Nedjie Thompson, 17, thinks that adapted films are more exciting than the original book versions. “I’d rather watch a movie instead of reading a book on my free time because there are live actions and it keeps me inter- ested,” says Thompson, who attends the John D. O’Bryant School of Math & Science. However, 16-year-old Anna Quan prefers reading the book because it contains a fuller picture of the story. “I like the books better because the book has a lot of details,” says Quan, from the O’Bryant. “Meanwhile, most of the time, the movies are not as good as the book because they often cut parts from the book.” Danny Mei, 16, from the O’Bryant, likes seeing movies better than plowing through books. “I choose movies because I can really see what is going on,” says Mei, adding: “And I am not much of a reader.”

When the future girls’ soccer captain, Evanilde Semedo, 17, went to the Boston School Committee at the end of last school year, she asked a simple question: “We have the team, why can’t we play?” For two years she had been trying to petition the Boston Public Schools to start a girls’ soccer team at Boston International/Newcomers Academy. Semedo and other students went to the committee and gave testimony to show their commitment to having a girls’ soccer team. “At one time, even as a school leader, I felt like my girls were forgotten,” says Boston International headmaster, Nicole Bahnam. “Student voices are more powerful than the headmaster’s.” Bahnam believes it was the girls’ unity that convinced Court Street to give the school a girls’ soccer team this year. “The students really got the project off the ground,” agrees the girls’ coach, Panion Tase. After the girls received notice that their wish for a team was granted by the superintendent, they had to work hard to put everything together in a short time. There were no uniforms, and they had to find a coach and a practice field. As time passed, their situa- tion took a positive path. This year they had a record of seven wins, four losses, and two ties. “Even though this is the first year the girls are playing soccer, they are doing great and they have a positive record,” says the school’s boys’ soccer assistant coach, Jose Daniel Sorto, 17. On October 2, the girls went back to the school committee with their headmaster and thanked the superintendent for giving them the opportunity they always wanted.

There are many stories and legends about the moon and the effect it has on people -- weird things seem to happen when it is full.

Julio Nunez, 14, from Boston Community Leadership Academy, believes that things seem crazy under a full moon because the moon can influence ocean tides and our bodies are filled with water.

“Maybe that’s why we act different,” says Nunez. Brehidy Garcia, a freshman at BCLA, has heard that the full moon can both cause people  to be depressed or fill them with energy. She says she experienced neither. Eighteen-year-old Jonathan Escobar, from East Boston High School, feels that the lunar cycle must have some sway over people’s emotions. Why else, he asks, did they used to call mentally ill people lunatics?

Sixteen-year-old Querby Janvier thinks that some teenagers are not working hard enough in school. She says that there are always those people who think that school is a joke -- only to regret it later. “Teens should really think about how much what they do now affects their future,” says Janvier, who attends the John D. O’Bryant School of Math & Sci- ence. “Being a teenager does not last long so you’ve got to make it worthwhile.” Being a teen is not all fun and games. Adoles- cence is the time when you should actually think about what you are going to do with your future. Not everyone realizes this before it’s too late. “I think that teens these days are too focused on the present and not the future,” says Nataly Garcia, 16, from the O’Bryant. “We waste our free time and then when we don’t have any, we complain about being stressed out.” Klea Hima, 17, says that a lot of teens don’t have any plan for today -- and thus none for tomorrow. “They let their future in the hands of time and do nothing to pursue their dreams,” says Hima, from the O’Bryant. “I would give them and myself the advice to take action into our own hands and not let little mistakes get into the way of doing what we love most.”

The themes of love -- or better called fantasy -- are fascinating. Many young people feel that love in freshman year is about taking things slowly. Fifteen-year-old Alejandra Lopera, from Brighton High School, thinks that someone is always going to be there for you. “It’s like you are getting to know how people treat you and the sacrifices they made to show how much they love you,” says Lop- era. “And sometimes you feel like nobody loves you, but in reality there are people that love you more than you think.” Marvelis Perez, 14, from Boston Community Leadership Academy, feels that everything changes in high school. “I see that everyone has a girlfriend or a boyfriend, they talk a lot about them,” says Perez. “It’s very different from middle school. In freshman year, it’s normal that everyone has a relationship.” Fourteen-year-old Djenafra Daveiga, from BCLA, believes that freshman love is about experiencing something new. “Your heart beats fast, butterflies in your stomach,” says Daveiga. “You start smiling a lot with just a thought of that certain person.”