Yearly Archives: 2022

Kingdom of the Feared

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by Kerri Maniscalco

This book is the culmination of the Kingdom of the Wicked Series by Kerri Maniscalco, and it does end with a bang.

If you are not familiar with this series, it follows Emilia, a young witch living in Palermo Italy whose twin sister was murdered. Eager to find her sister’s killer, she summons the Prince of Wrath to assist her.

In this finale, Emilia is reeling from her discovery that her sister is alive and as well as the revelation that she is not a witch, but the Goddess of Fury. As she fights to uncover the truth behind her and her sister, she realizes her attraction to Wrath and embarks on a mission to break their curse to secure their happy ending.

This book was intense. It packs a punch with romance, action, and lots of twists. It teleports you to the frozen world of Hell and the seven deadly courts. Though this book may have you cursing that you cannot have a Prince of Wrath for yourself, its story is enchanting and intoxicating. In this last book, you will finally meet each of the 7 sins and unravel the twisted tale of Emilia’s and her sister’s heritage. It keeps you on your toes for its entirety and contains plenty of the action the sequel promised. Kerri Maniscalco promised readers a scalding fantasy romance and that is what she delivered. This book will leave you drunk on a high as if you were influenced by a deadly sin yourself.

Kingdom of the Feared by Kerri Maniscalco is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.

Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

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Prince Caspian, by C.S. Lewis, is part of his Chronicles of Narnia series.  This was the second book published, but it would be the fourth book chronologically.  This sequel to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, is about the four Pevensie children: Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy.  The children are waiting for a train so that they can return to boarding school, when suddenly they are teleported to the enchanted land of Narnia.  The Pevensie children had lived in Narnia before as king and queens, until they were returned to their native country of England.  The world of Narnia is ruled by Aslan, the great lion.  There are other kings and queens in Narnia, but Aslan rules over them all.

After wandering for a while in Narnia, the Pevensies discover a ruined castle.  They are dismayed to learn that the ruins are what remains of Cair Paravel, the castle from which they had ruled in the distant past.  A little while later, they rescue a dwarf named Trumpkin.  The dwarf explains to the children why they had been brought back to Narnia.  The world is under siege by the evil King Miraz and his army of Telmarine soldiers.  The children had been summoned by the rightful king, King Caspian the Tenth, to help defeat Miraz and reclaim the throne.

My favorite character throughout the series is Aslan, but this book features another of my favorite characters: Reepicheep the mouse.  Reepicheep is the leader of a small army of mice.  One of my favorite things about Reepicheep is his unwavering courage, despite his small stature.  There are also many exciting adventures throughout this story.  The rescue of Trumpkin, the betrayal of Nikabrik the dwarf, and the final battle against King Miraz are just a few of the highlights.

I enjoyed this book very much.  It is filled with suspense, action and adventure.  Just like the other books in the series, this story is highly symbolic and teaches many meaningful lessons.  I would definitely recommend this book to anyone, along with the rest of The Chronicles of Narnia.

Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Sustainable is Attainable

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Sustainable Fashion Presentation and Clothing Exchange

The Teen Library Interns invite you to learn about sustainable fashion and participate in a clothing exchange. Learn about the history of repurposing textiles and clothing and the importance of sustainable fashion and how it effects the environment. Participation is optional for the clothing exchange taking place immediately after the presentation.

This program is free and appropriate for all ages. Registration required.

Register here to attend the presentation and to participate in the clothing exchange. Clothing exchange guidelines will be sent to you upon registration.

This program is supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.

Guidelines for the Clothing Swap:

  • Bring up to five items of clothing to swap.
  • Absolutely no accessories or undergarments.
  • All clothing must be washed.
  • Any age range of clothing is allowed and encouraged.
  • There will be donation bins for clothing not swapped.

See you December 3rd!

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

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Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson is a nonfiction novel that takes readers through the author’s journey of creating his own law firm and and defending his clients. Stevenson works with racial minorities, disabled people, women, and children who have been wrongfully convicted or treated cruelly in prisons. The novel mainly revolves around the case of Walter McMillian- an innocent black man who was blamed for the murder of a teenage girl named Ronda Morrison. However, the author still shares dozens of other cases that involve different groups of people.

Personally, I found this novel very eye-opening, as it informed me of the situations involving our country’s justice system and current prison conditions. It caused me to rethink the conditions in which someone should receive a capital punishment, as well as whether or not the death penalty is considered inhumane. I was also impressed by the several themes in the novel that could be applied to not only my own life, but society as a whole. For example: It shouldn’t be okay to judge someone without considering the situation they are currently in, or what they have been through in the past.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning about criminal justice and law. Although there are some legal terms that require extra research to understand the meaning of, the overall plot is very easy to comprehend, especially with the clear, detailed descriptions of each case.

-Aysha H.

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Are They Worth It or Not….

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All over TikTok or Pinterest, people constantly post new “hacks” or “finds”. Like many others, I tend to get interested, want to try it out myself, and await results. I won’t lie, some of these new trends are really not it. But on the other hand, others are actually beneficial.

To start off, I want to talk about the Apple pencil. To be completely honest when I first heard about it I thought it was one of the stupidest new Apple products to be released. But, I have changed my mind. This product is worth the money for high school students taking many classes at the local community college along with actual college students. Using it with an iPad is a life changer. I personally use the app “Notability” but “GoodNotes” is another excellent choice. With these apps, you can take all of your notes digitally and organize them into their own sections. There are tools to copy and paste images, highlight, change pen style and size, and much more. It makes note-taking easier and honestly a lot more fun. I also use Notability to download a monthly planner to keep track of my life.

Up next is the fabric tape clothing hack. This has totally saved my closet. Since I am short, a lot of pants I buy are so long that they drag on the ground. I love the style so I really do not want to get rid of them. I first saw fabric tape on TikTok and thought I should try it out. I was a bit skeptical if the take would actually hold for a whole day but I was pleasantly surprised when it lasted the whole 90-degree school day. There are many brands but I use the Scotch Double-Sided Tape. This stuff is very sticky and durable. I put the pre-cut thin pieces at the edge of my pants and then fold them inside. This way, if you do not like the cuffed pant look you can still shorten your pants.

Bare but Better by Kiss

Lastly, I am going to share one of my favorite beauty hacks. I love either getting or doing my own nails all the time. The only problem is that it can get very pricey when I get them done and it takes a long time if I do them myself. Instead, when I am feeling lazy, I buy fake nails from Target or Walmart. The trick is to not buy press-on nails. Rather, buy ones that include nail glue. This makes the nails stay for a much longer time as if you were getting acrylic nails. Simple file your nail beds a little, brush off the dust and then glue them down without using too much glue. The fake nails offer many cute designs that look like real nails.

These finds of mine are all over the spectrum of different themes, but they are the trends I use the most. The internet can really provide great ideas and I have taken advantage of many while also facing some failures along the way. 

Top Gun: Maverick Movie Review

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Top Gun: Maverick, the long awaited sequel to the legendary Top Gun movie, has finally debuted after 30 years. Top Gun: Maverick once again stars Tom Cruise as Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, set 30 years after the first Top Gun movie. Top Gun: Maverick was extraordinary and I couldn’t have enjoyed it more. I wasn’t exactly super attached to the first Top Gun movie, but  was encouraged by my family to see Top Gun: Maverick with them. I had watched it a day after the opening of the movie, not really knowing what to expect, but after watching the movie, it blew any expectations I had out of the water. The cast was full of great picks and the characters made an impact. The story had my attention immediately and never once lost me. I stayed attentive throughout the whole thing and couldn’t turn away easily. 

Top Gun: Maverick first introduces us to Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, who has now been flying and serving in the Navy for more than 30 years now, and is called back to United States Navy Fighter Weapons School, or better known as Top Gun. Maverick is asked to become an instructor for a group of Top Gun graduates to get them ready to go on a near impossible mission, which makes everyone wonder if anyone would even make it out alive. As the pilots train for the mission, Maverick rebuilds his relationships, and learns to accept the past by overcoming his fears. He does whatever is in his power to make sure that this mission and everyone’s life doesn’t blow up into smoke.

Top Gun: Maverick included something that I had never felt in a movie before. The suspense had my heart pounding in my chest, my mind unable to tell what would be coming next. Even the minor plot twists would either give me stress or relief. I felt incredibly attached to the characters and I felt as if I really knew them. Every second of the film is essential to the plot or to Maverick’s character, and it doesn’t ever feel as if there is a filler scene. Even if there had been a filler scene, it was filled with entertainment, leaving me in no way bored. There was tension and suspense, but there were also heartwarming times, heartbreaking times, and witty, humorous moments scattered throughout the film which developed the plot and developed the characters. 

Each character had their own special quality, whether it being timid, arrogant, confident, or funny, these are all qualities that can be found within each of the characters, old and new. Despite there being only two of the past characters, Maverick and Iceman (Yes, it’s really Val Kilmer!), they still hold their previous character’s charm and personality within them. The new characters are definitely not a let down, and are actually pretty interesting characters. I do, however, wish that we had more time to spend with each character and to learn about each of them a bit more. I would’ve liked a bit more insight with each character such as, who they are, relationships with each other and each of their backstories; just to fill in some plot points that I feel were missed.

I hadn’t been a huge Top Gun fan before this movie came out, but now you can definitely count me in when it comes to Top Gun. If I ever get to, I’d watch the original and sequel back to back just to get the full experience and to appreciate it even more. There are a couple of call backs from the first Top Gun movie so if you were thinking of seeing Top Gun: Maverick, I’d definitely recommend watching the first Top Gun movie to get the full experience. Top Gun: Maverick easily won a spot in my heart, making it an unforgettable movie for me, also placing the entire franchise in general on a higher pedestal than I had it on before. If you ever have the chance to see Top Gun: Maverick, I’d highly recommend that you do. It is an amazing movie, with amazing people in it, and I couldn’t be happier to have watched it. 

-Nicole R.

Book Review: Impossible Views of the World by Lucy Ives

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Impossible Views of the World, by Lucy Ives, centers around protagonist Stella, an assistant curator at a prestigious New York art museum, in her quest to solve a twisted American history mystery.

“The day Paul Coral vanished, it snowed.” Thus opens the novel. We quickly find out that Paul was one of Stella’s coworkers, mysteriously gone missing. Stella is assigned to take over his position, but finds, on his laptop, a mysterious manuscript from the 1800s that draws her deeper and deeper into a mystery unfolding over a century and a half.

I would give this book a 7/10. I really enjoyed the plot, and I liked the way the mystery part of the story ran in parallel to Stella’s own journey of self-discovery re: her relationships with her ex-husband and her mother. However, Ives seems to have used a thesaurus on every word in this book. The language is often murky and difficult to understand- even I, as someone who enjoys reading slightly more dense and prose-like writing, had trouble understanding phrases in certain parts. It was a bit of a slog, but worth it for the most part!

-Vaidehi B.

To Kill A Mockingbird

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To be honest, I was definitely hesitant to begin reading this book. I thought it would be like one of those really slow books with little to no plot. This book definitely proved me wrong. 

Among the main characters are Jean Louise Finch (also known as Scout), and her older brother Jeremy Finch (Jem). Their father, Atticus Finch, is a lawyer, and their mother died when Scout was very young. Another major character in this book is Charles Baker Harris, but he is simply called Dill. Dill visits Maycomb and his aunt during the summertime. To Kill A Mockingbird takes place in the town of Maycomb, Alabama.

Despite the ideals of that time period (the early 1900s) Scout frequently gets into fights. This only increases when the boys in her class begin to tease her for her father’s most recent case. He has taken on the difficult case of defending Tom Robinson. The issues of racism are brought up in this book frequently, especially in Tom Robinson’s court trial. Mayella Ewell, a 19-year-old girl, and her father have falsely accused Tom of trying to rape Mayella. Atticus must try to prove that Tom did not do anything to Mayella, but it is challenging because there were no witnesses besides Mayella Ewell, Tom, and, Mayella’s father Bob Ewell. It is especially challenging because the majority of the town is already on the Ewells’ side despite not liking them much, simply because of Tom’s race. They, and Bob Ewell, go as far as threatening Tom, Atticus, and Atticus’s children Jem and Scout.

I think that despite some portions of this book being as unfair and upsetting to read as they were, it is a book that everyone should read as it provides another important perspective.

-Peri A.

To Kill A Mockingbird  by Harper Lee is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

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Perfection. Perfection is used to describe something that is flawless. When I think of perfection, I think of AP Calculus BC, Raising Canes Texas Toast, Allen Kesinger, and so much more. Every category has its own perfect thing. In movies, it is hands down Finding Nemo. Finding Nemo is the perfect movie, and Squirt is the perfect character. In names, I think Finn is a really nice name. But I think literature takes the cake for the most perfect item: Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Jeff Kinney was born in 1971. Back then in 1971, kids were reading novels such as The Handmaid’s Tale, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Although these literary pieces are very good and have a lot of significance, the world was yet to experience the pure bliss and perfection of Jeff Kinney’s soon-to-come creation.

Come 2007. The class of 2025 was born (they are sophomores now by the way), the AP US History curriculum stops, and the most amazing book was released as well. Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a diary of a wimpy kid. Such wimpy kid is named Greg, and well, objectively speaking, he is far from wimpy. Greg is a Chad. He is smart, handsome, tall, drippy, and loves his mom!

Despite Greg being the main character, I think it is fair to say that he is only the second-best character in the book. This is because Rowley exists. If Greg is a Chad, Rowley is a giga-Chad. Rowley is smarter, more handsome, taller, drippier, and loves his mom even more than Greg could ever imagine. Solely thanks to the creation of Rowley, Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney is perfection. Be like Rowley!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Album Review: Illegally Acquired Cheese by Ralphie and the Flies

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At school, I was informed that one of my peers had recently released an album with his band Ralphie and the Flies. I was intrigued by the news and decided to check out their debut album, Illegally Acquired Cheese. I was not disappointed by the work and was rather quite impressed.

An embed of Illegally Acquired Cheese

Illegally Acquired Cheese has 12 songs on it, containing a variety of influences and genres from disco to rock to electronic music. One such piece is “blåhaj (where have you gone?)”, my personal favorite from the album.

It is stylistically very similar to Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” with disco considerably influencing the song. The production is also quite similar. Either way, it stands up on its own with the vocalist having a strong voice and the saxophone being a nice touch on the piece.

Another great song on the album is “Alien” which recalls electronic video game music from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. It is an energetic, fun song that anyone can get into. That has to be my second favorite piece on the album after “blåhaj (where have you gone?)”.

Illegally Acquired Cheese is definitely worth a listen with its variety. While it’s not one of my personal favorites, it’s still a fun, self-aware album. I rate it a 7.4/10. Go check it out when you have a minute. It’ll be worth it.