You’re running in a dark forest, the full moon’s light illuminating spots of the ground through the trees. Fallen leaves crinkle under your feet as you sprint mindlessly. You’re just trying to get anywhere away from your enemies; they’re out to get you. Suddenly, the sounds of a truck echo through the woods, causing a galvanizing feeling of panic to pass through you. Well…I’ve never been this nervous holding a book. Like many gripping accounts from World War II, the characters all had a universal fear looming from one towering figure of antagonism: Nazi Germany. To be honest, it never gets old. As horrible as it was for people to be locked up in concentration camps back then, each story – imagined or true – needs to be retold. In the amazing historical fiction titled Rescue by Jennifer A. Nielsen, I am rooting for Margaret to escape for freedom—but the many challenges she endured really speaks to what humanity means to us all. In this review, I want to share some of it with you. Margaret, also known as Meg, lives in France at the time of the war. She and her father would play a game where one of them creates a code for the other to decode. They would do this every day, until Meg’s father got drafted into the war. Her father’s parting gift was a jar full of tiny paper slips with many codes written on them, each for her to decode. Her father had promised her that by the time she finished the last riddle, he would come back. There was only one slip of paper left, and her father still hadn’t come back for three years. Already, I’m thinking to myself about impossible choices. Even though the reality looks grim, why are we so driven by the small sliver of hope? An injured British pilot shows up to Meg’s family’s farm, and the catalyst begins. Basically, she was told this: Decode the last riddle. If you do, it’ll likely cost you your life. If you succeed, however, you can maybe have eternal freedom. In times of struggle, when it’s so easy to give up, why do we make the illogical choice of bravery and sacrifice? Of course there are those who do give up, but Meg is the symbol of determination for many. When we look at history, we sometimes forget how brave some of these people were. Helping strangers along the way? Even braver. I look at our world now. Do we have what it takes to be brave? If our comfortable lives were turned upside down suddenly, would we fight for freedom again and save each other? I think about this often when I read historical fiction, the fun what-ifs. The plot twists in this book seriously deserve a gold medal. I think Nielsen’s portrayal of humans – sometimes the people that you trust the most end up betraying you – made me accept the good and the bad parts of being human. It hurts, like war itself, but that is something we cannot run away from. It might be practical to be selfish, but in the end, what makes us unreasonable is also the thing that makes us chase for what’s worth fighting for. When you’re ready to escape for that something, join me in reading Rescue. Who knows, you might even rescue yourself? 🙂 Rescue by Jennifer A. Nielsen. Scholastic Press, 2022. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
ROBOMIND Ep. 4: Try Everything
https://stonesoup.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Try-Everything.m4a Episode #4: Try Everything Transcript: Hello, my name is Misha Ahmed, and I am your host of this podcast series called ROBOMIND. I know you may be wondering, what does ROBOMIND mean? For those of you who haven’t been here for the last three episodes go check those out, but to get back on track ROBOMIND is a combination of two things: robotics and mind. I love robotics, and I believe that it shapes how you think, and it shapes your mind. That is why I called my podcast ROBOMIND. A small tidbit about me is that I am 12 years old. I am absolutely head over heels for robotics. And I can’t wait to let you know a little bit more about it. This episode is called “Try Everything” named after the Zootopia song “Try Everything” sung by Shakira. It is called this because the song talks about failure and how you just have to get right back up again. This relates to robotics since I know that many teams didn’t make it to states nor worlds, and I want them to know that it is quite alright; and I want you guys that are interested in robotics to know that once you start you don’t just automatically have to be the best at robotics. Because that rarely happens, and it’s always important to make sure that you get better, and if you’re the best then there’s no way for improvement. And nobody’s ever the best. Before we get to that, it is time for what has got you all on the edge of your seats: the answer to last time’s riddle. If you don’t remember, the riddle went a little bit like this: There were two men Jeff and Bob. Bob bet Jeff that he would be able to hang his hat and then after walking 500 yards then turn and shoot a hole straight through the top of it, all while keeping his eyes closed (or being blindfolded). Despite knowing him to be an excellent shot, Jeff deemed it nearly impossible and readily accepted Bob’s bet and yet Bob easily won. How? Here let me give you a second to think about it. Okay, pause. If you weren’t here last time this is your time to pause and make sure you know. Okay, time for the answer! The answer is Bob hung his hat on the barrel of his gun so that it was impossible to miss. If you guys don’t know barrel means the edge where the bullet shoots out. I did not get this one. Hopefully, I’ll have better luck next time. Now that you guys are good to go let me tell you three reasons out of the many why it is all going to be okay. Number one: only very few teams make it to the state championship and the world championship. So, if you didn’t make it don’t say that you are the worst and that your stuff is trash because you are not the only team that didn’t make it, and who knows why you didn’t make it. Maybe you were literally so close that you could taste the victory. Who knows! Maybe you were so far, maybe you were just a block away, maybe you were just one point. Nobody knows! It could’ve been close. Maybe your notebook just needed to be 1% better. There’s no way we can control that because it’s not our opinion on how to judge our notebook or judge our interview. It’s really just up to the judges, and we can’t change their opinion. So, it’s not your fault. Two: It doesn’t matter how far you went; it only matters if you grew and learned. If you gained knowledge, friends, and experiences that you will never forget from this journey then personally, I would say that is just as good as going to the world championship for robotics. Because although the world championship is memorable and super fun to go to, if you had an amazing year with you and your team and you enjoyed and you learned and it was a great time then who cares if you didn’t make it! Maybe you had a better time than some of the people who went to worlds because just having that fun, family, and community is something just so amazing. Number three: As long as you don’t give up, you can always try again next year. Don’t let one bad year make you think that you should stop doing something you love and put so much time and effort into. If you keep on trying and have persistence who knows! In the next year you could do something extraordinary, maybe win a million competitions and a million awards and have an even better year. Maybe because you learned so much this year you will have gotten better and made yourself a better robotics participant and engineer. The next year you come back stronger and better than ever. I know that it may seem like the end of the world right now, but just remember that there is light at the end of the tunnel. New riddle: You find me in the past, and I can be created in the present, but the future is never mine. What am I? That’s it for the riddle! Keep your gears turning. I love you guys so so much. Thank you to all of you guys who kept making comments. You guys are so amazing. I loved seeing your thoughts and ideas. Thank you so much! This is your host Misha Ahmed of ROBOMIND signing off!
Saturday Newsletter: May 4, 2024
Blooming (gouache) by Victoria Gong, 11; published in the May/June 2024 issue of Stone Soup A note from Emma Wood Hello, all! My family and I have been moving around a lot – too much! – the past four years, and so it feels really good to know we will soon be starting our second year here in Cincinnati. Putting down roots is nice! …and I have started putting down roots not only figuratively but also literally – in our garden. I grew up in New York City, and my husband in Las Vegas, so let’s just say that gardening is new to both of us — but I’ve had fun troubleshooting our patchy, brown lawn, planting some wildflowers (that may or may not sprout…), mulching the beds, and also watching our plants bloom and green in the spring rains. As I do so, I have been thinking about Voltaire’s advice to “tend your garden.” He meant it mostly metaphorically, of course, but not only metaphorically. Spring is a planting season. I hope you will consider planting a seed and seeing what happens – literally but also metaphorically, inside you, as you tend it. Perhaps some art will grow from it, as well as an actual fruit or flower! In terms of Stone Soup updates, I have some disappointing news to share in this newsletter: this year the book contest will be delayed and there is a possibility that it will not run in 2024 at all. I am very, very sorry to share this news but please know that we do not make this decision lightly and that we do so with an eye toward the continued health of Stone Soup. Stay tuned for more by early June. Yours truly from a very muggy Queen City— From Stone Soup May/June 2024 Flower Punctuations by Ava Luangkesorn, 9 Flowers are punctuations A dandelion is an ellipsis . . . for its seeds are blowing away. A comma is a lily, for it’s buried in the ground. A colon is two buds or flowerlets: for they are small and have dots. A quotation is two hollyhocks “For their heads reach all to the sky,” they say. An apostrophe is a hydrangea for it’s used and loved endlessly. To read the full poem, click here. Explore our summer camps Playwriting June 17–20; 9–11 am PT The goal of this course led by Conner Bassett is to produce one 10-minute play. To help you do this, we will approach playwriting as a form of craft—grounded in dialogue, character, voice, setting, tone, conflict, action, and plot structure. This workshop will also emphasize a play’s arc: its beginning, turning point, and ending. Reality Hunger: An Introduction to Memoir June 24–27; 9–11 am PT In this class, led by Emma Wood, Executive Director of Stone Soup, we will read and write memoir and personal essays—in short form. We will consider how they work, ask questions about the ethical aspects of writing nonfiction (What if my mom reads it? What if I hurt someone’s feelings? What if my memory is “wrong”?), and—most importantly—experiment in the form with daily in-class writing prompts, sharing our work in a supportive, fun community. Literature in Miniature: A Study of Micro Fiction & Prose Poetry June 24–27; 1–3 pm PT Sometimes, the biggest ideas are best expressed in the tiniest of forms. In this workshop taught by former Stone Soup Blog Editor Caleb Berg, you will learn to condense your horizons into a style of writing perfected by writers like Lydia Davis, Daniil Kharms, Gertrude Stein, and many others. You will write multiple discrete pieces per day and finish the class with enough writing to fill up a chapbook. Intro to Poetry: The Image and the Line July 22–25; 9–11 am PT Emma Wood will also teach a class on poetry. Immerse yourself in what a poem is and what it can do. Students will write their own poetry, shaking themselves out of established modes of thinking. Filmmaking as Dialogue August 5–9; 9–11 am PT In this class taught by filmmaker Isidore Bethel, we’ll use the camera to facilitate and enrich our interactions with others – friends, family, animals, plants, and the world around us. Writing texts with a partner, recording and sharing short videos, and interpreting their meanings aloud will be starting points for developing individual and collaborative approaches to filmmaking. Editing and Revising Fiction August 5–9; 1–3 pm PT In this class taught by Stone Soup Editor in Chief Diane Landolf, you’ll learn how to think like an editor and make your stories the best they can be. We’ll discuss first paragraphs, character development, dialogue, story arc, and what makes a great sentence. Click here to peruse the entire selection of camps available; our friends at Society of Young Inklings are teaching a variety of additional courses, and more courses will be announced soon! 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.
