Naturally: Chapter One: Reunion

By Layla Katz

Illustration by Olivia Bagdanov

Live Aurelius, a 17-year-old boy with the gift of creating live organisms such as plants, is searching for the one who has gifted him these powers. Through his search, he finds a mysterious little demon and a cool, bunny-loving girl. Who are these weird new friends of Live’s? And how can they help him find the person he’s looking for? Welp! Time will tell.

Students sat at or on cold wooden desks with metal legs and dark turquoise chairs. An oak table commanded the front of the classroom where an older man with short, salt-and-pepper hair typed on a computer, occasionally pushing his black glasses up onto the bridge of his nose. 

As the children chitchatted about their summers, a boy, small for a 17-year-old, took a seat in the back of the classroom. He had light blonde hair and hazel eyes. He wore a violet and turquoise shirt, a dark, dusty brick red and red violet accented open sweatshirt, a black belt, blue jeans, and simple black shoes. Live situated all of his school supplies in front of himself and folded his arms on top of the items, resting his head in his arms. He looked around the room, noticing a few people from years prior, including Jene Keket, a girl he knew in middle school and the previous years of high school. She was talking with a few other students and laughing. Her golden eyes wandered over to him, a curious expression visible in her eyes. Live quickly looked away, hoping the girl wouldn’t notice him. Live could still feel her eyes burning into the back of his head even after he turned his head. 

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Rise!

By Zamantha Muñoz-Morales

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the movie, went streaming on Netflix on August 5, 2022. Directed by creators of the show, Ant Ward and Andy Suriano, with all of the returning cast members such as Ben Schwartz, Omar Benson, Josh Brener, and Brandon Mychal Smith, this movie is supposedly the final installment of this incarnation of the turtles. The big question on everyone’s mind is, “What’s next for Rise?”

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A Fan’s Guide to Stranger Things

By Olivia Bagdanov

Imagine biking home with your friend. He challenges you to a race, so you go ahead just to be greeted by a seven-foot-tall dark shadow that takes you away into a different dimension.

Have you watched the top 10 rated shows on Netflix, Stranger Things? This popular show just had a season 4, which came out on May 27, 2022. Not so long after that, part two of season 4 came out. Stranger Things has a total of 34 episodes.

The show is about four young boys who find a girl in the woods. Little do they know she has psychokinetic and telepathic powers. Not so long after finding her, they discover a portal to a different dimension that has monsters and dangerous vines like in Dungeons and Dragons, a board game that the boys play. 

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More than a Secretary: A Profile of the Amazing Miss Ramirez

By Hans Weber

Oliva Herrera, a mother of three, needed help with completing legal documents. She couldn’t think of anyone who could walk her through the process, especially since all the documents were in English, not Mrs. Herrera’s native Spanish. Suddenly, she remembered Ruth Ramirez, the friendly, bilingual school secretary who is a Mexican immigrant, like her.

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Why Does Everybody Love Harry Styles?

By Kayleigh Cook

Twenty-six-year-old singer-songwriter Harry Edward Styles entered the music scene 10 years ago, and since then has been the person most moms, sisters, and maybe even ELA teachers keep gushing about. But, It’s not for no reason. Harry Styles is a good-natured person who makes stellar, enjoyable music.

Harry Styles was born February 1, 1994, in Redditch, England, to landlady Anne Twist and finance worker Desmond “Des” Styles. At only 16, Styles went on the TV show X-Factor UK and sang Train’s “Hey, Soul Sister.” Simon Cowell, one of the judges, wasn’t too impressed, but gave Styles a second chance and asked him to sing acapella. Styles made the quick decision to belt out Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely.” The audition went well, obviously, and he was paired with four other European teens  (Nial Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, and Zayn Malik) to form one of the best-selling boy bands, One Direction. Sadly, One Direction went on an indefinite hiatus in January 2016, but Harry Styles still continued down the yellow brick road of fame.

Though he is most known for his compelling music, Styles is also known for his fearless experimentation with clothing and fashion. In December 2020, Styles was displayed on the front page of Vogue magazine rocking a black Gucci jacket and blue dress. This moment makes Harry the first ever solo man on Vogue cover in all of the magazine’s 127-year history. 

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Raves for Kalahari: A Waterpark Review

By Molly Flynn

Have you ever wanted to visit a fantastic waterpark? Or an amazing arcade? You should go to the Kalahari Hotel in the Poconos. The resort is named for the desert in Southern Africa known for its wildlife, which is pretty ironic because Kalahari (the region) is a desert and doesn’t have much water. I will review the shops, food, waterpark, arcade, and more.

One of my favorite parts of Kalahari was all the shops. My favorite was the grocery store.  It had all types of fresh food like muffins, coffee, and other baked goods. It also stocked some of my favorite candies like Lindt Chocolate, Trolli gummies, and Starbursts. Of course, you can find staples like milk, eggs, sugar, and bread. Lastly, it offered cool merchandise like hoodies, hats, and shirts.

Another highlight of Kalahari is the superb food. They have a delicious Italian restaurant called Sortino’s. Some of the best food there is the crunchy bruschetta and the soft onion bread. Another fantastic thing there is the food near the arcade. They have delectable wings and fries. My favorite wings are the spicy, hot, crispy buffalo wings.

The waterpark is the main attraction of Kalahari. It has some killer rides. My favorite was the Screaming Hyena. You go into a purple tube and on the count of three, it drops you. It’s so fun, but water does go up your nose. Another very fun ride (considered the scariest ride) is the Wild Wildebeest. You go into a clover tube and then it lifts you ten feet on a ring that is sideways. This is one I haven’t gone on because it was closed, but the first VR waterslide is in Kalahari. Lastly, there was the Smoke That Thunders. It is one of the most thrilling rides there! It does three drops, then it brings you into a vast opening, and you rock back and forth.

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The Owl House: A Review

By Elizabeth Peña Martinez

You all know about those fantasy stories where the main character lives in a magical world and defeats wizards and witches, like  Gravity Falls, Steven Universe, Ever After HighShera and the Princess, etc. Well, this one is different. It is so peculiar that it is not to be believed. It seems like a dream. If this has caught your attention, please continue reading.

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Travel Pick: Aruba

By Molly Flynn

Hi, I’m Molly, and I love traveling. My absolute favorite places to go are warm, beautiful Caribbean islands. This is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea east of North America. There are thousands of islands and 26 countries there, including the Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Anguilla, Antigua, British Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Saba, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, Saint Maarten, Saint Eustatius, and—my favorite—Aruba.

I’m going to tell you all about Aruba. I will break it down into parts: shops; food; pools and beaches; and miscellaneous.

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Halo Infinite: A Review

By Max Gast

On November 15, 2001, more than 20 years ago, the original Xbox came out. It didn’t have much going for it. The Nintendo GameCube was coming out only three days later, and Sony’s PlayStation 2 was thrashing the market, already wiping out the Sega Dreamcast, the last ever Sega console. At the time, the PlayStation 2 was the cheapest DVD player on Earth and most people bought it for that reason. The Xbox couldn’t play DVD’s but there was one game that was released with the console that helped them tremendously. 

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Fidget Toys: A Review

By Molly Flynn and Lillian McClaren

Do you have stress? Well here are some fidgets to relieve your stress. We love fidgets, so here is a fidget review! (Also these are just our personal opinions). If you’re wondering what a fidget is, a fidget is something you let your stress out on. You can use a stress ball, you squish it, and your stress is gone. 

Acupressure Rings

Acupressure rings are small rings made with thin wire. To play with them, you slide them around your finger. You can get them in many colors. You can get them on Amazon, Learning Express, and many other stores. Now, most people really like these, but from my personal experience, it was not so great. Firstly, it cut my thumb, and also it could cut off circulation if the ring is too small. But sometimes it does feel nice, especially if your finger is cramped up. 

Bun Stress Balls

Bun stress balls are stress balls that feel like they’re filled with foamy glue. They come in a traditional Asian food container and they are shaped and colored like a bun. I would give these 9/10. They are super squishy and great for stress. They are super cute and actually me (Molly) and my family made homemade buns, and I switched out the real bun for the fake one and it was super hilarious. The only downside is that they get dirty easily.

Flamingo Popit

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