Author Archives: teenservices

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Teen Services Librarian at the Mission Viejo Public Library!

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

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lordoftheflies_williamgoldingLord of the Flies, by William Golding, is a novel concerning a group of boys stranded on an island while trying to escape the horrors of a World War. As they landed on the island, two boys found each other, Ralph and Piggy. Together, these boys found a conch, and the conch gathered all the boys together. At first Ralph was elected chief, however immediately he had his power challenged by Jack, another boy on the island. Over time, what started as a civilized society, turned into savagery. The conch, which at one point symbolized civilization, eventually became useless. As the transition into savagery was made, the boys split into two groups: savage and civilized. Ralph was the leader of the civilized boys and Jack was the leader of the savage boys.

As time progressed, less boys were civilized and grew more savage. At moments, all traces of civilization disappeared within the boys, especially during their hunts for pigs. However, the book was almost meant to be ironic. While there was a war on the island, there was a war in the real world. In addition, the war on the island was portrayed as avoidable and foolish, similar to the war in the real world. The island that these boys were stuck on were actually reality. All in all, I think that this is once again another piece of literature that is amazing and one that everyone should read. The book truly portrays the little thought that is put into resolving a problem and how many countries jump straight into a war, just like these boys.

-Melika R.

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

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catcherintherye_salingerThe Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is a novel that expresses the loss of innocence adolescents are required to experience in their transition into adulthood. The book begins with the main character, Holden Caulfield, talking to what is later revealed to be a therapist about his life experiences since he got kicked out of yet another school because of his bad grades. At the very beginning of the book, Holden clarifies that he doesn’t want to say all that “David Copperfield crap”, alluding to Dickens books about Copperfield that went into extreme detail about every aspect of his life.

As the story progresses, we learn that Holden’s younger brother, Allie, died from leukemia. Ever since then, Holden has been almost obsessed with the idea that innocence must be preserved in children, even going to the extent of saying his dream job would be being the catcher in the rye. He explains the job description to be hundreds of kids running around on a field of rye and whenever one of the children nears the cliff, Holden reaches down and catches them. Another way he shows his need to contain innocence in children is through his little sister Phoebe. His constant control and protection over Phoebe shows Holden’s need to preserve innocence. However, at the very end of the book, Holden accepts the fact that innocence cannot be preserved and that you must let children grow from their mistakes.

All in all, the underlying themes and ideas in this book allow for a piece of great literature that I greatly recommend. However, it should be targeted for more mature audiences because of certain scenes in the book. Although it is a generally censored book, that should not stop you from reading it because the questionable scenes all contain underlying messages that only add the book and it helps us get a better understanding of the book. In the end, The Catcher in the Rye should be a book on everybody’s reading list.

-Melika R.

Essay: Should school be starting earlier?

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For as long as we can remember, school has started in September, usually after Labor Day. However, this year it started two weeks earlier, a controversial change among parents, students, and teachers. While some think that this change will benefit students, a popular belief is that it is a dreadful decision.

Summer means late nights, beach time, and sleeping in. As a result, the remaining question is: is it okay for the school to cut our summer? Of course, there are academic benefits but they introduce us to nights of little sleep and stress earlier than normal.

Of course there are many benefits to school starting earlier. For starters, it gives teachers more time to prepare their students before AP and IB tests. Furthermore, it means less time wasted after AP and IB tests. And starting earlier means getting out of school earlier, a benefit to some seniors since all University of California schools with the exception of Berkeley start in late September.

However, there are many downsides. One of them being that you have less time to do summer homework. It is very hard to find time to play sports, go on vacations, and have fun with your friends as it is and school starting earlier doesn’t help the situation. Cutting our summer could give us even less time to finish the pages and pages of summer homework we have.

Another issue that comes along with school starting earlier and a shorter summer are the constraints it puts on family vacations. Trying to find a time when sports don’t conflict with vacation time becomes very difficult when school starts at a different time.
One factor that must be taken into consideration is that only this summer and next summer will be affected. After these two summers, the school year will fall into routine again. Although it may seem inconvenient right now, over time this will become insignificant due to the fact that school in August will become a standard start to school.
In the end, school starting earlier may be better academically, but it introduces stress, summer homework, and many other problems sooner than necessary.

-Melika R.

Animal Farm by George Orwell

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animalfarm_georgeorwellAnimal Farm, a novella by George Orwell, is an allusion to the Russian Revolution and certain events in World War Two. The book begins with a boar named Old Major talking to the animals about his dream about revolution. All the animals on the farm want to overthrow their horrendous leader; Mr. Jones. As a result, when the idea of revolution is introduced, all the animals agree. A couple days later, Old Major died. However, the revolution continued. Two pigs took control when Mr. Jones left the farm: Snowball and Napoleon. Napoleon becomes power hungry and chases Snowball off of the farm. Over time, Napoleon becomes more and more corrupt and over the years he slowly changes the values of Animalism. At the end of the book, the animals can not tell the difference between the pigs and their so called better values and the humans that were ruling them before.

Having read this book as a homework assignment for school, I read it with a different approach and attitude. I put a lot of focus on what was happening and I analyzed the book much more than I would have if I was reading it leisurely. However, I believe this made the book more enjoyable due to the fact that I understood it better and I picked on interesting portions of the book that I wouldn’t have seen if I didn’t put so much thought into it. As a result, my recommendation for any interested readers is to read this book with care and thought because it makes the book much more enjoyable. All in all, I thought that this was a very well written book and I would recommend others to read it!

-Melika R., 10th grade

Animal Farm is available for check out from the Mission Viejo Public Library, Overdrive, and Axis360. 

Burn for Burn Trilogy by Jenny Han

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burnforburn_jennyhanBurn for Burn, Fire with Fire, and Ashes to Ashes, is a trilogy by Jenny Han. This series is about a fascinating turn of events that leave the readers feeling haunted inside.

In Burn for Burn there are three main characters: Kat, Lillia, and Mary. Kat and Lillia had a history of friendship with Rennie until one fine day, Rennie backstabbed (not literally!) Kat, causing their friendship to fall apart. Lillia is the “it” girl, best friends with Rennie, on the cheerleading team, and right in the middle of the popular group at their high school. Mary is traumatized from an event that occurred years ago in her childhood, for the very reason she has come back to Jar Island is for revenge. All three of the girls meet each other at the right place at the right time, and cook up a pot full for homecoming night, an event that shakes all and changes the lives of few.

In Fire with Fire, the girls serve time for their actions, causing them to regret the decisions they made months ago. Homecoming night hurt a lot of people, but it also critically damaged one of them–coincidentally it was Reeve, who tragically haunted Mary years ago. The girls just wanted to show the rest of the school Reeve’s bad side, but things happened that night that weren’t planned. They’ve gotten away with it for now… but Mary needs to control her anger and it seems like she just can’t.

In the last novel of this trilogy, Ashes to Ashes, Lillia, Kat, and Mary lit a fire without even thinking. Their goal was to get even, but now the fire is spreading. In this last book, a huge plot twist comes our way, and I am talking amazingly enormous. Out of all of the books I have read throughout my life, the plot twist that the readers come to find out in the last book of this trilogy is the best most surprising twist I have ever read.

I would definitely recommend this series to any girl because it starts out as a normal high school novel, but really turns into something you never expected, and its just really interesting to see how the characters progress throughout the couple of years. Absolutely on the top of my list for my best reads.

-Nirmeet B.

Jenny Han’s trilogy and her other works are available for check out from the Mission Viejo Public Library, Overdrive, and Axis360. 

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

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aseparatepeace_johnknowlesHave you ever been jealous of your best friend? Wished you could be better than him/her?

Though I say this with regret, I have experienced such jealousy. And so has Gene Forrester. His best friend, Phineas, had everything. He was the best athlete at school, and he appeared perfect in every way. All Gene seemed to have going for him was his smarts. During the summer school session Phineas started a new club with new activities he became involved with. Phineas’ life seemed carefree while Gene struggled to study and became distracted. He believed that Phineas was intentionally leading him astray to appear better than Gene.

The boys had a fascination with climbing a certain tree and jumping into the river. One day, when climbing the tree, Gene shook the branch, causing Phineas to lose his balance and fall, shattering the bones in his leg, which forced Phineas to give up sports. Gene visited Phineas on one occasion to try to explain and apologize, but he never exactly got to the point.

When Phineas became strong enough to return to school, he decided to be Gene’s trainer. Phineas even came up with an idea that World War II was just made up by the politicians. Gene, though a part of him knew that this philosophy is not true, accepted this. The two of them were able to live together, in a sort of peace separated from the troubles of the world.

But this peace eventually shattered, as the life in front of Gene became more complicated and full of burdens. The carefree days of the summer session disappeared, and Gene was forced to wake up to the life of an adult, fraught with responsibilities and loss.

As a book required for English, I found the storyline lacking. Perhaps because the narrator was reflecting on childhood and presenting the coming-of-age themes through the lens of a much older person, I struggled a bit with connecting to the lessons. This may be a book that offers more meaning once you have more life experiences. However, from a simpler standpoint, I recognized the dangers of being too jealous.

– Leila S., 10th grade

A Separate Peace is available for check out from the Mission Viejo Public Library. 

Animal Farm by George Orwell

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animalfarm_georgeorwellHave you ever hated animals so much that you wanted to eliminate all of them from the face of the earth? I, for sure, haven’t. I can’t imagine what life would be like without any pets or farm animals or zoos. We probably wouldn’t be able to live for long, so it is a ridiculous idea, right?

The animals of Animal Farm don’t seem to agree one bit. They see humans as a threat, who take the fruit of all the animal’s labor and give them hardly anything in return. After being rallied by Old Major, his fellow pigs, Snowball, Squealer and Napoleon run the farmer off the farm. With him gone, they eliminate any human influences, such as the saddles for the horses and the whips the farmers used to show their authority. For a while, the pigs ran the farm peacefully with everyone following the same set of simple rules:

The Seven Commandments (p 24)

  1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
  2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
  3. No animal shall wear clothes.
  4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
  5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
  6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
  7. All animals are equal.

Life seems straightforward, until the pigs, the supposed role models, begin to act more like humans, living in the house, drinking alcohol, learning to walk on their hind legs, and killing other animals, thus breaking five out of the seven rules.

Oddly enough, a story about a group of pigs overthrowing their human farmer and becoming the owners of a farm is captivating. It seems so outrageous that this could even happen, but there was a strong comparison to Stalinist Russia’s own problems. To young readers in this century, the story might have lost some of its meaning, as it was written during the Cold War, where relations between the United States and Russia were strained. Therefore, because  Snowball represents Trotsky, and Napoleon represents Stalin, the younger generation of readers may not fully understand the deeper satirical object of the text. As a result, some research the Russian Revolution beforehand may aid in understanding.

I truly thought this novel was wonderful! It is one of my favorite required reading books. Most memorable for me was the song, Beasts of England. I also loved the reactions of the other farms when they heard that Animal Farm was run by animals. I would have liked to see their faces in real life!

– Leila S., 10th grade

Animal Farm is available for check out from the Mission Viejo Public Library, Overdrive, and Axis360.