another thing I like about this game is that the cost of the next floors scale pretty well so it gets harder and harder to get the next floor so you end up investing more time into the game which helps get money faster. And the best thing, NO ADS. I know most free games have ads that block you from playing the game and having fun but you only watch ads if you choose to and most of the time the ad rewards are worth watching the ads for. All in all this is a very nice game to play on the side while doing something else or having it be your main game.

-Jasper D.

Game Review: Pokemon Legends Arceus

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Pokemon Legends Arceus is a Pokemon game unlike any other we have seen before. Published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch, this new take on the Pokemon genre completely changes the formula of all the games before it.  Pokemon Legends Arceus takes place in the Hisui region based upon the island of Hokkaido in Japan in ancient times. It serves as a prequel to Nintendo’s previous releases of Pokemon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum set in the Sinnoh Region based on modern day Hokkaido. Pokemon Legends Arceus is an open world, action role-playing game in which the objective is to explore the entire region by riding different Pokemon, and to catch all 242 Pokemon available throughout all of the five different biomes in the region in order to catch Arceus who is the Pokemon that sets you out on your journey.

With Pokemon Legends comes a completely new battle and catching system unlike anything else. Instead of having to engage in battles in order to catch Pokemon, you can instead catch them in the environment with a variety of different Pokeballs. The Pokemon can interact with the environment, other Pokemon, and the player. In addition to this, instead of battles being turn based, the player can alter the turn order by using agile style moves, which makes their next turn come sooner but decreases power, or strong style moves, that are stronger, but makes their next turn come later. Some other features include alpha Pokemon, which are stronger and bigger Pokemon, Mass Outbreaks, which are swarms of specific Pokemon that occasionally spawn. 

I really enjoyed this game and have nearly completed it. The gameplay is so different from other Pokemon games and has many new features. I really loved the hub world, Jubilife Village, and the many side quests that you could accept. I also liked the starter Pokemon that you could pick: Oshawott, a water sea otter; Cyndaquil, a fire mouse; and my personal favorite, Rowlet, a grass owl. I would recommend this game to anyone who loves Pokemon or is interested in checking out why everything Pokemon has become an international phenomenon.

-Brandon G.

A Night Divided By Jennifer Nielsen

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A Night Divided is a historical fiction book based on the event of the Berlin Wall, and is about a girl name Gerta. Who one day gets separated from her father and brother by the wall. Gerta has grown to dislike the East and instead think of it like a prison. One day as she was heading towards school, she see’s her dad preforming a dance and takes it as a sign to escape. So her and her other brother Fritz work on digging a secret tunnel. I just finished reading a night divided and I must say it was an amazing story to follow along to. It contains, a a heart warming lesson, along with an action plot story line.

This book showed a new perspective of how much the effect of war ending can still effect the people. Not only do we experience new insight we learn more about East Germany and its laws and restrictions. I especially loved how divers the characters personality’s were and that they weren’t just side characters but also had their own life’s and troubles. I enjoyed the organization and flow of the story. It wasn’t predictable, and had intertwining events that showed the characters thoughts.

Overall, this is a enjoyable yet deep and meaningful book, containing facts about the event of the Berlin wall and East Germany. The story is filled with an exciting and suspenseful journey. The characters are well written and memorable, with a fun story line that is easy to follow. I liked how all the characters and elements came together to form a likable book. This book has definitely become one of my favorites and I recommend this to anyone who is interested in this genre.

-Caitlyn Y.

A Night Divided By Jennifer Nielsen is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Libby.

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottesa Moshfegh

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My Year of Rest and Relaxation is probably one of my favorite books I’ve ever read. The book highlights a young, privileged, wealthy, and well-educated woman. She lives on the Upper East Side, with all her needs paid for through her inheritance. The novel also centers on her strange relationship with her best friend Reva, and her on-again off-again boyfriend, Trevor. But despite all of this, the narrator, who is never named, goes through life empty and unfulfilled. As a result, she gradually increases her intake of medications to attempt to rest for one year.

My Year of Rest and Relaxation‘s perspective and dark humor creates an entertaining and thought-provoking read. Moshfegh’s satirical writing of the narrator creates a psychological perspective into a woman who’s goal is to fade away into obscurity.

I would highly recommend this novel to anyone, but especially those who enjoy psychological fiction. My Year of Rest and Relaxation is humorous and intriguing, a truly amazing read.

-Kelsie W.

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottesa Moshfegh is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Overdrive.