101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think, written by Brianna Wiest, is a very eye-opening read. There are a range of topics covered in Wiest’s book, but they all tie down to changing the reader’s perspective. She talks about daily aspects, goals, view imposed on by society and broadens the readers view on such topics. A lot of the essays written in the book change the way one views themselves. I would like to think that reading this book has made me see who I am as a person, my actions, and life in general in a different way. One of my favorite quotes from the book is, “Your habits create your mood, and your mood is a filter through which you experience your life”. There are many wise words like this, that really make you stop and rethink about your actions and use of your time.
I would definitely recommend this book as it is one of my favorites, however since it is not your typical fiction book, not everyone might enjoy it as I did I would specifically recommend this book to people that enjoy reading books or quotes that will change your perspective on life. Since there are many essays in this book, rather than typical chapters, it doesn’t have to be read quickly. Each essay doesn’t specifically relate to the next, so if you’re worried about not having enough time to read a book, that shouldn’t be a worry. It is difficult to specifically explain the book, because there is no storyline or plot, however it is definitely worth the try!
Kaitlyn Y.
101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think by Brianna Wiest is available to download as an audiobook for free from Libby
The very talented author Jenny Han’s book, The Summer I Turned Pretty, was recently made into a series that has everyone falling in love with the characters. Han’s book series includes the books, The Summer I Turned Pretty, It’s Not Summer With You, and We’ll Always Have Summer. So far, the series on Amazon, The Summer I Turned Pretty, has one season that covers the first book in the series. The show is confirmed for a season 2 already, and fans are hoping for a 3rd as well. For those that haven’t read or watched it, essentially, the series features a girl, Belly, who visits her mom’s best friend’s summer house at “Cousins Beach” every summer with her older brother, who is best friends with the other two boys, Conrad and Jeremiah, that own the house. All the previous summers, the boys have viewed her as a child, but all of a sudden they finally see her as an actual girl. I won’t spoil it, but the romance that goes between the characters is really interesting to watch, as are the character developments they all make. One of my favorite parts about this show is the soundtrack which features Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers, Jack Harlow, and more.. I would definitely recommend reading the books first, but it is so cool to see what you pictured and imagined come to life and the actors did a great job portraying their roles. If you haven’t read or watched it, this is just a warning that the next paragraph does have spoilers.
There are plenty of differences between the books and the show, however I don’t think it takes away from reading/watching either. It’s different in a good way and exciting to see how things play out in both. The first general difference I noticed is that in the book, the storyline focuses mainly on the two families, however on the show we are introduced to many more characters in a lot of events like the Debutante Ball, and those characters do affect the chemistry aspect between people a lot. It seems like in the show, they’re building more of a sense of community rather than isolating one group of people. I really like this because it mixes things up. Adding onto that sense of focusing on more people, the two moms are also given more of a storyline and have their own drama going on, unlike in the books where they weren’t highlighted as much. This same thing is seen with Belly’s older brother, Steven. In the books, he left the beach house in the middle of summer, but on the show he is a lot more involved. Speaking of Steven, Belly’s best friend ends up having a crush on Steven, instead of Jeremiah like it was in the books. This adds tension between Taylor and Belly and personally I like Taylor in the show better than in the books.
In the books, Belly had her first kiss with Jeremiah and he kissed her with the intentions of making Taylor jealous (because she liked him in the books), but since the show version of Taylor had a different love interest, Belly has her first kiss with an old friend, Cam. Their relationship doesn’t last too long as Belly ended things with Cam. In the books, it’s the other way around, but either way Cam knew where Belly’s heart truly was. Cam being there is a great asset to the plot because it allows the viewers to be empathetic as he was such a sweet boy. These are all somewhat minor differences, but some of the bigger ones include the fact that Belly actually had more chemistry with Jeremiah than she did in the book, creating so much more tension between the two brothers. Belly also doesn’t get a visit in the winter from Conrad, the scene is completely different. In my opinion, the biggest difference was the kids’ knowledge about Susannah’s (Conrad and Jeremiah’s mom) cancer. In the books, the kids all know about Susannah’s cancer. However, in the show, Conrad is the only one who knew about his mom’s disease. This is a huge explanation into why he acted the way he did. In the final episode, Jeremiah found out about the cancer which led to everyone knowing. This made everything serious and real, because Susannah didn’t want to go through chemo this time. Overall, the show and books were amazing and I truly think that since the author was involved with making the show, it had a great impact on the overall quality and vision of the show. I would highly recommend this series to anyone who likes rom-coms and tension.
Kaitlyn Y.
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.
Everyone seems to have their own outlook on what life has to offer and what makes life so precious. In my perspective, it’s the little things that make life worth living. When people think of what the rest of their life has to offer, most think about the major events like graduating or their wedding. Although those are major and amazing parts of people’s lives, it’s vital to notice that life goes a lot deeper than that.
Life is a collection of small moments. Some of those are going to be good, while others may be bad. We don’t give those moments enough credit, the little moments where you look over and someone’s thinking the exact same thing, smelling a scent you remember, hugging someone you missed, etc. There have been so many days I’ve looked back on and all I seem to remember is the random person I saw dancing in their car or how perfect the weather was. Each day is like a treasure hunt, full of hidden beauties and it’s up to us whether we want to overlook or appreciate them.
Live for the endless laughter, for the sunsets, for the little thing, and you’ll feel the joys of life. It’s not always about the bigger picture, details are important. So, if there’s something that you want to do whether it’s writing a book or smiling at a stranger, do it. Even if it doesn’t’ affect your life, it’ll affect theirs.
You may recognize some of the famous novels Paper Towns, The Fault In Our Stars, or Looking for Alaska. As you may have guessed by the title, these iconic novels were written by John Green. John Green is an American author, who makes content on YouTube, and is a co-creator of Crash Course. He attended Kenyon College and earned his bachelor of art’s degree with a double major in English and religious studies.
John Green is the New York Times bestselling author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, The Fault In Our Stars, Turtles All The Way Down, and The Anthropocene Reviewed. While the majority of these are novels, The Anthropocene Reviewed is a collection of essays that are nonfiction and awakening. He very recently went on a virtual tour for The Anthropocene Reviewed which took place from May 17th to May 22nd. His novel, The Fault In Our Stars was made into a movie, as was his novel, Paper Towns. Additionally, Looking for Alaska was made into a series on Hulu. On his and his brother’s YouTube channel (VlogBrothers) they help fight poverty by raising money and have planted thousands of trees in the past. On top of this, he teaches World History, Literature, Economics, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Government, and etc., on Crash Course along with other people.
Personally, I love reading John Green’s novels and seeing them in film as well. I’ve noticed that a lot of his books are deep, detailed, and original. His books have always made me think bigger and open my eyes to the different situations the characters are in. Overall, John Green is definitely an amazing author to check out and keep up with. He’s making a great impact on the world.
I remembered reading this series in the fifth grade, so naturally, when I stumbled upon this series again on Netflix I had to watch it. Although it has been over years since I’ve read it, I was still able to make connections. This series is all about the orphans, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire as they try to get to the bottom of their parents’ sudden death. On top of this, they have to escape the clever Count Olaf who is willing to do just about anything to get his hands on the kids’ fortunes. Every episode gets them one step closer to uncovering the big mysterious deaths, which I must admit is like nothing I’ve seen before, but also includes Count Olaf and his clever disguises. Unfortunately for the three orphans, Mr. Poe (the man who is in charge of getting them to a safe home) doesn’t always see eye to eye.
At first, I did think the series was a bit repetitive, but a couple episodes later everything started to get interesting again. There are points where you feel as if the plot is similar in every episode and personally, I’d rather watch a show that continues the same plot. After continuing the series, I realized that the more I watched the more the plot would continue, rather than seeming like every episode was a new story. Regarding the ending, it’s like nothing I’ve heard of before, but I would have preferred more closure. Although the ending wasn’t what I hoped for, it’s still worth watching because the story behind their parents is super interesting! I would rate this show a 8/10!
Quite recently crystals have sparked an interest in a lot of people. This got me invested in finding out what the whole point is, other than the beauty of the rock of course. With this curiosity, I decided to do a little research and discovered so many rad things about these crystals.
Each crystal contains a vibration and energy that re-aligns with your energy resulting in a higher vibration for you which is like a higher state of mind. There’s quite a lot of evidence and research from lab tests about these crystals proving this as well. The vibration is emitted at a constant frequency and uplifts you resulting in healing. Depending on what aspect you’d like to heal in, there are usually specific crystals sorted out for that job. One of the most common crystals is Rose Quartz and it’s used for a lot of emotional healing and love. Other healing powers of other crystals include balance, protection, empowerment, optimism, grounding, and even inner growth. There’s really a crystal for everything. There are even ways to energize your crystals. As I’m sure you’ve heard before, with a new year comes new beginnings and you should definitely consider checking a couple crystals out. I know I will be.
There are a lot of places where you can purchase crystals, but some of my favorites include crystals.com, crystalvaults.com, or other Etsy shops. There are so many stores and personal crystal quizzes! The options are endless.
The 100 is a Sci-Fi show consisting of 7 mind-blowing seasons. The show starts off in space when the station’s resources start running low. As a solution, they decide to send 100 juvenile prisoners back to planet Earth to see if it’s survivable. As they get sent to Earth, the 100 battle all sorts of problems. At the start of the show, we get to know the characters well as they arrive on Earth. Throughout the seasons, we get to watch the characters progress and push themselves out of their comfort zone, doing the unthinkable while facing the unpredictable. To truly understand the evolution of the plot, it’s much better to watch the series since I wouldn’t want to spoil it. The battles kick in immediately in the show as it’s a violent series. Despite all the violence, there is an emotional side to the show from all the sacrifices, deaths, stories, etc. It really gets you thinking of what’s out there and shines a light on how people change to survive. I would rate this show a solid 10/10. It’s full of surprises and really got me into the Sci-Fi genre. The details in the show are unexplainable and the plot line is something I’ve never seen before.
Stella, a teenager that has Cystic Fibrosis whose entire life has been very routine-like is approached by a boy named Will. The catch is that Will also has Cystic Fibrosis and they must stay six feet apart at all times in order to stay safe. Hospital trips, medications, and nurses have been a huge part of Stella’s life, but to Will, this is all new. Ironically, their personalities clash. Stella could be described as a good kid, but on the other hand, Will likes to act out, giving the book an adventurous side. Fortunately, this doesn’t get in the way of them catching feelings for each other. Five Feet Apart is a book about their influence on each other with appearances made by other vital side characters.
Even though I read this book a couple of months before the movie came out, I still watched the movie. I figured that some of you may have already heard of, or seen the movie, but I’m here to tell you to give the book a shot as well! It made me bawl my eyes out and allowed for more emotion to be felt. Will really added a fun and exciting element to the book that kept me on the edge of my seat and the impact they both had on each other really touched my heart. It’s a 10/10 for me!
To All the Boys: Always and Forever is the third movie in the To All the Boys… series. It’s a movie also based on the books written by Jenny Han. Throughout the series, Lara Jean struggles between wanting Peter and then having mixed emotions about him. This theme seen in the other two movies carries on into this movie as well. The entire series focuses on Lara Jean growing up and taking responsibility as she matures.
The movie starts off with Lara Jean visiting Korea and continues to spiral into the topic of college. She has to make the decision whether to go to college with Peter or wIthout peter. This movie captures the chaos of making college plans. She slowly discovers who she is and after dealing with rejection from the school she wanted to go to, she takes what she learned about herself and Peter into account when making this decision.
Overall, I would highly recommend this movie, especially those in high school. It’s such a realistic representation of the struggles of choosing your college. Although that can be intense, this movie does have a lot of light-hearted scenes that create a perfect balance. Rewatching this series is definitely something I plan on doing soon.
When December hits around, everyone’s got that holiday spirit and I always find myself binge-watching 100 different holiday movies. Out of the ones I’ve seen so far, A Christmas Catch has been my absolute favorite. It combines my crime, romance, and the holidays perfectly. This combination makes it stand out from the rest and every time I rewatch it, the movie gets better and better
Detective Mackenzie Bennett meets a guy, Carson, who’s perfect for her. Unfortunately the next day she finds out that she’s supposed to be going undercover to investigate Carson. Could the man of her dreams be a thief? She goes on all of these dates and reports back to uncover all of Carson’s past and his secrets. Things about his ex-wife and his childhood. Will this push them apart or bring them closer? Will he ever figure out that she’s an investigator? As they fall head over heels for each other, this movie covers all of their ups and downs and even has a holiday theme.
One of my favorite things to watch includes crime and if that’s your thing as well as holiday movies, I highly recommend this movie for the holiday season. The ending blew my mind, and I hope it leaves you speechless too.
Mission Viejo Library Teen Voice 