There are a lot of great books out there. Many of them are terrific because of the inventive plot or the characters. A few contain a masterful message. Krista Kim-Bap by Angela Ahn is both. The main character in the story is, of course, Krista, a girl with Korean heritage who lives in Canada and has never been to Korea. Her one connection to Korea is the food she eats with her family. Jason has been Krista’s best friend for years. They do practically everything together. They’re inseparable. Until the day Krista meets Madison, a popular girl, and suddenly Krista’s friendship with Jason is falling apart. And what’s even worse is that Krista starts acting differently because of this new friendship-namely, dressing very differently than her usual jeans and T-shirt and trying out eye tape to make her eyes look bigger. Another problem is that Krista has to make a school project on her Korean heritage for Heritage Month. She’s not sure how she feels about being the one Korean kid in her school, and she has yet another dilemma; asking her slightly unapproachable grandma to teach her class to make kim-bap, a kind of Korean food. Will Krista learn to appreciate her appearance and heritage? The thing I liked best about Krista Kim-Bap is the message of the story, which is to be yourself and be okay with being who you are. Trying to be somebody else or changing your looks is always going to make you unhappy. Worthwhile friends don’t make you feel bad about being your authentic self. Another one of the things I liked was the humor and Krista’s amusing comments on things everyone has probably wondered about. Krista Kim-Bap is a short but powerful story about true friendship and self-acceptance. I would advise you to get your hands on it as soon as possible! Krista Kim-Bap by Angela Ahn. Second Story Press, 2018. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process! Have you read this book? Or do you plan on reading it? Let us know in the comments below!
Aru Shah and the End of Time, Reviewed by Nina Vigil, 11
Are you looking for a book you can read for hours without noticing time passing? One that is funny and imaginative and has an adventurous heroine? Well, you can’t do much better than Aru Shah and the End of Time. This is a captivating story about Hindu mythology that is a must-read. In the story, the heroine is Aru Shah, a girl who lies very frequently to fit in with her friends. But soon, some classmates call her bluff and ask her to prove that a lamp in her mom’s museum is cursed. Aru lights the lamp, and accidentally unleashes a demon determined to wake Shiva, the God of Destruction, in nine days. And to make matters worse, he’s freezing everything in time wherever he goes. In order to stop him, Aru has to find the Three Keys and journey to the Kingdom of Death with her backpack-toting soul sister and a talking pigeon named Boo. But…how? The thing I liked most about the book was, besides the Rick Riordan-style humor, the way it wove Hindu mythology into the plot. This book taught me some really fascinating things about the Hindu myths, and made me want to read other mythology books. The central theme of the book is the meaning of family. For instance, Aru’s “soul sister” Mini isn’t directly related to Aru, but they are much closer than Aru and her father (you’ll find out who he is later…) ever could be. Mini and Aru quest together, save each other’s lives several times, and work together to solve problems. In this way, the author challenges the idea that family is just your blood relations. Family can also be chosen. I highly recommend this book to anyone, but especially for Percy Jackson and mythology fans. Aruh Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi. Rick Riordan Presents, 2018. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process! Have you read this book? Or do you plan on reading it? Let us know in the comments below!
