Monthly Archives: May 2024

Adventures in Biodiversity: Thoughts and Review

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You may have heard of the term “biodiversity” before, but what is it and why is it so important? The book, Adventures in Biodiversity by Alexandre Antonelli gives new insight to these questions. Antonelli is a highly experienced and respected plant scientist. He has devoted his career to studying the evolutionary science of tropical plants and habitats. Throughout his book, he applies his knowledge to educate about the loss of biodiversity, and the dangers that come with it. It includes many details about the study of habitats and biology.

Personally, I am interested in biology. This book has furthered my passion for it: I have learned so much! I especially enjoyed reading about the author’s trips to rainforests and endangered ecosystems. I never knew how interconnected and complex nature truly is. Did you know that more than 500 species of flowers rely on bats to pollinate them? I didn’t either!

This book has also educated me on the dangers of endangered species and habitats. Everything needs biodiversity to thrive. All species, from cocoa plants to horseshoe crabs, play a major role in our everyday lives. Although we rely on the unique variety of species to thrive, humans are the leading cause for loss of biodiversity. We destroy rainforests, kill species for their fur, and steal habitats for our own. This decline of biodiversity has rapidly accelerated throughout the years. For example, the Amazon rainforest has already lost 20% of its area due to deforestation. It is projected to lose 7% more by 2027. The book goes into much more detail; there are many specifics on the causes, types, and consequences of the loss of biodiversity. I highly recommend everyone read this book and spread this knowledge to others.

Book Review: Catcher in the Rye

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I read this book as classwork for my English 1 class, and it was actually a really interesting book. It changed my outlook on life, and I really love the perspective of Holden. The book is written in first-person, from Holden’s point of view, and it shows the thought process of a teenager in internal conflict with himself.

The book is about a young boy named Holden who was born into a rich family. He went to Pencey Prep, a boarding school, due to his behavior and actions. His family was successful, and he wondered why he was not the same as them. This school journey ultimately leads him to the decision of leaving his school and wandering the streets of New York City. There, he talks about how he feels about life and what he needs.

Holden also talks with the people around him. For example, when he gets a taxi, he asks the cab driver about “what happens to the ducks in the Central Park lagoon.” I do not want to spoil the book too much because it is very interesting, and you will definitely not expect where Holden ends up.

The depression and mental illnesses Holden faces lead him to try to change his life for the better. He tries to protect other people’s childhood and innocence. He transforms eventually and in the end, he shifts his perspective in life and tries to redeem himself.

Overall, I would rate the book a 9/10, especially since I read it when I had just turned 14. I would mainly recommend this book to teenagers and high schoolers since the perspective is of a highschooler. It was a blast seeing Holden come of age and evolve throughout his thoughts and actions.

Albert X., 10th Grade

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Libby.

Book vs. Movie: The Giver

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The Giver, a novel by Lois Lowry, features Jonas, a boy living in a dystopian society. Jonas is chosen to become the Receiver of Memory, a highly-regarded position, and sets out to learn about society’s forgotten past. While acquiring these memories from The Giver, Jonas learns what it means to be “released” and decides to escape from this corrupted societal hierarchy instead of letting one of his loved ones die.

  1. Jonas’s Age
    • Book: Jonas is twelve when he is assigned as the Receiver of Memory.
    • Movie: Jonas is sixteen when he receives his assignment.
  2. Jonas’s Eyes
    • Book: Jonas has blue eyes, which sets him apart from the other children and is a key indicator that he has the potential to be the next Receiver of memory.
    • Movie: Jonas’s eyes are a brown color.
  3. Fiona’s Assignment
    • Book: Fiona is a Caretaker of the Old and takes care of the elderly before they are released.
    • Movie: Fiona is a Nurterer who looks after newborns and children.
  4. Asher’s Assignment
    • Book: Asher is assigned as the Assistant Recreational Director.
    • Movie: Asher becomes a pilot.
  5. The Chief Elder
    • Book: The Chief Elder is a rather minor and unimportant character who does not play much of a role in the book.
    • Movie: The Chief Elder closely monitors Jonas, The Giver, and the surrounding communities to ensure “peace.”

The Giver by Lois Lowry and the movie adaptation is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. The book can also be downloaded for free from Libby. 

AP Seminar: Recommended Class For Juniors!

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Taking AP Seminar this year has helped me learn and investigate more deeply into a specific topic that I enjoyed. This class is unique from other classes I have taken because it allows you to collaborate with other people to research a topic that interests the whole group.

This class has also helped me develop skills for independent research such as developing the skills to create a research question and being able to narrow down the question into something that is more researchable.

Not only does this apply to real-world applications such as what is happening around the world currently, it also teaches you truly how to research, which oftentimes requires collaboration.

For those of you who get nervous while presenting, this class is for you too! Because this class is a research class, you first do the research, and then you present your topic.

The first 4 months of the class are focused on writing your Individual Research Report (IRR) and a Team Multimedia Presentation (TMP). In these months, your group gets to choose a topic, spend time drafting an arguable research question, and then put that research into a slideshow. The IRR is written simultaneously while you are researching in which you put the different perspectives you researched into conversation with one another.

The second part of the seminar course is where you receive a packet of around 5 stories or articles revolving around a theme. This part is the independent portion and you get to draft your research question based off of the theme. Then, you write a report of your findings and make a 6-8 minute presentation on it by yourself.

This AP course, I believe, is essential for real life as well. In college, we’ll have to be able to research topics we don’t understand, and with this ability we learn in high school, we can better thrive in college.

Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe

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“Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe is a poem about a young man and woman’s love story. The story follows a love that provokes even the angels to strip the man of the woman as she passes away in the poem. The poem surrounds the themes of love and how both deep love and death cause great grief and sorrow. 

I particularly love how Poe develops the poem and creates it into a short story. While reading, it barely feels like a real poem, and rather a simple story about a couple in love and their tragic ending. I also love the way that Poe describes the couple’s love as he conveys their love as almost ethereal and something only seen once in a lifetime. The reader is truly immersed in their love especially with how Poe emphasizes how they had a “love that was more than love.” 

I did not dislike anything in particular, except for Poe’s eccentric habit of writing about a young, beautiful woman’s death. I find Edgar Allan Poe an extremely odd man who often wrote about darker themes. Despite how much I enjoy his poems, they may appear a bit strange or may carry hints of weird recurring themes. 

I truly enjoy this poem and recommend that anyone reads it. “Annabel Lee” is a short poem that is easy and fun to read that makes you wonder more about the couple’s story. Please give it a try as well as Edgar Allan Poe’s other works like Tell Tale Heart, a short novel, or even “The Bells,” another poem.

Kaiya T.

Books by Edgar Allan Poe are available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. They are also available to download for free from Libby.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

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In my English class, we read one of the most famous stories that Charles Dickens has ever written. This story is called A Christmas Carol. A Christmas Carol is about a very greedy and selfish person named Ebenezer Scrooge. In the story, Scrooge goes on a journey through time to get taught important lessons that would hopefully change him for the better. While reading this story, I had fun reading about Scrooge’s character development and the hidden meanings in the text.

Early in the story, we learn that Scrooge had a business partner who died named Jacob Marley. Later, Scrooge is visited by Marley’s ghost who warns Scrooge that if he doesn’t change for the better, he will be miserable after death. Marley also tells him that the only way that he can be saved is if he follows the teachings of three different spirits that will visit him. The first spirit that visits Scrooge is named the Ghost of Christmas Past, who reminds Scrooge of things that have happened in his past. The next spirit is named the Ghost of Christmas Present, who shows Scrooge visions of people who are celebrating Christmas with others. The final spirit that visits Scrooge is named the Ghost of Christmas Future. The Ghost of Christmas Future shows Scrooge things that will happen in the future if he doesn’t change for the better. After he gets visited by all three spirits he wakes up on Christmas day to change his fate. 

As I read through this story it is easy to see Ebenezer Scrooge’s character development. It made the reading experience more fun as Scrooge changed from a horrible and greedy person at the start of the book to a generous person. I also enjoyed finding the hidden meanings inside the text Charles Dickens wrote. In many pages, there is a hidden meaning in the text that teaches Scrooge a lesson, which is fun to find.

Overall, A Christmas Carol is a fun book to read. My favorite part about it was seeing the character development of Scrooge. At the beginning of the story, he demonstrates how he’s a selfish and greedy person who only cares about money. Then, he turned into the complete opposite person. I highly recommend this story to others since it is a fun book to read while in the Christmas spirit.

-Matthew R.

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol–along with every variation–is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Libby.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg

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From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is a short novel by E. L. Konigsburg. This book won the Newbery Medal in 1968. The main character of the story is a girl named Claudia Kincaid, who lives in Connecticut. Claudia is the eldest of four children. She does not feel like she is treated fairly at home, so she decides to run away. She carefully plans the best way to run away from home. She selects her younger brother, Jamie, to go along with her. After several weeks of preparation, the two siblings finally put their plan into action. They travel to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, intending to secretly live inside the museum.

Claudia and Jamie manage to live in the museum for a while. During the day, they blend in with school groups of other children. At closing time, they hide as the security staff inspects the museum to make sure that all visitors have left. At night, they sleep on an antique bed in the museum.

After several days in the museum, Claudia and Jamie discover a statue of an angel. The statue is believed to have been sculpted by Michelangelo. The children are so impressed by the statue that they decide to research its origins. They learn that it had been purchased from a mysterious art collector named Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. The children decide to investigate further, which leads them to an unexpected adventure that will change their lives forever.

This book is very well written. The story is quite unique and imaginative. I have never visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but the book’s description of the museum is captivating. Even though I would not generally condone the idea of children running away from home, this book includes some wise counsel at the end. I would expect that anyone who has visited this museum would especially enjoy this book. Overall, I found this book to be very original, and the ending is quite satisfying.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by Richard Powers is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

MJ: The Musical Review

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On March 30, 2024, my family and I went to see the Broadway performance, MJ: The Musical, at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. The musical is based on the life of the great King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Specifically, the musical was about Jackson’s preparations for his Dangerous World Tour. Between his Dangerous album tracks, such as “Black or White,” he’s getting ready to perform his biggest hits from the last thirty years of his career. As he practices, he makes things up as he goes along, modifying the set list and the choreography to suit his needs. To the occasional displeasure of his tour director and business manager, he is constantly striving to make the tour flawless. Additionally, the musical covered Michael Jackson’s rise to stardom in Jackson 5 with Motown Records and breaking away from his brothers to become a solo artist.

This musical was utterly AMAZING! I have been to multiple Broadway musicals, such as Wicked, the Lion King, Chicago, Moulin Rouge, and Hairspray. None of these were like the MJ Musical, as it was based on the real-life story of one of the most iconic performers of our time. 

I would like to explore some of the songs I exceptionally enjoyed.

The composition I liked best was “Thriller,” composed by Rod Temperton. There was sufficient energy to bring across the music, as there was a recreation of the “Thriller” music video with the zombie dance routine. The performers were singing extremely in tune and the audience was eating up every minute of the performance. The performers seemed very comfortable with the technical demands “Thriller” brought. Additionally, they sounded very well rehearsed and prepared, hitting all the high notes with ease. There was very good communication among the performers, as they danced in sync with each other.

Overall, I 100% would recommend the musical to others and I had an amazing experience!

-Sophia B.

Book Review: The Overstory by Richard Powers

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From the start, this was probably one of the most unique books that I’ve read, with a very good message behind it. Although it was definitely one of the longer ones I’ve read, it was well-written enough to keep any reader interested.

This book tells the story of 9 Americans who work together to prevent the destruction of forests within the U.S. The book starts in the 1800s with the story of the Hoel chestnut tree, detailing an important background for another character later in the story. The Hoel family had a tradition of taking pictures of the tree every year, and these pictures were eventually inherited by Nicholas Hoel, the great-great-great grandson of Jorgen Hoel, who planted the tree. After this chapter, the book fasts forward in time to the story of Winston Ma and his family, who escapes communism in China and becomes an electrical engineer in the U.S. He starts a family, and plants a mulberry tree. However, later, when everything falls apart, he takes his own life underneath the very tree he planted, leaving behind his daughter, Mimi Ma, who will be an important character later in the story.

There are seven more individual stories in this book, each revolving around a specific character in a different time period. Each of these nine individuals has seen their live impacted massively by nature, and each one of these stories are centered around a certain tree, as seen in the two early characters. The 9 characters eventually go on to formulate a plan to spread awareness for their cause, but It does not really go as planned. I won’t spoil what happens to each of these characters, but I will say that this book can have either a happy or sad ending, depending on one’s interpretation of it.

Overall, I think this book had a great message behind it, with the author clearly emphasizing the importance of nature to the world, as well as the importance of the continued existence of trees. This book is an amazing example of environmental activism through literature, and I would recommend this book to anybody interested in the environment and its preservation.

The Overstory by Richard Powers is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Solar Eclipse

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Photo: https://www.sgvtribune.com/2024/04/06/solar-eclipse-2024-what-southern-california-should-know-as-things-go-darker/

Many significant events took place in the month of April, and one of these events was the solar eclipse. The solar eclipse took place at the start of April, on April 8th, 2024. The last solar eclipse was on August 21, 2017. The solar eclipse is a rare astronomical event when the Earth, the Sun, and the Moon are all lined up so the Moon is blocking out the Sun.

The most phenomenal form of a solar eclipse is a total eclipse when the whole sun is seen to be blocked out by the moon. However, this isn’t seen by everyone and only seen by people in the path of totality. When a solar eclipse happens, it casts two shadows into the Earth, an umbra and a penumbra. The path of totality is the imaginary path that the umbra shadow makes. If a person is not in the path of totality, they will still see the solar eclipse, but they wouldn’t be able to see it fully, since they are not in the path of totality. 

Regardless of the place, if you look up at the sun during a solar eclipse, it can be very dangerous and cause severe damage to your eyes because since the moon is blocking out the sun, your brain will think that it is not looking at the sun, so your pupils won’t dilate, thus making it dangerous to look at the sun during an eclipse. That’s why it is important to wear eclipse glasses to protect your eyes from the radiation of the sun! 

I didn’t even know that there was a solar eclipse that day on April 9th. I only realized when everyone was talking about it. My 3rd-period teacher and many other teachers let their students go outside to look at the sun. Unfortunately, I didn’t have solar eclipse glasses, so I couldn’t see them, but my teacher and this chemistry teacher showed us the shadows and they were formed into crescents. Then my teacher’s friend let my class use her solar eclipse glasses and when I looked through it, I was amazed. It wasn’t a total eclipse but I found it cool how it was a crescent.