Welcome to the Book Page for The Other Realm, a fantasy novel by Tristan Hui, age 14, winner of the 2020 Stone Soup Annual Book Contest, published on September 1, 2021 by Children’s Art Foundation–Stone Soup Inc. Awards & Listings 2021: The Other Realm was announced as a silver medalist for the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards in the category of Best Book by Youth Author (under 18). Launched in 2007, the Moonbeam Awards are intended to bring increased recognition to exemplary children’s books and their creators, and to celebrate children’s books and life-long reading. Press, Interviews, & Events Interview with Stone Soup contributor Lena Aloise, 12 In this shorter interview, Lena and Tristan talk about the value of Stone Soup & all things The Other Realm, from where Tristan got her inspiration to her writing process to what she wants readers to take away from the novel. For a longer, more personal look inside Tristan’s process writing The Other Realm, click here. Reviews Review by Ismini Vasiloglou, 12 Tristan Hui’s The Other Realm is a story of family and adventure sure to enthrall even the most hesitant reader. After falling into a dimension parallel to her world, Azalea Morroe sets off on a quest to save the job of her eccentric father. Along the way, she befriends Sunny, a 15-year-old native in search of her older brother, and Sam, a 10-year-old ghost desperate to flee the unrelenting Prileidian Desert. Together, they make their way towards the city of Cambelt, facing numerous challenges guaranteed to capture the reader’s attention. The Other Realm is a quick but enticing five-star read. The prose is beautiful, rich, and vivid. From the “graying aspens” to the “glaring sun,” I felt as if I were trekking through the sweltering desert myself. Tristan writes, “Azalea was crouched on the hard, dry ground of an expansive desert, the air hazy and landscape painted in muted hues.” Tristan seems to have carefully chosen each word, making the landscape spring to life. Additionally, the plot is fresh and easy to follow, but complex enough that the reader constantly wants more. The characters are well-rounded, dynamic, and relatable. While this book is action-packed, much internal conflict occurs, and we see the characters evolve from start to finish. I also love how Tristan explores family bonds. I’ve had many moments these past few years where I’ve taken a comment or critique from my family too personally and ended up hurt or ignored. Through characters like Sunny, Tristan shows that no matter what blows are exchanged, the love of family trumps all. Not only that, the protagonist, Azalea, demonstrates how far she is willing to go to help her family as she continues to persevere to save her father’s job, despite all the challenges thrown her way. I would have liked to see more growth in the main character, but overall Tristan Hui’s The Other Realm is a must-read for lovers of fantasy, adventure, and magical realism.
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Fantastic Mr. Fox, Reviewed by Elliott, 10
How far would you go to save your family from starving while people are trying to kill you? That is the conflict facing a clever, sly and brave fox in the entertaining book Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl. The main character, Mr. Fox, struggles to keep his family fed while three farmers named farmer Boggis, farmer Bunce, and farmer Bean are determined to kill him. Mr. Fox is outnumbered, but he is very clever and dedicated. Will it be enough to save his family and friends? Mr. Fox is a thief, but the three farmers that he steals from are described as mean and gross. The farmers have plenty of food, but they still won’t share with Mr. Fox. They want to shoot his head off. While the fox family and all their friends are starving and hiding underground, Boggis, Bunce and Bean are eating right above them. The author, Roald Dahl, creates a negative image about the farmers that makes the reader want to like Mr. Fox better than the farmers even though he is stealing from the three farmers. Farmer Boggis eats three chickens every meal time along with dumplings, making him really fat. The most disgusting of them all is Farmer Bunce, who is really short with a pot belly. He spreads mashed goose livers on donuts and eats them at every meal. Farmer Bean doesn’t eat, but he drinks a lot of apple cider. He is also mean. The reason that we think that they are all mean is that they are trying to kill Mr. Fox while starving him and his family and friends. Fantastic Mr. Fox is obviously a fictional story because the animals act like humans—they have tables, chairs, paintings and dining stuff in their den. Also, all the animals are friends, but in real life the foxes would have attacked the rabbits, badgers, moles and the weasels. I am also on the foxes’ and the other animals’ side because they are animals and they are struggling to feed themselves. Mr. Fox is stealing, but the law doesn’t apply to animals. By the time Mr. Fox and his family are starving, most readers would be on Mr. Fox’s side. The story makes me think about how far I would go to save my family from starving. In this case, Mr. Fox must succeed in outsmarting the farmers or he and his family will all perish. I highly recommend the book Fantastic Mr. Fox because it’s funny and it’s about the importance of never giving up hope. Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl & illustrated by Quentin Blake. Alfred A. Knopf, 1970. Buy the book here & support Stone Soup in the process!
Flash Contest #35, September 2021: Write a story about you, but in a parallel universe where you had a different life—our winners and their work
Our September Flash Contest was based on Creativity Prompt #168 (provided by Molly Torinus, Stone Soup contributor), which asked participants to write about themselves with one small twist: the story had to take place inside a parallel universe where they led a different life. The prompt was interpreted in myriad ways, with many branching into the realm of science fiction, others into fantasy, and some choosing to remain within the world of the mundane. We were dazzled by participants’ creativity, our minds taken on journeys to a car ride with a yapping dad, a dystopian future where fires reigned supreme, a skillfully disguised Magic Store, and much, much more! As always, thank you to all who submitted, and please submit again next month! In particular, we congratulate our Winners and our Honorable Mentions, whose work you can appreciate below. Winners “The Concert” by Lucas Hinds, 13 (Lenoir City, TN) “Recognition” by Serena Lin, 10 (Scarsdale, NY) “Are you Ready?” by Lui Lung, 12 (Danville, CA) “Phoenix” by Eliya Wee, 11 (Menlo Park, CA) “The Magic Store” by Chloe Yang, 12 (Cranbury, NJ) Honorable Mentions “A Day with My Drox” by Tahra Araujo, 9 (Brooklyn, NY) “The Puzzle” by Anushka Dhar, 12 (Hillsborough, NJ) “Normal Universe/Parallel Universe” by Nova Macknik-Conde, 9 (Brooklyn, NY) “Mechanical Master” by Rishab Suresh, 13 (Sanford, FL) “Duplicates” by Emily Tang, 12 (Winterville, NC) Lucas Hinds, 13 (Lenoir City, TN) The Concert Lucas Hinds, 13 “Time to get up, boys!” my mom shouted, waking me. “Please, just 30 more minutes,” I mumbled. “No way!” she said sternly. “We have to get ready. We have a concert to go to.” A muffled sigh came from behind me. I looked back, but didn’t see Peyton anywhere. He was buried in the warm, comfy sleeping bag. Tired from our late sleepover shenanigans, we grudgingly got ready to go. When we finally walked out the door—the sun shining high and bright in the sky—we got into the truck and headed out. My dad plays trombone for the Oak Ridge Community Band, and all the concerts are at the amphitheater in Oak Ridge, so we get to visit the ‘Secret City’ any time my dad has a concert, which is quite often. Today was one of those days. “What a beautiful day!” I said sleepily. “I hate mornings,” I heard Peyton mumble. “I’ve always been a night owl.” The trip was extra uneventful. My family has never been that talkative during car rides. You hear stories about games and songs and all kinds of things families do during rides. Not our family. All we do is listen to the radio and enjoy the scenery. Only the occasional history lesson from my dad about the Oak Ridge National Laboratories or stories about the river being radioactive. My dad was so predictable in this respect that you could sense when he was about to go off. I knew he was about to go off on a tangent. “Get ready. My dad is about to go off on one of his stories. I can sense it,” I warned Peyton. “Wait wh—” “Boys, we’re about to pass by one of the most secret laboratories in the US. They made a lot of progress in nuclear technology and—” My dad was interrupted by a powerful force hitting our truck, nearly toppling it over, then we heard an ear shattering BOOM! As we looked outside, the sky was thick with a purplish hue. “What was that?” Peyton asked. We looked around and were surprised to see no effect on the surrounding environment. “Probably just some dumb teenagers trying to cause trouble,” my dad guessed. “I remember doing things exactly like this when I was your guys’ age. In fact, back in my time, you could…” “Oh, here he goes again,” I whispered to Peyton. The rest of the ride was filled with tales from my dad’s childhood. When we finally made it to the concert, everyone was shouting at us. “Tom! We’ve been waiting for you! What happened?” “Come on! Are we gonna warm up or what?” He was visibly confused at first, but then he realized something. “Alright! Let’s get started!” He shouted to the band. “Let’s start with something simple, ‘The Star Spangled Banner!” “What’s going on? He’s not supposed to be the conductor.” I whispered to Peyton. “I don’t know, but something’s up.” He replied. “I think it has something to do with the explosion back there. Maybe an experiment gone wrong.” The rest of the warm-up and concert went by without conversation. Everything went smoothly, even with my dad in charge, and we didn’t discuss anything until we got back home. “What happened?” I questioned my dad, hoping he had a simple explanation. “We’re in a parallel universe.” “Funny joke, dad. But I’m being serious! Why were you the conductor! And why did nobody find it strange that you were suddenly in charge?” “I just told you. One of the trombone players told me what happened. Apparently, he’s a scientist at the labs. He said they were doing experiments with time travel, but instead of time travel, they figured out how to go to parallel universes. One of the experiments with these universes got out of hand, and now here we are,” he said. “I knew I shouldn’t have done this sleepover,” Peyton complained. “Something weird happens whenever I’m with you guys.” “Do you have his phone number, honey?” My mom asked. “If he’s the one doing these experiments, maybe he can get us back.” “I already arranged a meeting. Today at 3 PM.” “Well? What do we do until then? We have about 2 hours!” I said. “Play games, duh,” Peyton said. “Well, I think we should go shopping. Just because it’s a parallel universe doesn’t mean they don’t have good deals!” said my mom. “Sounds like a plan,” my dad said, and we left for the nearest grocery store. When we got there and started shopping, I saw a familiar face. Zander, or, as his close friends called him, Z.
