Diya Chakrabarti, 12 (Cupertino, CA) Where I live, it is usually pretty pleasant this time of the year. So, my school arranged an outdoor school to enjoy the weather and allow us to learn more about nature. Nature is so beautiful, and we need to look outside more often, and be more mesmerized by its endless beauty. Anyways, let me share a little about what I learned in my science class—let’s talk about fractals and FBI. A fractal is an infinite shape, you can search it up if you need a visual! I learned that fractal shapes can be found in nature, even in the minutest of places. The most common places to find fractals are in snail shells, snowflakes, and infrequently appearing clouds! Secondly, the FBI does not mean the Federal Bureau of Investigation, because that’s what I thought when I first heard that word. In this case, it means Fungus, Bacteria, and Vertebrates. The organisms can break down dead organisms and create new compounds, like soil. I had read a little about these before, but a refresher is always welcoming! The dead plants and bodies are like fertilizers, making the soil more fertile, which means plants will grow healthier. As I mentioned before, nature is mesmerizing and has endless opportunities to explore. By going outside, I discovered so much. Readers, why don’t you go exploring outdoors since you probably finished reading my write-up? Have a great summer peeps!!
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
The Blackbird Girls, Reviewed by Anushka, 11
Exceptional books have the ability to not only show you what the characters see, but also make you feel what they feel and think how they think. These books go beyond making you step into the shoes of characters, by making you walk in their shoes. The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman is that kind of exceptional book. This book explores an historical event of which I was unaware in a setting I knew almost nothing about — the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine. The first couple of pages of the book were intriguing and drew me in. Blankman goes on to paint a picture of the earliest hours after the nuclear explosion — the crimson glow in the sky, the “unearthly blue” smoke, the metallic smell in the air, all set to the backdrop of fear of the government. The story is set in 1986 in Pripyat, Ukraine, and tells the interconnected stories of three characters — Valentina, her grandmother Rifka, and Oksana. Valentina is a Jewish girl who lives with her parents in the former Soviet Union. During those times, people were prejudiced towards Jews. Valentina was bullied and teased by girls like Oksana, the second character, who has been taught that Jews are thieves and fools. Both girls’ parents’ work in the Chernobyl nuclear plant. Then something strange, unexpected, and devastating happens. The nuclear power plant explodes causing radiation to spread throughout the city. Together, Valentina and Oksana escape to Leningrad, Russia to live with Rifka, Valentina’s grandmother, who is the third major character in the book. Valentina had never really known her grandmother until she came to live with her. Rifka shares her experiences about life during the Holocaust with the girls and they learn how she had to leave her home and family to escape the horrors of the Holocaust. These women stand together and experience pain, fear, and persistence as friends, as the “Blackbird Girls.” The friendship between Valentina and Oksana and overcoming hardship are certainly central themes in the book. For me, however, this book is about the truth. In The Blackbird Girls, the Soviet government hides the truth of the nuclear disaster and dangers of nuclear power. The girls have learned that nuclear power is the safest, cleanest source of energy and an accident at the power station was a “statistical impossibility.” The government did not tell citizens that there is radiation in the air and they went about their lives as if it was a normal day. When people got worried about the radiation, they were told by the government that their motherland will protect them. Finally, when people found out about the disaster and the whole city had to be evacuated, the Soviets lied to the world that a disaster even occurred. Later, citizens were misinformed that radiation can be cured by cucumbers and milk. Even though the story is set in the 1980s in a country with a non-democratic government, there are uncanny similarities to the US. Like Russians, Americans have heard lies like these from our government for the past four years and beyond. So many people in America continue to be misinformed about our elections and vaccines. Like Oksana, so many people are prejudiced against people who look different from them, speak a different language, or practice a different religion because of lies they are taught to believe. Lies are dangerous. They can shape people’s perspectives and determine their behavior. This story taught me how important it is for the government to be truthful. It speaks to some of the biggest challenges of our times. Blankman expresses the agony of the characters in an unforgettable way. The death of many loved ones and the pain of the three characters makes the book depressing. Even though I wish the book would be more hopeful, experiencing the suffering of the characters through Blackman’s beautiful writing is what makes this book so impactful. I learned that sharing the experience of suffering and grief might make us move past prejudice and bigotry. But what I really loved and appreciated is how this book speaks to our culture and the moment we are living through right now. It’s a piece of historical fiction that has many parallels to contemporary times. I give it my strongest endorsement. The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman. Viking Books for Young Readers, 2020. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
The Infinite Lives Of Maisie Day, reviewed by Pragnya, 13
Hypotheticals are born everyday, usually from seemingly insignificant occurrences that align together to form questions that aren’t necessarily easy to answer. Of course, they’re meant to stay inside the depths of our imagination, but sometimes they start to shape themselves into a culmination of coincidental thoughts. What if, one day, you woke up, only to find the world around you gone? What if all the color in the world had been sucked out of your body? What if, one day, you woke up only to discover yourself dead? What if you never woke up again? The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day is a show-stopping science fiction novel that follows child prodigy Maisie Day and all the events that take place on the day of her 10th birthday. Told from alternating first-person perspectives, the story starts with our protagonist waking up on the day of her 10th birthday to completely disorienting darkness. As she slowly but (un)surely navigates her way through a different environment, our perspective shifts to Maisie with her family, celebrating her birthday like any other person would. With added suspense, the story starts to pick up, providing much-needed context through monologues and fast-paced realization. Maisie starts to question everything she’s ever learnt and her existence starts to take on a whole new meaning. Who is she? And was her 10th birthday ever meant to be? This story, although relatively short, packed in an extremely complex plot by mixing in concepts of science and math, while never decreasing the interest. It chose to focus on a few characters rather than including too many of them, and the author skillfully constructed a narrative between Maisie, and her older sister Lily. I especially enjoyed Lily’s character development, who went from being portrayed as angsty and uncaring to mature, sensitive and creative. This ties into a very well-done aspect of the story, which is how the point of view affects our idea of the characters. Maisie, while being academically gifted, does not let it get in the way of her child-like nature, and seeing how she views the world around her elevates the story. I especially enjoyed reading her thought process and how she incorporates her learnings into the real world. With brilliant foreshadowing, a unique storyline and characters skillfully woven to come alive on the page, The Infinite Lives Of Maisie Day will suck you in and make you ask the question, “What would I do if I had never read this novel?” The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day by Christopher Edge. Random House Children’s Books, 2018.
