Opinion

 The Summer I Turned Pretty Book Recommendation

By Naomi Martinez - Nov 22, 2025

       Many have probably seen or heard of The Summer I Turned Pretty. It is mostly known as a show, but have you ever read the book? The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han is a book in the categories of teen, young adult, coming-of-age, and also a romantic drama novel. It has an age rating of 12+ and is recommended for girls 13+ depending on their maturity. This book is full of drama, romance, and suspense. It is a very interesting book and has high ratings. You can get this book at Target, Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Ebay, and Amazon. 

          The book is about a teenage girl named Belly. She spends every summer at a beach house located in Cousins Beach with her mother, brother, her mother’s best friend, Susannah, and Susannah’s two sons, Conrad and Jeremiah. In this book Belly turns 16 and gets involved in a dramatic love triangle with Conrad and Jeremiah. Meanwhile, they are all realizing the harsh reality that Susannah's cancer is getting stronger every minute.

The book is really good and I recommend it to people who like books with drama, romance, and coming-of-age books. This book opens your eyes to someone else's perspective and the differences of the characters. I like this book because it has lots of drama. It can be very relatable and has funny moments and scenes. Some parts in the book have flashback chapters where it has Belly at different ages like 10, 12, or 14, which gives more details about her life at younger ages that lead up to other things that help develop the story. Many people give this book high ratings, where the average rating for this book is 3.7 to 4.6 out of 5 stars according to Amazon and Barns & Noble. 

    Now let’s ask people their opinion on this book from Edgewood Middle school! First, Audree Zendejas (8th grade) said, “It's my favorite book. I really like this book out of all of Jenny Han’s books because the book is sweet, and it is just the beginning.” Next Sophia Cordon (8th grade) said that “I like the book because it's interesting and relatable.” And lastly an anonymous person on Goodreads.com stated, “It’s such a good book to get into the summer mindset, and I’m SO excited to start the sequel. I love the setting and the characters. It made me so nostalgic for past summers when I was in high school.” 

Overall I recommend this book for teens 12+. This book is really amazing and helps get non readers into reading. So if you like drama or romance this book is really for you.

The Biggest Menu In The World!

By Camila Curiel - Nov 21, 2025

        Have you ever thought of going to a restaurant with plenty of options? Well, you're in luck! The Cheesecake Factory is known to have the world's BIGGEST menu ever! This menu offers a huge variety of American and international dishes, from burgers and pasta to salads, tacos, and steaks, and is updated twice a year. 

    I've asked patrons aged 8-50 about their favorite foods & appetizers. Deliana Saenz (6th grade) said that she enjoyed the chocolate cheesecake and that their favorite food is pizza with hot honey glaze. Alexia Duran (8th grader) stated that her favorite food from the Cheesecake Factory was the Caesar salad sandwich with shrimp alfredo.

    On top of that, Alexia said, “I love the Diet Coke from there - the way it's always so cold and the way the ice cubes are shaped.” College student Vanessa Rodriguez, one of the older adults that I've interviewed, said her favorite food from the Cheesecake Factory was the steak with greens on the side. She went into detail, saying, “I enjoy when the greens slide through my tongue. It's sensational and tastes so amazing and salty with all of the oils added, especially when the steam fills the top of my mouth.” And an elder citizen named Rosa stated that she enjoys the beautiful architecture of the roof and how it reminds her of Greece. She likes the statues inside because they remind her of Mesopotamia, and how the lights are dim and mellow, so it doesn't hurt her eyes.

The Cheesecake Factory has roots in Michigan, where its founder, Evelyn Overton, started a cheesecake bakery. But it is from Beverly Hills, California, where her son, David Overton, opened the first restaurant in 1978. The company's headquarters are now in Calabasas, California. Where she and her husband used their life savings to start up their investment in their restaurant. The Cheesecake Factory was invented to showcase the high-quality cheesecakes baked by Evelyn Overton, who had been selling them to local restaurants since the 1940s.

The atmosphere is upscale, with casual dining with a memorable customer experience. The Cheesecake Factory is also family-friendly and provides kid menus, high chairs and changing tables. To add to that, all locations are wheelchair accessible with a casual and comfortable dress code. 

 In my opinion, the best appetizer from the Cheesecake Factory is the baked brie with truffle-honey butter because of the delightful crunch and the mixed flavors in between the bread and the cheese added on top. Sometimes it's burnt and you get an extra crunch. Another good side from The Cheesecake Factory is the parmesan truffle fries because of the seasonings on top, which is dipped in ketchup and delicious because of how cold it is. My favorite entree from the Cheesecake Factory is the dumplings because of how flavorful they are and the soy sauce on the side. It's a memorable experience just with the food.

 So, after all of this new information about all of these tasty foods, would you ever consider coming to The Cheesecake Factory to try from the world’s biggest menu restaurant?                                 

Could School Lunches Be Improved?

By Elena Lopez-November  5, 2025 

           We all know our favorite time of the school day is lunch time. It’s where you can finally get a break from learning and instead sit with your friends and eat. You know the drill: You put your backpack down and head straight to the lunch line before it becomes too long. You get your food and head back to your table. You sit down and take a bite. Then, you realize that the food is not what you expected it to taste like. 

You are not the only one who thinks that school lunches taste unpalatable. More than half of students in the U.S agree with you. For instance, Edgewood 7th grade student Ava Pichardo said, “I think school lunches should be improved because they don't taste good. The texture for most of the food is dry and rubbery.” This leads you to the frequently asked question: Should school lunches be improved? 

Today most people or kids would say, “Yes!” but the adults would say, “No.” What is the rationale? Well, kids would say “Yes” because they are the ones who are eating it, the ones going hungry for the rest of the day because they did not like the food, and they do not have enough time to eat it. The adults would say “No” because of the lack of kitchen equipment, limited budget and what the cafeteria staff have to prepare. 

For example, Edgewood teacher Mr. O'Leary said, ”I think schools should not be improved because we don't have the money for it. But , if we did I would say yes.” I agree with the adults but what happens to the food that's served? A significant amount ends up in the trash because students find it unappetizing or just skip lunch in general to avoid the lunch. So why would the school and the district spend money for more than half the kids to throw it away?

Well the reason is because of the limited budget. As we know money can be a blessing and a curse. A balanced meal often is food from a restaurant which costs $15 or more a person. Most schools do not have the money for these types of meals. Unfortunately the funding from government budgets is not enough, so they have to rely on student payments for the National School Lunch Program also known as NSLP.

The way the school lunches taste is not the only problem. Another problem most students have is time. Both the lunch line and lack of time to eat. At most schools the average time to eat lunch is 20 to 30 minutes. Which, at first glance sounds like a lot of time until you realise that the lunch line takes around up to 10 minutes to get through. And by the time you sit down you only have 15 minutes left to eat. According to The California Department of Education, students should at least have 20 minutes to eat. One student says “I think we should have more time to eat because the lunch line is usually around 8 minutes, and we also have to use the restroom. So by the time we eat, we only have like 15 minutes.”

In conclusion, school lunch should be improved because it does not fill students up enough, and for some kids they just do not like it, which leads them to skip lunch. But unfortunately schools have limited budgeting for the lunch food. This leads to less food and worse quality.