Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

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Red Queen - Aveyard, Victoria - 9780062310644 | HPB

If I had to pick an all time favorite book, it would be Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. The book is set in a futuristic fantasy/dystopian world which is divided between red blood and silver blood. The Silvers are born with powers or abilities, ranging from control over certain elements, to mind-control. Whereas, the Reds are born with no abilities. 

Mare Barrow is nobody, a Red pickpocket who tries her best to provide for her family. However, since she is unemployed she will be forced into conscription for the army at the age of 18. Desperate, she flees into the largest Silver city in hopes of finding work. Meanwhile, the Silver royalty is hosting a competition to find the next future Queen for their oldest prince – Cal Calore. Said competition consists of the most powerful Silver women showing off their powers in order to impress the prince. Suddenly, as Mare is watching the competition she is pushed into the arena by accident, changing her entire life in seconds. What should have killed her, instead left her with the ability to control lightning. Reds did not have powers, only Silvers, or so it had been up until then. 

In an effort to keep Mare hidden, the Queen forces her into an arranged marriage with the second born prince, Maven. Mare then spends months as both a prisoner and an anomaly, training and learning her own powers. Meanwhile, tensions between the Reds and Silvers are rising, a group named the Scarlet Guard is planning a revolution.

In secret, Mare joins the Scarlet Guard, only to be shocked when she notices that the second born prince, her fiancé, is already a part of the Guard. Maven Calore is the shadow of his brother and would rather see the Silver empire fall before his brother takes the throne. Together, they plan a revolution drenched in blood, heartbreak and betrayal. 

Red Queen is an amazing novel and a real show of creative world building. The way in which Aveyard describes the Silver’s abilities is a very detailed magic system unique specifically to the series. Furthermore, the series is a perfect mix of fantasy and dystopian to keep the reader craving to read more. This book also has what I would describe as the best, most painful, plot twist I had ever read. Not wanting to spoil anymore, this is definitely a book I would recommend everyone read. 

-Michelle L.

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Libby.

Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

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Mr. Popper’s Penguins, by Richard and Florence Atwater, is a Newberry Honor award-winning book.  The story is about a man named Mr. Popper.  Mr. Popper is a house painter, and he does not earn much money to support his small family.  He lives in a place called Stillwater, and he has never traveled anywhere else.  However, he loves to read books about exploration to the Arctic or Antarctic regions of the world.  He is especially fascinated by the Antarctic, because he loves to read about penguins.

One day, Mr. Popper receives a pleasant surprise.  He receives a package from Antarctica.  The package contains a real penguin.  This leads to a series of events that will change Mr. Popper’s life.

The story is quite humorous and amusing.  My favorite character is Captain Cook.  Captain Cook is the name of the penguin that first arrives at Mr. Popper’s house.  The penguin is funny in the way he inspects the Poppers’ house and gets into mischief.  Mr. Popper tries to put Captain Cook on a leash to go on a walk, but this leads to all kinds of trouble.  Another problem is trying to find a place for Captain Cook to sleep.  Mr. Popper tries to keep the penguin in an ice cooler, but eventually other penguins arrive at the Poppers’ house, so they need to figure out a way to take care of lots of penguins.  They try opening all the windows to cool down the temperature, but then a blizzard passes through and the inside of the house gets covered in snow and ice.  Finally, Mr. Popper comes up with an idea to raise money to support the penguins, by training them to become stage performers.

In a way this is a silly story, but I thought it was very enjoyable.  This might actually be one of my favorite books right now.  I think it is very well written and highly entertaining.  I would recommend this book to anyone.

-Simon H.

Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater is available for checkout at the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Overdrive.

Wringer by Jerry Spinelli

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Wringer is a Newberry Honor book by Jerry Spinelli.  The story focuses on a young boy named Palmer who becomes part of a “gang” on his ninth birthday.  At first, he enjoys the feeling of being accepted.  But soon he discovers that his feeling of loyalty to the gang will lead to difficult decisions.

Palmer lives in a town that hosts an annual Pigeon Day.  The festivities include typical entertainment such as barbeques and amusement rides, but the highlight of the event is a pigeon shooting contest.  Thousands of pigeons are released into the air, for contest participants to shoot down with their shotguns.  The participant who shoots the most pigeons wins the coveted Sharpshooter’s trophy.

Pigeons that are wounded and fall to the ground during the contest are collected by “wringer boys.”  These boys are tasked with breaking the pigeons’ necks, to ensure death.  All dead pigeons are then placed into plastic bags.  A boy can become a “wringer” once he reaches the age of ten.  The other members of Palmer’s gang all want to become wringers, but Palmer secretly dreads the idea of breaking pigeons’ necks.

The story becomes suspenseful as Palmer struggles with his loyalty to the gang and his innate desire to avoid harming the pigeons.  Palmer finds himself in a difficult position because the killing of pigeons is widely accepted and even celebrated by his community.  He feels pressure to become a wringer, even from his own father.  This creates a challenging moral dilemma for Palmer.

I found this book to be very compelling.  It was hard to put it down once I started reading it.  The characters are well-developed and the ending is quite poignant.  The book conveys a thoughtful message about the killing of animals.  Overall, I would say that this novel was quite deserving of the Newberry Honor award.  I highly recommend it.

-Oliver H.

Wringer by Jerry Spinelli is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.

Planet 9

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Many people know of the planets in our Solar System: Mercury, Venus, our own planet Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. There are also dwarf planets, such as Pluto, Ceres, and Eris. However, there is one planet that is still hypothetical and completely based on mathematics and theory. Planet 9 is a possible 9th planet in our solar system. Hypothetically, it would be located far beyond Neptune, the reason it is currently an unconfirmed planet. If it were existent, however, Planet 9’s orbit around our Sun could take as much as 10,000 to 20,000 years, in comparison to Neptune’s 165-year orbit. However, it is important to remember that these estimates are all based purely on mathematics and theory, and nothing is currently confirmed. The theoretical planet is believed to orbit the Sun more than 10 times further from the Sun than Neptune, which orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.8 billion miles.

Far outside our main solar system, there is a strange gravitational effect on some relatively small celestial objects (like asteroids). The way they orbit the Sun suggests to some scientists that there is yet another large planet orbiting our Sun far beyond Neptune and Pluto. Still, some scientists also say that our perception of the orbits of those objects is simply caused by human error in calculating and ‘viewing’ their orbits. Until enough evidence is discovered, or the planet itself is spotted through telescopes or various other methods, we can’t really claim that it either exists or doesn’t exist. There may be some other explanation for this phenomenon, or perhaps there really is an undiscovered planet somewhere out in the furthest reaches of our solar system.

-Peri A.

Movie Review: The Batman

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Where to begin? There is so much to talk about with this movie! Batman is one of DC’s most well-known heroes, and one of the darkest. His storylines are filled with crime, mysteries, and murder, with amazing plots and great illustrations. But let’s talk about the topic of the day: the movie.

At first, I have to admit, I was skeptical. Robert Pattinson, the actor who plays Batman/Bruce Wayne, is a great actor, no doubt about it, but it was hard to see the man who played Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as the Dark Knight. However, I was blown away. The movie was incredible, and I think he did an amazing job at playing Batman. Director Matt Reeves wrote a great story, and it fits together pretty well for a 3-hour movie. Though a bit confusing at times because of all the past references to Gotham’s past, the movie is filled with intense fighting, suspenseful scenes, and overall phenomenal acting by Robert Pattinson and Paul Dano (Riddler).

At the start of the movie, we see the mayor of Gotham watching the election on his tv, and talking on the phone. The Riddler, a darker and more sadistic version of the green-clad puzzle maker you may have seen in the comics, is revealed to have been there the entire time and murders the mayor. Leaving behind a set of clues for Batman to follow, the Riddler goes on to kill members of the police force and other high-ranking officials who are “corrupt” and don’t stay loyal to the citizens of Gotham. Teaming up with Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz) and Commissioner Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright), Batman solves the puzzle and uncovers an underground operation that could spell the end for the entire city.

As I said before, I really enjoyed the movie and it kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire thing. I think the directing, acting, and storyline are great, and can’t wait to see the movie again. I would definitely recommend this movie to any DC fan, or just anyone who knows a little bit about Batman. Thanks for reading!

-Brandt D.

Downsiders By Neil Shusterman — A Memory Book

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If Talon, one of the main characters from the fictional novel Downsiders, created a scrapbook, what would he include in it? What kinds of items were important throughout his journey?

Warning! This post has spoilers!!

1: Socks

Socks are an integral part of the Downside tradition. Downsiders will leave socks in certain places for people to find as a symbol of gratitude. This is because socks are fairly difficult to find in the Downside, so their value is much higher there. Talon (a Downsider, or someone living in the subway tunnels) gets offended when Lindsay (a Topsider, or someone living on the surface, as we do) does not show gratitude for the sock he left her, but Lindsay recognizes her mistake and says, “‘I’m sorry’…And she put it back into her pocket, finding herself oddly pleased that she wouldn’t be parting with it” (Shusterman 76-77). This exchange of a sock begins the story of Talon and Lindsay’s friendship, as both Talon and Lindsay have proved their liking for one another in their own respective ways. 

2: The “Bot”

Talon has broken the most sacred rule of the Downside by bringing a Topsider (Lindsay) down into the underground world. This event is the first stage of the book’s conflict, and he and Lindsay end up lost in the Bot, which “was one of the many unquestioned realities of Downside life. It was there, had always been there…the Bot was a Big Old Tunnel–a stone-lined cylinder that ran the length of the Downside and beyond” (Shusterman 95). It is said that the many tributaries of the Bot span the entire Downside. The Bot can be seen as a physical representation of the story’s plotline. Talon’s journey throughout Downside ranks is supposed to be straightforward, yet his curiosity leads him to get lost in the tributaries of his journey. By bringing a Topsider into the Downside, Talon has stumbled into an unexplored tributary, as such a grave offense has never been committed. Readers are engaged and curious to see if the tributary will be a dead-end or lead to something amazing.

3: The Sun

At the beginning of the novel, Talon expresses his yearning to see dawn, as Downsiders are not allowed to see the sun. Near the middle, he is executed from the Downside due to bringing a Topsider down, but the pipe that was supposed to bring him to his death had a break, so Talon ended up on Coney Island, where he saw and even enjoyed the sun. Finally, among the very last pages, Talon decides to make an entirely new world for his fellow Downsiders, among the abandoned skyscrapers of New York. Knowing about the Downside rule against the sun, Lindsay asks Talon about his strange decision, upon which “Talon grinned more broadly than Lindsay had ever seen him smile before. ‘Things change’” (Shusterman 242). The sun represents the beginning, middle, and end of Talon’s personal journey, just as dawn, noon, and dusk represent the stages of our day. By dusk (or the end of the story), Talon has brought the Downside population to new heights.

-Ayati M.

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

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The Killer Angels is a historical novel by Michael Shaara about the American Civil War.  This book won the Pulitzer Prize and has sold millions of copies.  Even though the novel is fictional, the author conducted extensive historical research to write this book.  I found this novel to be very realistic, and I can understand why it has become so highly regarded.

The story focuses on the Battle of Gettysburg in the summer of 1863.  The book is organized into four parts, each part describing a separate day of the battle.  The author delves into great detail as he imagines how some of the main characters in this conflict may have felt as the battle unfolded.  He focuses on important military leaders such as Robert E. Lee and James Longstreet from the South, and Joshua Chamberlain from the North.  The author alternates the perspective from one character to another, so that each chapter is written in the viewpoint of a specific person.  This allows the reader to view the battle from many different perspectives.

I found this book to be thrilling and highly dramatic.  The characters seem to come to life as the author uses dialogue and inner thoughts to portray their feelings and motivations.  Even though the characterizations are fictional, the story is based on real events and was very educational for me.  This was a very enjoyable way to learn about American history.  I learned many details about the Civil War.  It was very interesting to learn about how the battle at Gettysburg was won.  The author portrays both sides of the battle very thoroughly, so that the reader can understand the war from both perspectives.  It was very helpful to learn about this war from a novel that is so vivid and absorbing.  I would definitely recommend this book.

-Oliver H.

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Coping with Stress and Emotions

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Lately, in my personal life, I’ve been experiencing a lot of stress and emotional mood swings, so I thought I’d share how I’m dealing with it. As a teenager growing physically and emotionally every day, I’ve recently been feeling a lot of confusing and unexplainable emotions. I’ve also been extremely stressed with school and the excessive workloads I’ve had to deal with, especially as the school year begins to come to a close.

With the help of all my loved ones, I’m doing much better now and I’m really enjoying myself amidst all the homework and stress. Without further ado, here are four ways to deal with stress and difficult emotions.

1. Write it down! When you are feeling stressed or confused, try writing it down on paper, whether it’s in a long paragraph of thought, a free verse poem, angry bullet points, or indecipherable scribbles. It feels great to release your thoughts and emotions, and you can really get creative with a pen to paper. Also, you can just throw away or shred up the paper later!

2. Talk to someone about it! One thing I’ve realized is that keeping secrets to yourself will not help. Bottling up emotions just consumes you and makes you feel so much worse, and you will feel disconnected or isolated from your loved ones. Mine have always been there for me, and I’ve found that they definitely have my back, and I can trust them and just have a nice long talk about my life with them. Talking to someone you love is a huge help.

3. Do something/find something you love! One of my favorite ways to spend my free time is listening to music. I love music because it puts me in a good mood and takes my mind off of whatever is going on at the moment. Do something that makes you happy, like reading a book or watching a nostalgic movie!

4. Don’t get distracted from your work! When you’re doing homework or trying to get something done, don’t let yourself be distracted. I’ve found that in the past, having my phone beside me when I’m working is an extremely unproductive arrangement. Every time I get a notification, I pick up my phone and can’t put it down for a long time. Recently I have been putting my phone far away from me when I work, and I’ve been so much more productive. Also, in the cases that I am productive and get a lot of work done, I’m really happy with myself and I allow myself to feel good and have a good day.

I hope this helps! Good luck!

-Lam T.

Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson

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This captivating fantasy novel follows Kazi Brightmist, also known as the notorious pickpocket “Ten,” and her fellow members of the Queen’s elite guard to venture to neighboring settlements on orders to investigate disturbances in these areas. Upon reaching their destination, Kazi discovers Jase Ballenger, the newly crowned lord of the land after his father’s untimely death. Each suspicious of each other, they quickly become enemies but are forced to work together when they are captured by slave traders and chained at the ankle. Worried about his city and determined to complete her assignment, the two make the long journey back, finding themselves attached at the hip by the end of their adventure (or leg 😉). However, trials await the pair when their secrets threaten to uncover. Trying to outwit each other, they enter an exchange of ploys and tactics to each secure what they desire. They dance the dance of thieves.

This book is such a fun read. You are enveloped in the beautiful world of Venda and the Ballenger Empire with its endless deserts and colorful bizarres. Kazi is a strong, witty warrior who, despite all her hardships has become a member of the Queen’s personal guard. Jase is very clever and the leader of his large family and city. I really enjoyed the two protagonists’ banter and outwit each other in a constant battle to determine who was more clever. This book quickly became one of my favorites and I highly recommend you read it so it can become your favorite as well.

-Gia S.

Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available for download for free from Libby.

Charlie Bone and the Beast by Jenny Nimmo

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Charlie Bone and the Beast is the sixth book in the Children of the Red King series by Jenny Nimmo.  The author had originally planned to write a series of only five books, but after the success of those books, she decided to add another three books to the series.  In this story, Charlie Bone faces a mysterious new enemy at Bloor’s Academy.  A student named Asa Pike, who magically changes into a beast every day at dusk, has suddenly disappeared.  Meanwhile, a new student named Dagbert Endless has enrolled at the school.  Charlie notices that Dagbert hangs around with Manfred Bloor, who has been known to cause trouble in the past.  Charlie suspects that the two of them are plotting something evil.  Charlie and his friends know that they must rescue Asa before something terrible happens.

Along with Charlie Bone, my favorite characters in this book and throughout the saga are Lysander Sage and Tancred Torsson.  They both possess very powerful abilities and are very helpful to Charlie and his other friends.  Also, an intriguing new character is introduced in this book.  He is a mysterious knight without a name, known only as the Red Knight.  Not much is known about his identity, and it’s not clear in this book whether he is a friend or foe of Charlie Bone.

One of my favorite parts in this book is when Charlie and some of his friends are forced to cross a dangerous river, by walking across a thin iron bridge in the middle of a thick fog.  The river suddenly rises to the height of the bridge, and the bridge begins to tilt violently.  I found this part very suspenseful because it seemed that everyone could drown in the vicious current of water.

Like the other books in the series, this book is very exciting.  Charlie and his friends risk their lives on numerous occasions as they embark on perilous adventures.  I am very glad that Jenny Nimmo decided to write more books in the series after her intended final book, Charlie Bone and the Hidden King.  This is one of my favorite books by Jenny Nimmo, and I would highly suggest it to anyone who has read the first five books in the saga.

-Simon H.

Charlie Bone and the Beast by Jenny Nimmo is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.