I know. To think about the end of life, death, is a topic that everyone is scared to talk about. It is depressing to be honest, but after I read the sci-fi page-turner Scythe by Neal Shusterman, I wasn’t scared anymore. In fact, it made me appreciate life more. Through this book, I went into a temporary escape to a world governed by two corporations that run MidMerica (Future USA): Thunderhead, the governing body, and Scythedom, the army. Here, people don’t die of old age, or anything that involves physical damage to the human body, like jumping off a skyscraper. The only way for a life to end is to have a Scythe glean you. I love this word, and this is the alternative synonym from now on. So what does this mean? It’s a chosen method, a ritual, by the Scythe, and how you glean tells a lot about who you are. Now enter the two main characters, Citra and Rowan, who are to be chosen by Scythe Brahms, an honorable old (probably the oldest) sage, to be his apprentices. The funny thing is…neither of them WANTS to be a scythe, so they’re agitated deep inside. Only one of them can become a true Scythe, and they work to NOT be the chosen ones, but let’s not spoil the book about who becomes the ‘unlucky’ one. I could write a whole new book review about what it means to run away from your fate but come to accept it. Sometimes we have to be courageous and rise up to the situation, but this book review is about gleaning, and an equally thought-provoking question came to mind as I was grabbing the pages tighter. That is, who determines the gleaning—us or the ones with power? In this world, they might not have the freedom to choose how to be gleaned, and in the real world, I think we have similar limitations. Then, I started asking my family and friends around me. How would you like to be gleaned (after explaining what that meant)? Everyone had different answers. One said going into a deep, happy sleep where pain is no longer felt, and then drift off into another dimension. I like that one. The other said having one big party with everyone you love with an unforgettable feast, and then entering a door that says ‘Yay, you made it to the other side!” What I realized is that when you give people freedom as to how they want to be gleaned, it’s positive, which makes us positive creatures. When we think about the end, we want happiness and joy not only for us, but for the people around us. As soon as there is control, then we turn into negativity. This is always the central message of dystopian novels, it seems like. The reason I love this book, and why everyone should read it is because thinking about gleaning is a part of life and what it means to be free. We live on this Earth not knowing what’s going to happen next, but we know that we are more likely to suffer psychologically if we get gleaned in a way that we dislike. This is also important in difficult areas like capital punishment or euthanasia rights or just giving people the right to close the life chapter with a smile. So, don’t be afraid to give this book a try. You’ll see that the end of life is just as important as how you live the best life now. Scythe by Neal Schusterman. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2017. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
Young Bloggers
Fast Thinking on the Moon
A rocket ship called the IM-1 lander (AKA Odysseus, or Odie) had unexpected problems hours before landing on the moon in February 2024, causing it to fall on its side. The ship is phone booth sized and traveled 1 million kilometers before arriving in the moon’s orbit. The craft, which carried no people and was used to collect scientific data, was destined to land on Malapert A, a crater near the moon’s South Pole that is very flat. The reason for landing there is that the South Pole of the moon stores water in the form of ice, which could be used for drinking water or rocket fuel for future missions. The ship landed at 6:23 pm on Thursday, February 23rd and has since been repositioned to be upright. Odie was the first craft to land on the moon after the Apollo mission over 50 years ago, but the landing was challenging. NASA became aware that there were problems with Odie’s navigation system. To land on the moon, the ship converted to its backup navigation system which was experimental and NASA did not intend for it to be used on this mission. Once Odie communicated with NASA about the shift to the back-up system, NASA quickly made a plan to upgrade the system to ensure that the spacecraft would still land. The odds of success were very small, but the ship landed! Odie operated for seven days on the moon and there was a camera in the ship, so videos and photos could be put onto the Internet for others to see. NASA wants people to be on a spaceship like that one by 2026. Thinking about the flexibility of NASA workers, I realized I also have to show flexibility in my daily life. For example, I recently competed in a robotics competition and for our first face off, our robot lost a wheel and began to drive strangely. Our team had to pause during the race and fix it. Even though we didn’t get the time that we wanted, our team was ultimately still in the running. I learned that if you don’t succeed the first time, you should adapt and try again. This lesson also connects to my recent science project. I was experimenting with training fish to respond to food, but our fish sadly kept dying even though we cared for them quite well. We had to move away from this project and quickly design a new experiment so that we could enter the class science competition. This all ties into Odie because, just like me, they had to formulate a new plan quickly and act on that plan. They used fast thinking to get the ship back up, just like I used fast thinking to fix my robot and find a new science project.
A Conversation About Those Little Hearts
All around the world, on February 14, people celebrate Valentine’s Day. Whether it’s giving your partner flowers, or just receiving candy from your parents and friends, it’s a very enjoyable festivity that happens every year. But, the real fact is that, although chocolate is very popular, conversation hearts are actually the most commonly given candy on February 14th! But what is their origin story, and why are these small hearts now so popular? Believe it or not, the production of conversation hearts actually came from a pharmacy! In 1847, Oliver Chase created a machine that could cut medicine into smaller pieces to create a more efficient business. When these ingredients were swapped out for sugar and flavoring, the US got the first candy-making machine. Conversation hearts are made when sugar is crushed into a fine powder, combined with flavoring, then shaped, stamped with words, and enjoyed! In fact, candy heart messages didn’t start out so short. It started with phrases like, “Married in white, you have chosen right.” Later these phrases would be abandoned for shorter, more loving thoughts like “Be Mine,” or “XOXO.” Of course, today’s factories are much bigger, with the Necco company—which was based in my hometown of Boston until it closed in 2018—making about 8 billion of these treats per year! Now other companies like Spangler started making conversation hearts in their place. In 2020, when the factories had more business than any other year, shipping issues resulted in a year of blank (wordless) conversation hearts. No conversations in 2020, I guess! But the future is looking bright for conversation hearts in my mind, now that there’s a digital app that can be used to send virtual hearts and messages to loved ones. The conversation heart powerhouse started by Necco was revolutionary, and they are still very popular to this day.
