Warriors: Midnight (The New Prophesy) is part of many series of cats roaming in the forest. It is a fun book full of suspense and mystery, and I overall enjoyed it.
Divided into four clans of warrior cats, each clan has leaders, rules, and jobs each cat must accomplish. There is a fifth clan of cats though, whose name is StarClan. They are the warriors who have died, and give special messages to the Clans, warning them about upcoming dangers and helping guide them through rough times. When StarClan sends a message to Brambleclaw and three other cats from different clans to head to the sun-drown place, they realize it is urgent. The four cats (plus two extra who decide to come along) must unite, and face many dangers, tests, and problems that make the young cats stumble. Meanwhile, back at the clans, everyone goes crazy about the warriors’ disappearance. An ominous message sent by StarClan warns the cats there is danger ahead, stressing them even more.
I really enjoyed this book, it had a fun aspect to it while still involving captivating challenges and mysteries. I have read all six books from the previous series, and I was a little disappointed that this book did not quite meet my expectations. I was expecting more action in certain parts of the book, especially after the previous series. The beginning and end were great, I just felt the middle could have used more action. Overall, I thought it was a good book, and I’m excited to keep reading to see how the story finishes.
Warriors (The New Prophecy) Midnight by Erin Hunter is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.
The Summer Hikaru Died(August 31 – Present) is a horror coming-of-age shounen manga that recently announced its highly anticipated anime adaptation, set to premiere this summer. What better way to celebrate this exciting news than with a manga review?
In my opinion, The Summer Hikaru Died is the golden definition of a gem. It has a stable fanbase and is popular with much critical acclaim, but definitely not enough for it to be considered mainstream. It’s hauntingly beautiful—familiar, yet slightly out of tune, creating an uncanny sense of distance between you and the characters, the strange, mysterious countryside, and the constantly buzzing cicadas…
Set in a small town in rural Japan, the series explores the slice-of-life of two childhood friends: Yoshiki and Hikaru. The two have maintained a close bond over the years despite their contrasting personalities, Yoshiki being reserved and quite paranoid, while Hikaru is an outgoing airhead who is well-liked by everyone in town. Yoshiki has also had a one-sided crush on Hikaru for a long time. However, one winter day, Hikaru inexplicably decides to hike up a nearby mountain, resulting in a nearly fatal injury and him going missing for a whole week. Yoshiki was the one to find him passed out in the mountains, luckily still breathing. The unconscious Hikaru was taken back to town to rest.
However, stranger than Hikaru’s seemingly random decision to go up the mountain is the fact that, after waking up and fully recovering, he has no memory of why he went there— or of what happened on the mountain at all. This incident is quickly brushed off as the two return to their normal lives.
anime adaptation cover art
Six months have passed since the strange incident. Now, in the middle of summer, the two friends are on their usual ice cream run. The air is thick with humidity, the cicada buzzing relentlessly, and their playful exchanges as ordinary as ever. In the middle of their conversation, Yoshiki suddenly brings up the incident again. Hikaru, as always, denies any recollection of it. Then, Yoshiki asks a simple yet heart-stopping question, the world around them falling into an eerie silence.
“You’re not Hikaru, are you?”
The Summer Hikaru Died, Volume 1
The Truth: Upon entering the mountains and getting injured, Hikaru’s dying body caught the attention of an |||||||||||||||||||| creature, an entity that is uncomprehensible to the human mind. Wanting to experience being human, the entity possesses Hikaru with consent, consuming his mind, memories, and feelings to the point of physically ‘being’ Hikaru, yet remaining the consciousness of the separate being at the same time. Hikaru is definitely dead. ‘Hikaru’ decided to make use of the death and use Hikaru’s physical body and mental psyche.
Alien or monster? Friend or foe? What will Yoshiki do when his friend, his crush, sitting right in front of him, actually turns out to be… ‘Hikaru’?
I absolutely adore this manga series. Coming from a scaredy-cat who can’t watch one second of any horror film, I believe that The Summer Hikaru Died has the perfect amount of uncanniness and terror for any reader to fall deeper into its spell. I especially love the unconventional themes (when put into this context) that are essential to the plot: grief, acceptance, trust, and most importantly, how anyone would characterize others as them themselves. Does Hikaru being technically dead mean Yoshiki should see ‘Hikaru’ as something (?) entirely different? What lengths does it take for love to be broken or trust to be gained? Is an entity’s desire to simply live for the first time justified? There is also a great sense of mystery revolving around Hikaru’s past actions and the buried truths of the town, which Yoshiki and ‘Hikaru’ are now on the path to uncovering.
I’d also have to add my comments about the characters and the pacing. Pacing-wise, I genuinely think it is perfect. I love my books and manga to be on the slower side, so this series did a great job of slowing down the atmosphere without making pauses feel forced. I also love how the characters themselves are like tweaked versions of standard character archetypes, or rather, how character archetypes would react in the context of this plot. The characters become nonarchetypal in this sense.
official art
It’s worth mentioning how usually, mangas in this style would be highly character-driven without much plot support. In The Summer Hikaru Died, however, both the characters and plot depend on each other to create this haunting story, making them both equally essential. When I cried as I was reading, I could not tell whether I was crying because of the plot or for the characters, which is great because it means the readers can feel the depth of the storytelling.
Personally, I am very squeamish and get disgusted easily, which made certain scenes in this manga a bit disturbing. However, it quickly became clear that even though I was put off by the body dysmorphia and blood, I was also intrigued to read more at the same time. If you’re like me, I’d suggest searching up some panels of the manga just so you can judge the disturbance level for yourself. I’ll put it out right now that the worst it gets is entity body dysmorphia and blood, so technically not that bad, but still, read at your own risk!
I also want to point out a common misconception people have about this series. The Summer Hikaru Died is not, I repeat, is not, a Boys Love (BL) manga series. Specifically, the series is listed under Seinen horror manga. The author, Mokumokuren (gender not publicly disclosed), has clearly stated in the past that they never intended for the series to be BL, but rather a horror manga with queer representation.
All in all, proceed with caution! And for those who finish reading this review thinking ‘whoever reads this must be out of their crazy mind’, I want to say that there’s never a book/manga not worth trying. I always push myself to try genres that I normally would not like, and boy am I glad I do, because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have picked up this beautiful series in the first place.
As summer approaches, I’ll definitely be rereading this with a slice of watermelon in hand, sprawled out on the ground, wondering what might be out there, waiting, quietly, quietly, quietly….
A lie about to be exposed. The classic evil sibling. Justice finally served to a psychopath and his sidekick. Hooked? If yes, you should consider reading the realistic fiction novel Tangerine, written by Edward Bloor.
Moving from Houston, Texas, Paul soon finds his new home, Lake Windsor Downs, Florida, odd. Lightning strikes everyday at the same time, killing a high school football player. Navigating sinkholes, muck fires, and his older brother, Paul finds himself at Tangerine Middle School. He befriends his soccer teammates and overcomes the stereotypes they originally thought of him as he shows his loyalty and willingness to help, such as when he helps the Cruz family fight the freeze. This is when the citrus growers protect their trees from the biting cold, lest all their crops die, and their main source of income deplete.
Paul Fischer, the protagonist of the story, has worn extremely thick glasses ever since he stared at an eclipse for too long and went legally blind. That’s what his older brother Erik and his parents told him, though he can’t remember staring at the sun. Throughout the book, Paul gets flashbacks of past times that bring him closer and closer to the secret his family is keeping from him.
While most of us with siblings probably bicker or fight, or maybe you have rocky relationships with them, hopefully none of us are so scared of our siblings that we avoid them at all costs. Up until the end of the book, Paul is afraid of Erik. He sees Erik’s true nature, despite the star football kicker Tangerine County knows, or the Erik his parents believe in. Finally, after someone Paul knows is murdered, he screws up the courage to confront him. As Erik scoffs and skedaddles, Paul is hit with a last memory: one that reveals exactly how he lost his vision. Now, it’s time to have a chat with Mom and Dad. And the robbed homeowners. And the police. And have a third “first day of school.”
I really enjoyed reading Tangerine. Throughout the novel, there is a sense of there has to be more to it. Paul is an ordinary kid living in his big brother’s shadow, seeing more than anyone in both Lake Windsor and Tangerine. You see his character develop as he learns more about himself and his brother, and it’s great to see the underdog deal a critical blow to certain bullies. By the end, I felt really satisfied because you know how people have been hurt, but the rocky seas are starting to calm, and things are going back to normal. I also liked all the sweet symbolisms that add to the story, along with important lessons, too. Turning the final page, there’s closure felt all around, from Joey to Tino to Paul—who finally comes out into the spotlight, after fearing Erik for seven years.
Tangerine by Edward Bloor is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.
Afternoon of the Elves by Janet Taylor Lisle, is the story of a young girl named Hillary Lenox, who becomes fascinated by her neighbor, Sara-Kate Connolly. Sara-Kate was held back in fifth-grade and seems to live in her own distant world, ostracized from society. Sara-Kate invites Hillary to see a secret village of elves in the woods of her backyard. Sara-Kate explains that the elves live in tiny homes made of sticks, leaves and stones. The two girls soon become friends, even though Hillary’s other friends and even her own parents disapprove of their friendship. Hillary is captivated by Sara-Kate’s theories about the magical elf world. This leads Hillary to see life in a new way. Hillary also learns that Sara-Kate’s life is much sadder and more difficult than she could have imagined.
I appreciate the way this book portrays the complex connection between childhood imagination and the painful realities of life. This book deals with challenging themes involving friendship and loneliness. It teaches that many people suffer from hardships that are hidden from the rest of society. We can learn to have compassion for people who have lives that are much different than our own and more difficult than we realize. This book shows that we should be kind and friendly to everyone.
This book seems to blur the line between fantasy and reality. The elves add a sense of mystery and suspense to the story. In some ways this book can seem unsettling, because of the severe hardship and trauma that it describes. However, I appreciate this deep exploration into the minds and relationships of children dealing with the harsh and complex realities of life. This book is very intriguing and I would recommend it to both young and old readers alike.
The graphic novel, The Fox Maidens, by Robin Ha, is a graphic novel based on the legend of the nine-tailed fox Gumiho told in Korean folktales. This book tells of a young girl named Kai who dreams of becoming a warrior even as a female, she soon later finds out she turns into a fox every full moon and must eat the liver of a human in order to become human again. As we explore deeper into the plot of the story, Kai goes through a journey of self-discovery, independence, and experiences the truth of coming of age as a young teenager. We see more themes explored throughout the plot of feminism, and love.
This was a really intriguing book to read, I especially love reading books with the themes of fantasy and folklore. This is a great book to read when feeling up to reading adventure, fantasy, and sometimes feelings of sadness, and also even feeling more informed. Robin Ha´s way of describing the legend in this story, with both her skills of writing, drawing, and graphic really adds a whole level while reading this book, overall really gaining a whole deeper understanding of this story. Throughout the story, Kai gains a perspective on finding her own place in the world through love, compassion, and trust.
Robin Ha became popular especially after writing her book, Almost American Girl, which won the 2021 Walter awards, and is definitely next on my list to read for graphic novels. I would overall really recommend this book to lovers of the fantasy world and of magical creatures. This is such a great read! The Fox Maidens, is currently available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library!
Jacqueline Harpman’s novel, I Who Have Never Known Men, surrounds the theme of what it means to be human in a world where you have been stripped of everything that makes you feel human.
The novel follows a young woman, the narrator, with no memory of her past or the outside world, living in an underground cage with 39 other women, guarded by men who never speak. During her time in this cage, the narrator, who remains unnamed throughout the entire novel, lives with a constant urge to gain knowledge of the outside world and what humanity is really like. Relying on the broken memory of the other women, the narrator struggles to put together the notion of the outside world, like a jigsaw puzzle with pieces that don’t fit together. She finds herself holding on to anything that makes her human, while being faced with dehumanizing circumstances everyday, such as defecating without privacy, walking with nowhere to go, and attaining intellectuality without proper books or educational material. This marks an important aspect of what makes humans, humans: The strive for knowledge and persisting curiosity.
One day, an alarm in the bunker where the women are imprisoned goes off, initiating the fleeing of the guards who accidentally leave the cage open when feeding the women. After a moment of wondering whether the guards would return and in disbelief that they were actually free, the women run from the cage, starting up the stairs of the bunker and facing the sky for the first time in years, feeling raindrops fall to their faces like water hadn’t existed, and feeling their heartbeats rise in adrenaline like their heart hadn’t beat before.
However, once free, the women face an unforgiving post-apocalyptic world, unlike the one they had remembered like a distant dream, and slowly begin to die, one by one, not just of illness, but of the burden of grief of missing their past lives. The narrator, having no recollection of this life and having had grown up in an imprisoned world, persists in her efforts to find her humanity while being the last of the women to survive a world unlike the one the women had described.
What I love about this book is that its a story of a human with so much of her humanity stolen from her, yet she still finds herself asking the most fundamentally human questions: Why am I here? What does this all mean? It’s a story about how even when born into a society so different from any that exists now, humans will always find hope, love, and wonder.
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman can be downloaded from Libby.
The Big Wave is a short novel by Pearl S. Buck. Kino is a young Japanese boy who lives on a small farm on the side of a mountain. If he is not at school or working with his father, he is usually with his friend Jiya, who lives in a fishing village just below the mountain. Because he lives so close to the ocean, Jiya often worries that the sea will suddenly become angry and create a phenomenon known as the “big wave,” a huge and destructive wall of water. Kino is aware that the big wave is a real possibility, but he does not consider it likely to actually occur. Unfortunately, the big wave suddenly appears one day and annihilates the entire fishing village, including Jiya’s family. Jiya was with Kino and his family when it happened, so he saw the entire destruction of his village. Kino does not know whether Jiya will be able to endure the emotional shock of this tragedy.
This book is short, but extremely impactful. I have always been fascinated with Japanese culture, and this book provides a great deal of insight into their traditions and way of life. This book is very realistic and meaningful. For example, Kino’s character traits, and specifically his flaws and weaknesses, are described in a very genuine way. Possibly my favorite thing about this book is its overarching message of dealing with grief and hardship. It also teaches about the power of bravery and the human spirit. After the big wave hit the village, I actually felt worried about Jiya and I wondered how he would be able to cope after this traumatizing experience. The way Jiya responds to this event would probably feel very relatable to anyone who has experienced a personal tragedy. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a short but poignant read.
The Big Wave by Pearl S. Buck is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded from Libby.
Recently, I created a bucket list of books that were previously or currently banned in some capacity that I wanted to read, and one book that particularly stood out to me was Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Known for his absurdist writing style, Vonnegut’s work never fails to be humorous and meaningful at the same time.
This book has no specific sense of time, a break from the typical writing style seen in most novels. The book begins with Vonnegut describing his personal connection to the book and his thought process in writing it. Having witnessed the Second World War and its brutality firsthand, there definitely is an anti-war aspect to the book. The story frequently jumps between time periods, as the book’s main character, Billy Pilgrim, becomes “unstuck in time” and “time travels” through what can be implied to be flashbacks and flash-forwards.
The book attempts to explain Billy’s warped sense of time, but also his understanding of life and death, as a result of his contact with an alien race known as the Traufamadorians. Billy “time travels” constantly between WWII and the post-war period, where he is supposedly at, with Vonnegut making it uncertain what time frame the book truly is set in. At the same time, Vonnegut introduces several narratives concerning the brutal and dehumanizing nature of war, including its random nature by killing off characters who were least expected to perish. In fact, part of the reason why the book was banned originally was because of its anti-war nature, with some citing it as “unpatriotic”. By creating these narratives, Vonnegut ultimately expresses a cynical sentiment concerning the cruelty of human nature.
SH5 is one example of Vonnegut’s incredible talent for world-building; while every event seems random or out of place in the context of where it is placed, everything fits together, albeit haphazardly. This book is full of surprises, and I really enjoyed this wild roller-coaster ride of a book that simultaneously managed to be full of significance and meaning, despite the author’s intention for many things to be meaningless. Ultimately, this intention is a paradox in itself. I’d recommend this book for anybody looking for a unique read, or just anybody who wants to read an important piece of literary history in general.
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded from Libby.
If you’re looking for a new book, consider Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb.
To be completely honest, I’ve never been drawn to motivational/self-help books, so this was a surprisingly great read. I understand why people appreciate them, but personally, I always thought that they were a bit dull for my taste. I figured that if I was going to read something, I would rather it be a story about some faraway land or a critique of a post-apocalyptic society that vaguely resembled ours. To me, reading is more of an escape from life’s worries than a method of examining them. In fact, I had purposefully avoided the psychology sections of bookstores and libraries because I was entirely sure that nothing there would interest me— which is why it made no sense for me to pick up Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb.
I first found this book through a video I saw online that praised it as ‘one of the top ten books of the year.’ I had been looking for reading suggestions and felt that my recent fantasy selections were repetitive. What drew me into this book was the premise of it: a therapist experiences an event that changes the trajectory of her life so she starts attending therapy herself. This book, unlike other self-help books, came across as extremely genuine to me. Gottlieb is transparent with her audience about the way she feels (including her honest opinions of her patients) which makes her seem more like a friend telling you about her life than some omniscient therapy guru. She doesn’t claim to have all of the answers, nor does she put on a brave face for her audience, and she openly admits that she is wracked with anxiety and regret over the fact that she has lived almost half of her life by now yet barely gotten to experience the joys of motherhood. From Gottlieb’s perspective, we get to see how four of her patients, each with extremely complex and beautiful lives, deal with their struggles.
This unique writing strategy of interweaving stories from her own life with her patients’ keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. Just as a massive detail in one patient’s life is revealed, we are introduced to a memory from Gottlieb’s life that makes us see her in a new manner. These parallels between the patients and herself show how even authority figures who may seem to have life “figured out” still struggle themselves. For example, she had a plethora of career changes: first working on television sets, then finding her interest in medicine and studying at Stanford Medical School, then finally becoming a therapist. Having so many different perspectives helps her pull in knowledge to understand and provide care for her patients, care which she herself needs.
Gottlieb seeks therapy following an abrupt end to her relationship with her partner (whom she only refers to as ‘boyfriend.’) The casual manner in which he breaks up with her is shocking, but what she struggles with the most is his reason for leaving: despite being a father figure to Gottlieb’s son for years, he decided that he couldn’t handle the burden of children. Over the course of many sessions, she progresses through the five stages of grief and reflects on her past relationship.
Denial: The end of their relationship doesn’t feel real to her. She is convinced that he will call her at any moment with the realization that everything was a mistake and ask for her back.
Anger: Gottlieb berates ‘boyfriend’ in her therapy sessions, attacking him for being inconsiderate and his treatment of her. This stage seems to last the longest, and she occasionally relapses into anger.
Bargaining: Sometime after the breakup, she calls him and demands a better explanation for his actions (and takes notes to share with her therapist). However, bargaining only makes her angrier because no explanation will justify his actions.
Depression: Gottlieb experiences depression over her lost relationship, which her therapist suggests is part of a larger, more hidden feeling. Through their sessions, she discovers that her depression stems from a larger insecurity about not having enough time left in life for her to become a mother and pursue a family. ‘Boyfriend’ was part of this family, which is why the breakup triggered this reaction in her.
Acceptance: Finally, after much soul-searching, Gottlieb concluded that there was no reason to obsess about being behind in life when she could instead put her efforts into more productive things, such as being a mother, therapist, and writer.
After her final therapy session, she finally found peace in knowing that her fear of “running out of time” was all in her head. Gottlieb ends the novel by telling the reader to focus more on the present and less on the future and further elaborates that life continues to go on no matter what we do. This advice had a great impact on me because I could tell from her life experiences and progression through grief that she knows what these feelings are like. Her vulnerability with the reader transformed my perspective on mindfulness books, and I am excited to explore this genre further!
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded from Libby.
Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher is a haunting short story that masterfully explores themes of isolation, mental deterioration, and the inescapable grip of family legacy. First published in 1839, the story follows an unnamed narrator who visits his old friend, Roderick Usher, at the Usher family estate. Upon arrival, he is struck by the bleak and decaying atmosphere of the mansion, which seems to mirror the physical and psychological condition of its inhabitants.
Roderick, suffering from a mysterious illness, and his twin sister, Madeline, who is on the brink of death, are the last members of the once-great Usher family. As the story unfolds, the mansion itself begins to embody the psychological torment of its residents. The house seems to crumble under the weight of its own dark history, and its eventual collapse parallels Roderick’s descent into madness.
I personally love the vivid, Gothic imagery Poe uses to enhance the story’s eerie mood. The detailed descriptions of the house’s dark, oppressive environment set the stage for the final, shocking twist, where Madeline, seemingly dead, returns from her tomb to confront her brother. I love the tragic conclusion in which the physical collapse of the House mirrors the emotional breakdown of the entire Usher family. I think Poe created a wonderfully dark story for anyone who loves Gothic, haunting stories.
If you enjoy eerie and chilling stories, Edgar Allen Poe is for you. The suspense leading up to the climax leaves you clinging to your chair and biting your nails which was perfect for Halloween which was when I read this. Ultimately, this timeless exploration of moral decay and inner turmoil is a wonderful read for anyone willing to pick up one of Poe’s horror novels.
Kaiya T.
The Fall of the House of Usherby Edgar Allan Poe is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.
Mission Viejo Library Teen Voice 