“What are you wearing?” one friend snickered as I sat down on the bus with her. I blushed the color of tomato and looked down at my velvet laced up Mary Janes. “I can’t believe my mom and sister had me wear this!” I thought, eyes watering with embarrassment. Now I would have to make it through a whole day filled with strange looks and hurtful comments. I sighed,”Maybe I could just stay seated all day so no one would see my high white socks that reached my knee,” I thought. For me, this was the most embarrassing day of 4th grade. In the end I made it through the day with my head held high. Yes, this was not stylish to me and at the time I promised myself that I would never wear anything like that again, but after reading Popular: A Memoir by Maya Van Wagenen, I found a deeper reason for my dilemma and a dilemma that many others also share. I was looking at other people to tell myself I was stylish. In Popular, Maya Van Wagenen does an experiment where she finds the true meaning of popularity. By following a 50s popularity guide by model, Betty Cornell, she found that self confidence is what makes you really look attractive. Maya realized that she couldn’t depend upon what others had said to determine her worth and purpose. In the end she uses this realization to help others feel the same about themselves. This book helped me look at myself and rethink the importance of popularity. What are people trying to communicate by what they wear? I also came to a new view of “cliques”. School can be a constant maze of trying to fit in. Maya does a great job of helping the reader empathize with this challenge. This book helped me face my own struggles with the deep desire to be and feel popular and taught me to have confidence in what I say, wear and do. Maya did something that was truly brave. She went against the social norms by sitting with with different people at lunch each day and wearing 50’s style outfits. She would also wear pearls and put her hair in curlers. She decided that what people said didn’t matter to her. By doing so, Maya reached out to her classmates and made them feel cared about and special. I finished feeling as if I had passed the finish line with Maya through her journey toward greater confidence and learned more about myself than I ever had while reading any other book. I highly recommend this book, Popular: A Memoir, that follows the true story of this amazing young girl. Popular: A Memoir by Maya Van Wagenen. Speak Books, 2015. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process! Have you read this book? Or do you plan on reading it? If so, comment below!
Book Reviews
The Mighty Miss Malone, Reviewed by Harper Treschuk, 13
The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis details the experiences of the Malones, a strong African American family whose journey spans the states of Indiana and Michigan during the years of the Great Depression. Reading about the Malone’s challenged me to be more grateful for my own family and for the special journey we are on. Deza Malone, who starts out as a daydreaming Gary, Indiana, schoolgirl writing verbose essays, is the mighty main character of the story. Her poor but strong family is a comforting blanket of dignity and joy. Her older brother Jimmy is small for his age but gifted with a singing voice. Her hardworking father calls Deza his “Darling Daughter.” Practical yet caring, her mother is tirelessly dedicated to holding the family together. Their family motto, “We are a family on a journey to a place called Wonderful.” The next year for the Malones is certainly not wonderful. Their poor but happy family life in Gary, and with that Deza’s academic promise ahead, is torn apart. A tragedy happens to their father while out fishing and he leaves Deza and her mother and brother to find work. Deza, Jimmy, and their mother are soon forced to leave Gary, too. Without a true home, they travel around the Detroit cities of Michigan and Flint for the next year, experiencing shantytowns, racism, and unemployment. The year is full of heartbreak and trials, warping the family blanket, but the separated family’s love and values remain unchanged. Through the story, Deza grows in maturity. Her humorous, spirited self is made stronger after experiencing the hard realities of poverty and separation from those she loves. Bravely, she even goes unaccompanied into the dark places of the city to find her brother, who leaves them in the middle of the book for a job as a professional singer. As I read, I was challenged by how Deza’s family persevered and stayed together in spirit with unchanging values and devotion, even as everything around them fell apart. I became more grateful for my own family—my goal-oriented and thoughtful father, energetic and dedicated mother, rambunctious eleven-year-old brother, and playful four-year-old sister—and more aware of how they thoughtfully dedicate themselves to sewing my passions and interests into the family tapestry. When my family moved last summer from Ontario to Connecticut and we were separated from my father for two months. Just as Deza, Jimmy, and their mother let their family values shine during that time of separation, I tied my relationship with my mother tighter and had the opportunity to step up to the new kind of help she needed. Once we moved, I had to say goodbye to my friends and dreams in Ontario. Despite the disappointment and the exhaustion of starting over in a new place, my family has stayed together in strength and spirit. The Mighty Miss Malone is an exciting read, and the reflection afterwards is just as rewarding. The book is suspenseful but the character development is not rushed; joy and sorrow are intermingled but not in the least bit creating melodrama. Deza’s friendly spirit resonated within my heart, through big experiences and lighthearted moments alike, and I was united with Deza’s family on their journey. Reading The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis inspired me on my own family’s journey and challenged me to be more grateful for the tapestry that my family, with love, continues to sew. The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis. Yearling Books, 2013. Buy the book here and support the Children’s Art Foundation–Stone Soup in the process! Have you read this book? Or do you plan on reading it? If so, comment below!
Turtles All the Way Down, Reviewed by Rachel Freilich, 13
John Green, acclaimed author of The Fault in our Stars, is back after nearly five years with his new novel, Turtles all the Way Down. In this novel, Aza introduces her friend Daisy to us. Aza and Daisy are trying to solve the investigation of a billionaire gone missing for the prize of a large sum of money. Coincidentally, Aza knows the son of the billionaire, Davis Pickett, so they figure that they will become friends with him to discover more about his father. Aza also has raging anxiety and she worries that she’s not in control of her own mind. She gets overcome with spiraling thoughts about the bacteria that could be invading her body. Daisy always tries to tell Aza that she is always stuck on baseless thoughts in her own head. Meanwhile, Davis and Aza are hanging out more and start to become closer, which is exciting and terrifying for Aza, Davis, and even Daisy. As I was reading Turtles all the Way Down, from Aza’s perspective, I realized how John Green visualized Aza’s anxiety. Aza’s anxiety is a downward spiral for her; it keeps on going and gets worse unless she can put a stop to it. As usual, John Green’s writing is heartbreaking, funny and relatable, too. His writing makes you visualize a spiral in your head, while imagining how it connects to many moments in your own life. In showing Aza’s anxiety, he brings that issue to life. He shows how people can fight with anxiety and overcome it. While reading, I was relating Aza’s anxiety to my own life. When I get stressed, I feel that there is a spiral in my mind and that nothing can overtake it. Aza’s life and how she tries to overcome her anxiety, motivates me to stop my ongoing spiral and calm down. Although some people do not have anxiety, they can also imagine and connect a spiral to many moments of their own life. While reading, I also thought of many reasons that John Green would write this book and one major one came to my mind. Not only is John Green raising awareness for teens with anxiety, but he is also showing how he overcomes his own anxiety. Raising awareness for teens with anxiety is extremely important. John Green writes about mental illness in this book to show teens the importance of dealing with psychiatric issues and to teach teens to overcome their anxiety. This novel is very meaningful because it shows how to get debilitating thoughts out of their own head. Aza wants to overcome her anxiety, but cannot control it because of fear that something bad will happen to her. That’s the essence of Aza’s fear and the feeling of being taken over by outside influences and not being her own person. At one point, Aza thinks about how the string from one musical instrument can cause the string of another to vibrate. In essence, that’s what this novel does too. When you start reading it, there is a chain of events that spiral, and you cannot put the book down. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green. Dutton Books for Young Readers, 2017. Buy the book here and support the Children’s Art Foundation–Stone Soup in the process! Have you read this book? Or do you plan on reading it? If so, comment below!
