From Metroid, the pixelated action-adventure game, to Minecraft, the freedom-filled sandbox game, there is no limitation to what games you can access. However, there is only limited time and resources to expend, so you must be careful about what games you decide to play. Mario Kart, Pokémon, and Ringfit are all games you can access on the Nintendo Switch, the current most popular console, so we will center around these games. Mario Kart is a deceivingly complex game. I mean, what difficulty can you have driving around a racetrack? If you find yourself in the path of a red shell, what can you do? How can you turn efficiently? There are many tips and tricks to see. To start things off, one thing you may not have noticed while playing in-game is using an item to block another. Sure enough, if you hold down the item button, you can keep the item safely behind your back to defend yourself from a potential attack which would slow you down a lot, especially if your vehicle has slow acceleration. Even the blue shell, which specifically targets the player in first place, can be deflected using a boombox item, although these are hard to come by from the random item generator. There are further reasons this game is more complex than it looks. For one, you can drift. Holding the drift button while turning lets you drift, and you get a temporary speed boost when you release it. The longer you hold the button, the stronger the charge gets, and you just might be able to get the fabled PURPLE DRIFT. These are the two most well-known tips in Mario Kart, but there is a deeper purpose in this game and more tricks lie ahead. Not only can you play this locally with your friends on one console, you can connect across town to play online races (despite slight lag). Alright, if you prefer quest games, Pokémon might be the game for you. Now, this is no Pokémon card game. The characters are the same, but there is PLOT! There are also various battle gyms where you challenge the gym leader and raids where you fight 4v1 against a powerful wild Pokémon. If you play the newly released version, there are power ups, which give your ride Pokémon special powers and there is more challenge with a new villain team out there. There is a Terestal phenomenon where you can change the type of your Pokémon entirely, which gives each battle a twist. The humor and the challenge keeps you with the game, and gives you an entirely new perspective from which you can see the unfolding action. As great as these games are, both have a hefty price tag of sixty dollars. This is often an unfriendly punch towards your wallet, and you may want to hover around the free games, but the free games have more in-game purchases that harm your wallet further than these one-time purchases. Although these games cost a lot, they are easily worth saving up for because of the enjoyment you get from playing them. There are many games to choose from, but there is only enough time and resources for a few of the best games, and these are two of my favorites.
We will fly higher, Reviewed by Caroline Gao, 12
“Once upon a time, from a wounded land/ My family was pushed to leave our homeland,” writes Parwana Amiri in her book of poems, We will fly higher. This collection focuses on her love for her homeland, Afghanistan, and her experiences as a refugee at Lesvos Island. She writes about the feeling of her loss of identity and her longing for safety after losing her country to war. In the book, she portrays the untold stories of refugees who are silently calling out for help. Parwana uses poetic devices such as repetition, punctuation, and sensory detail to emphasize the emotion inside her poems. We will fly higher begins with a poem, “We are burning,” about a family of refugees who lost their child in a fire. They mourn the loss of the baby and challenge their oppressors to imagine the situation that they now live in. The last poem, “The Displaced,” recounts the poet’s life as a refugee. She reflects her struggles and the small flicker of hope that remains inside her. She passionately encourages each reader to work hard to give each refugee their rights back. The poet uses repetition frequently to make her messages strong. The emphasis is especially powerful when she repeats the structure. For example, in the poem “Your Eyes Bother Us,” the same four line stanza is repeated seven times throughout the poem. Five end with the verse “Your eyes bother us!” The stanzas reflect the idea that outsiders should not be bystanders but instead protest for change. She also repeats the use of exclamation marks, which convey strong emotion. When Parwana wrote about her homeland, she used sensory detail to make the reader feel as if they were with her in that moment of her childhood. In “Greetings to nature,” she describes her homeland: “Hey green fields, touch my knees” and “Hey sky, welcome my night / Through your smiling, sparkling stars.” Her attention to detail shows her deep love for her home, Afghanistan. Although refugees have lost their power to speak in their homeland, she protests the loss of power through words on paper, which are just as loud as their voices. In many of the poems, the poet writes about how she will not stop until all refugees gain their rights back. In the poem “The Displaced” she writes, “We will raise the sails of freedom…I am committed to that struggle! For no one is free, until we are!” She vows to never stop writing and protesting. Her drive and emotion aim to empower the reader to join refugees in their struggle instead of being a bystander. Ultimately, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves poetry and is interested in learning more about the untold stories of refugees and the beauty and culture of Afghanistan. We will fly higher by Parwana Amiri. Palewell Press, 2022. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
Sistories Ep. 1 By Maryam and Nour Abdur-Rahman, 8 & 10
Sistories is a brand new podcast about travel hosted by two sisters–Maryam and Nour! https://stonesoup.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Sistories-1.m4a Welcome to our new podcast, Sistories! My sister and I love to travel, and we want to inspire you to travel too. My name is Nour, and I’m one of your hosts, along with my sister Maryam. I am ten years old, and I love to travel. My family has been to many places near and far. We have a mini Goldendoodle named Lulu who sometimes gets to go with us on trips. My name is Maryam the Magnificent. I am eight and a half. I love to travel, and I also like sports like swimming and soccer. One of my favorite spots to travel is Grenada. I was born in Houston, but my family was from Grenada and Egypt. I have lots of family there. Today’s topic is why you should travel. Why? My sister and I will both talk about some reason we love to travel. Nour is up first! Here are my two top reasons to try out traveling. Reason 1: you should travel a lot so you can see the lifestyles of locals and notice how they may do things differently than we do in the United States. One year my family visited St. Maarten, a beautiful island in the Caribbean. When you’re driving there the sides of the road that you drive on can change. Why? Because one side of the island is Dutch and the other side is French. You have to drive on the opposite side of the road depending on which part of the island you’re on. Another year, my family traveled to Grenada where my dad is from. We went to a restaurant that was right on the beach. When the server came she told us if you’re hungry in Grenada, you shouldn’t come to a restaurant. It took a really long time for our food to arrive because all of the ingredients are fresh and prepared right then. Reason 2: You can explore new places and try new things. Like when we went to Mexico City and walked to the city square. We saw smoke and wondered what it was. My dad’s uncle explained to us that they were using incense to cleanse you. The incense is supposed to make you feel better. My dad’s uncle said it made him feel like he could fly. We ended up trying it, and it was great! Another place our family went was Egypt. When we were there we got to snorkel in the Red Sea, which is very clear. As I was watching my dad scuba dive, I jumped off the dock; I could see my dad below me with all the beautiful fish. We also got to visit the pyramids on horses and camels. It was a bumpy ride, but I recommend you try it. Now it’s my turn. I have 2 more amazing reasons you should travel. Reason 1: you should travel so that you can be amazed. One time my family and I were in Boston. We went on a boat ride with my cousin. It was a big boat. We were going whale watching. When we were far from land, we saw a whale wagging its tail in the ocean and slapping the water. It was giving itself a high five! Then we saw 4 whales swimming together, and they blew out water. Next, a gigantic whale jumped out of the water and twirled in the air. It was pretty and cool because the water droplets were surrounding it. I wanted to see it again, but it was time to go back. Reason 2: You should travel to take a break from your stressful life! Kids who have to deal with school, activities, homework, impatient and annoying friends, and your chores. When you travel you can go to places like Grenada and put all of it behind you. Grenada is my favorite place because it has a magical beach that can change your life. And you can also pick off mango from the trees, and you can walk on the beach all around. It’s just one of my favorite places. Thank you so much for listening to our podcast, Sistories! Come back again to listen to our new podcast topic: how to pack for an awesome trip. Have a great trip!
