Ender Ippolito, 9, Portland, OR Going Viral Ender Ippolito, 9 Hello, my name is Sam Flu. You might not know me personally, but I’m pretty sure you know my kind. Right now I am going to school. I am on the school bus (water droplet) with my best friend Eric Coronavirus and his buddy Meg Polio. Eric is very nice and likes to be mischievous. Meg likes to eat protein. She gets 14 extra servings at lunch. She is pretty but not nice. I don’t like her. She also likes Eric, I mean likes. We are buckled up in the middle of the water droplet. Inside the droplet we feel safe and protected by an impeccable force field. The inside of the bus is completely clear and transparent, which is why we can see that we’re heading towards a cut in the human’s belly button to enter the body. Our destination is Third Grade A, Room 9, which is a mucous cell in the small intestine. Once we go through the skin, it becomes very dark. We bounce and bob in the body fluids and head to Room 9. The bus parks right next to our classroom. We climb off and squeeze through small holes in the cell membrane to get inside the cell. We realize immediately something is wrong. “No one is here,” I say to Eric. I look around the room at the teacher’s desk, located at the nucleus, and his chair that’s empty. “Maybe it’s a surprise party,” Eric answers. “Are you sure?” Meg asks. “Nope.” He shrugs. “Oh no!” I exclaim when I see the clock shows 7:00am not 8:00am. We are early, very early. No one else is here. Only the three of us. We sit down on centrosome chairs and look around at the walls that are covered in last year’s paintings. Most of them show circular art – a picture with circles glued on to it. But there’s also a copy of a really, really ancient painting with viruses attacking cells. It always makes me so happy and proud when I see that picture. Next to that picture is a poster of all the class rules: In a matter of seconds, Eric starts to tap noisily on his desk. I give him a look that means “cut it out.” Eric gives me the “do you know what I am thinking?” face. I know what he wants to do; he wants to break rules. The only question is which ones and how many. “Well we cou—,” Eric starts to say. “Don’t even think about it,” I interrupt. “Why not? No one is here,” Eric says. “Just because nobody’s here doesn’t mean we should break the rules!” I sigh. “I agree with Eric,” Meg says. “See, I told you!” Eric says. I ignore Meg. I’ve never liked her and wish Eric felt the same. “Let’s leave out Mr. Goody-Goody. Which rules should we break Eric?” Meg says and grins at him. I groan. “Fine! I’ll do it. Just as long as it doesn’t include making a mess,” I say, not wanting to be left out. “I want to infect cells! Let’s do that!” Meg jumps up and spins around in the cytoplasm. “Ummm, well I guess we could do that, but is it fun enough?” Eric says. “I think it’s too much fun,” I warn. Why couldn’t she have picked an easier rule to break? “Just enough fun,” Meg says. Eric nods. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I say. “Stop wasting time. It’s already 7:20!” Meg skips to a doorway. “Two out of three so we are going to infect cells.” Meg smirks at us. “Follow me.” We squeeze out of the mucous cell through the gaps in the membrane and enter a different mucous cell that has not been inhabited or infected by our Virus School District. Immediately after we enter, an alarm sounds. “What is that?” Meg screams and hides behind Eric. “Go back! Go back to the classroom!” I yell and we quickly slide out of the cell into the tissue fluid. An army of white blood cells are waiting for us, blocking our path to our classroom. There are hundreds of white blood cells waiting to attack. They look like a twenty-foot thick crowd of round white jelly blobs. They also look mad and have tanks with ammo. The alarm gets louder. “This is your fault,” I say to Meg. “Me? Why me?” “This human probably had a polio vaccine.” “It could be your fault then. Flu shot,” she huffs. I know that Meg knows she is screwed if she can’t get back into the safety of our classroom. She will not survive if she stays out in the tissue fluid. Eric, on the other hand, is likely safe from the white blood cells. Vaccines for Covid are not common yet. And me? I have a 50% chance depending on if this kid had the Flu shot already. I’m hoping he didn’t. White blood cells march toward Meg, ignoring Eric and me. Alright, lucky for me and Eric the kid only got the polio vaccine. Of course, not so lucky for Meg. She runs away, darting behind other cells. She finally lands on a blood cell and tries to hide on it. But the white blood cells recognize her. They’ve been trained by the vaccine to spot polios. She’s surrounded and Eric and I watch the white blood cells put antibody ammo into guns. Guns raised, they start shooting at her. She’s dodging, but I know Meg can’t dodge the antibodies forever. “Sam, we need to help Meg,” Eric says. He rushes in before I can stop him. I wait because I don’t want to help her. It’s her fault we’re in this mess. But when the white blood cells go after Eric, I know I have to help him. He’s my best friend and he’s in trouble. I see another mucous cell drift by and race inside
Saturday Newsletter: March 20, 2021
“Fly High in the Sky” (watercolor) by Sloka Ganne, 11 (Overland Park, KS) and published in the March 2021 Issue of Stone Soup A note from Emma This weekend we are thrilled to be launching our third annual book contest! Every year we refine the contest a bit more, and this year we decided that we will select two winners to publish: one in fiction and one in poetry. Comparing poetry collections to novels and novellas is truly an apples-to-oranges comparison, and we would like to be able to fully recognize the achievements in each genre by rewarding publication to two manuscripts. You can read the full guidelines for the book contest at our Submittable site. I have been working nonstop with last year’s winners, Tristan Hui and Anya Geist, on novel edits, and I am so excited to share their work with you later this year. We are all so amazed at the quality of work we receive for this contest, and of the evident effort put into each and every project. It is truly an honor and a pleasure to read your manuscripts, and I cannot wait to see what this year brings. To kick off the contest, Naomi Kinsman of the Society of Young Inklings will be leading her Design a Novel Weekend Workshop, an intensive two-day class to help those of you who are starting a new novel. The workshop will meet on Saturday, April 10, and Sunday, April 11, from 9 a.m. to noon. PDT (noon to 3 p.m. EDT). Naomi is a wonderful teacher, and working with her will set a wonderful foundation for your work! Although we regret not being able to offer a free novel workshop at this time, there are scholarships available. And if you would like to support our mission to support all creative children, regardless of income, please consider making a donation. As always, feel free to write us with any questions. I can’t wait to read your work! Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! Anushka, 10, wrote a review of the 2015 novel Gorilla Dawn by award-winning author Gill Lewis, explaining how they think the novel “can inspire children and adults to work to conserve our environment.” From Young Blogger Dominic Ng: a persuasive article about their favorite video game, Minecraft. Ashlyn, 11, wrote an information-packed review/essay on George Orwell’s classic novel Animal Farm. To find out more about the autonomy of the self, check out a review of New York Times bestselling author Gordon Korman’s 2017 novel, Restart, by Emily, 10. At last week’s workshop, participants learned about the volta, peripeteia, anagnorisis, and metamorphosis in order to write pieces that “veered.” Read some of the work created during the workshop here. Contest, partnership and project news Our Young Authors’ Studio Summer Camps with the Society of Young Inklings are now open for booking! Find out more and secure your spot at the Young Inklings website. To reiterate, we are launching our third annual book contest, so make sure to check out the full guidelines at our Submittable site. Happy writing! From Stone Soup March 2021 The Flowers That Live Forever By Iris Chen, 10 (Rye Brook, NY) A young girl walked through the gloomy roads of Brickville. As she walked, some rain began to fall. Huh, the girl, whose name was Olivia Judertt, thought. What perfect rain for flowers. Olivia loved her town, but it had no real color. She also didn’t like the fact that the town had no flowers. Olivia hated gloomy and gray things. She was very fond of flowers and color. Olivia loved coloring more than sketching, and she would rather get a colorful paint set than a phone as a gift. Her room was painted rainbow, and the first time you set eyes on it, you had to shield your eyes: the colors clashed together so much and it was too bright. So when she noticed that the town was missing color and flowers, her two favorite things, she decided to change that. One day she hopped into the kitchen with a new idea forming in her mind. “Mom, Dad!” she exclaimed. “I would like to plant some flowers in our backyard!” Mrs. and Mr. Judertt laughed uneasily. “Oh, silly girl,” they said. “The soil in our backyard isn’t nice enough for some pretty flowers. Besides, the weather here is very foggy, and flowers need plenty of sun.” Stubborn Olivia refused to give up. She emptied her piggy bank and walked to the closest flower shop. Olivia looked around the flower shop. Lots of colorless, grown flowers covered one side while seeds were stacked on top of each other on the other. She walked around, trying to pick out the just-right flowers. All the flowers there were expensive and not very colorful. “This is hopeless,” Olivia grumbled after half an hour of searching for the perfect seeds. Then something caught her eye. On the top shelf at the back of the store, sitting proudly right behind two really ugly flowers, was the most beautiful and colorful flower Olivia had ever seen. Olivia scrambled around for a stool to stand up on. She found one, climbed onto it, reached high, and brought down the flower. “Oh, it’s just a package,” she said to herself. The name on the package really drew her interest, though. It read, “THE FLOWERS THAT LIVE FOREVER.” . . . /MORE Stone Soup is published by Children’s Art Foundation-Stone Soup Inc., a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization registered in the United States of America, EIN: 23-7317498. Stone Soup’s Advisors: Abby Austin, Mike Axelrod, Annabelle Baird, Jem Burch, Evelyn Chen, Juliet Fraser, Zoe Hall, Montanna Harling, Alicia & Joe Havilland, Lara Katz, Rebecca Kilroy, Christine Leishman, Julie Minnis, Jessica Opolko, Tara Prakash, Denise Prata, Logan Roberts, Emily Tarco, Rebecca Ramos Velasquez, Susan Wilky.
Writing and Art Activity: Capture a Moment where Stillness is Disrupted
The cover image for the March 2021 issue of Stone Soup is incredibly striking. Aiyla Syed’s photograph “Sensation” (pictured above) perfectly captures a moment that feels familiar and playful in a visually compelling way. FRANCE. Paris. Place de l’Europe. Gare Saint Lazare. 1932. The composition of the photograph is wonderful. While the main attention in the foreground is Aiyla’s brother jumping in a puddle, the line of the road in the background and the horizon line provide a pleasing frame for the action. And the shadow provides a doubling of the subject that gives the image a really nice sense of symmetry. For me, this photo reminds me of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s famous 1932 photograph of a different puddle jumper (pictured right). In “Sensation,” there is also an interesting tension between the stillness of the surroundings and the sudden movement of the splash that Aiyla’s brother is making. What sounds do you think were happening as Aiyla was taking this photo? In addition to being an interesting piece of art, this photograph could be an excellent starting-off point for a story or a poem. The Activity For a writing or art activity, try to capture a moment where a silence or sense of peace is suddenly broken. You can do this with words or through a visual medium. What does the scene look like while it’s quiet? And what is it that suddenly disrupts this peacefulness? Maybe it’s a happy disruption, like a sudden laugh, or maybe it’s more serious, like an alarm. In any case, explore the sensation that occurs when the disturbance takes place.
