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Mia W

Chirp, Reviewed by Mia, 13

Kate Messner’s new book Chirp is a captivating story of a cricket farm mystery, summer camp fun, and ultimately, one girl’s journey of finding the confidence to speak up. Mia is a girl who just wants to forget her past. Luckily, she has plenty of new things to distract her ever since she moved to be near her grandmother’s farm in Vermont. Mia’s grandmother is trying to convince the world that bugs can be tasty food. But Green Mountain Cricket Farm is struggling and not only because business is slow. Mia’s grandmother believes someone is deliberately trying to sabotage her cricket farm. Could her grandmother be right? Though Mia’s parents blame Gram’s suspicions on her recent stroke, Mia is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery. Supported by her new friends from summer camp, Mia taps into her detective side to find out the truth about Gram’s farm. But Chirp isn’t just cricket farms and mysteries. It’s also a story of Mia coming to terms with her own secret. Since her time as a gymnast back in Boston, Mia has been keeping a painful secret that Messner masterfully hints at throughout the story. Near the end, Mia relives the memories and we learn what she has been struggling with the entire time. I cheered when Mia was inspired by another female to speak up and come to terms with the secret. Mia’s character development and the overarching meaning of the book were elements I enjoyed. I really loved watching Mia grow and not just because she shares my name. When we first meet Mia, she is underconfident, shy, and hurting from her big secret. As the story progresses, Mia goes through a metamorphosis, slowly coming out of her cocoon. She makes new friends, becomes stronger at Warrior Camp, and makes business plans at her local Maker Space camp. I loved watching Mia grow from a timid little caterpillar into a bold and confident butterfly. The next thing that really stood out was how the cricket farm setting contributed to the greater meaning in Chirp. I learned for the first time while reading Chirp is that male crickets chirp while female crickets do not. This was so interesting and it tied into Mia’s struggles as a girl in our current society. Chirp’s message to harness your voice to make change was empowering and thoughtful. It was so clever of Messner to juxtapose the message of the book with cricket biology. Although Chirp was a great book I think that certain elements were overly simplified. The mystery element of the story was unrealistic and never helped Mia’s character development.  And I didn’t like how the dialogue and other characters were sometimes simplified for the message to come across. Mia was about my age but acted much younger. Finally, there was an absence of positive male characters in the story. Chirp had great female friendships and strong female leaders, but the closest we come to a “good” male character was Mia’s father. It’s important that boys have role models that are also respectful and supportive of women. I think it would’ve been better if Messner included some male characters who were supportive of the book’s feminist message. Aside from the minor flaws, I thoroughly enjoyed Chirp.  The valuable lessons of the story make it suitable for anyone, although I would especially recommend it to girls who are lacking confidence. Mia’s journey will empower you to be confident and speak up. Chirp by Kate Messner. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2020. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!  

The Atlantic Net Pen Collapse

The Salish Sea is a vast body of water, stretching from southwest British Columbia, Canada, to the northwest portion of Washington State, USA. It provides a saline habitat for thousands of animals. Seagulls squawk overhead, and sleek harbor seals make occasional appearances. Forests of kelp sway with the current. It is an amazing and unique place. But the Salish Sea is also home to non-native Atlantic Salmon. During the summer of 2017, over 200,000 Atlantic salmon escaped when their net pen collapsed. What are Atlantic Salmon doing in the Salish Sea? They’re being farmed. Atlantic salmon are a favored species for farming in cold waters. The species grows quickly, is disease resistant, and is more docile than native salmon. Northwest fish farming started in the 1960’s. Now, Washington State has eight large net pens, and British Columbia has over 20. The net pen collapse was catastrophic. The first incident occurred on July 24, 2017. At a Cooke Aquaculture fishery, strong currents dragged a whole net pen away from its mooring anchors. After this incident, Cooke promised to increase net cleaning, and add steel beams and plates to damaged walkways. About a month later, a combination of anchor dragging, strong currents, mooring attachment breaks, and net pen framing failure resulted in the whole pen collapsing. The net pen had been operating successfully for seven years, and had been designed to withstand the strongest of currents. Yet somehow, thousands of alien salmon were released into the Salish Sea. After the collapse, the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) investigated the site and found the net pen in poor condition. A primary cause was lack of cleaning, which led to biofouling, where mussels and other marine life collect on and damage underwater structures. Breakdowns in cleaning machines contributed to the dirty condition of the nets. The accumulated mussels blocked off net openings so water could not flow through, causing the net to drag. The drag force was so strong that it broke off the mooring points. All this added up to the net pen failure. Cooke Aquaculture said they tried to save the net, but their efforts were unsuccessful. Cooke extracted dead fish and salvaged the net pen as best they could. DNR determined that 243,000-263,000 fish escaped, as opposed to Cooke’s report of only 160,000 fish. DNR concluded that of the escaped salmon, 57,000 have been caught and 186,000-206,000 remain unaccounted for. Where are the Atlantic Salmon now? Are they in Washington streams, mating with native salmon? Since they’ve been domesticated for farming, they might just die in the wild. Or they could be competing with native salmon for food and breeding grounds. Because thousands of fish remain unaccounted for, who knows for sure? As the escaped salmon linger in the Salish Sea, consequences begin. The head of DNR, Hilary Franz, has terminated Cooke Aquaculture’s lease to fish farm on state tidelands. A report by DNR and other state agencies found that Cooke violated the lease and caused the net pen collapse. The Washington State Department of Ecology fined the company $332,000 for water quality violations, which Cooke has appealed. Furthermore, Cooke did not clean up the debris left at the net pen collapse site. The state gave Cooke 60 days to clean it up. “We went in there and we determined they did not remove it all,” Franz said. Since then, Cooke has sued DNR to reverse the lease termination. Franz hopes that Cooke will work with DNR to safely close the facility. Also, the Washington State Senate has passed a bill to phase out Atlantic Salmon net pen farming by 2025. The net pen collapse is a big wake up call. Right now, Cooke Aquaculture is at risk. California, Oregon, and Alaska are either phasing out or have banned fish farming at sea. If Cooke’s Salish Sea fisheries are closed down, many jobs will be lost. But do we want Atlantic Salmon in the Salish Sea? Native salmon are at risk of competition in their own habitat. Human decisions heavily impact the Salish Sea. That habitat is ours to create, to change and to help. What do you think? Whatever we decide to do will affect the Salish Sea and all the animals that live there. Bibliography ●https://www.dnr.wa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/aqr_cypress_investigation_repo rt.pdf?vdqi7rk ●https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/fish-farm-caused-atlantic-salmon-spill- state-says-then-tried-to-hide-how-bad-it-was/ ●https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/washington-state-cancels- lease-for-atlantic-salmon-farm-off-cypress-island/ ●https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/bill-to-phase-out-atlantic- salmon-farming-in-washington-state-nears-deadline/ ●http://www.theolympian.com/news/local/article185123728.ht