Have you ever imagined yourself in a world where anything could happen? A perfect example of this world is in the book Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. This novel tells the story of two characters, Leslie Burke and Jesse Aarons, whose imagination brings them together. Leslie and Jesse start out almost completely different from each other. Leslie is bold, inventive, and mischievous. In contrast, Jesse is hard working, serious, and insecure. Leslie and Jesse want nothing to do with each other, until they realize what they have in common. Jesse shows creativity through art. He is a talented artist. Leslie is always wild and free. The world can be anything she wants it to be. She has many ideas, one of which becomes the secret, magical, kingdom of Terabithia. In addition to their creativity, they share curiosity about the world beyond what they already know. This combination leads the friends to Terabithia. In the forest near their homes, they create a secret, faraway place to escape their troubles, have fun, and let their imaginations run free. Leslie and Jesse became the rulers of Terabithia. They take on the problems in their real world and come up with plans to deal with them together. They have fun roleplaying, telling stories, and sharing thoughts. To enter the kingdom, they have to swing across a river with a rope. Once they cross, they are in a whole new world where they can be themselves. They keep it secret, so that no one can ever discover it but them. Leslie and Jesse develop such a trusting friendship that they can really help each other with their troubles. I love this book because it addresses problems kids have in the real world, as well as shows how imagination can play a big part in life. For instance, when the school bully is causing trouble, their imagination helps Jesse and Leslie come up with a plan. There are several reasons this book deserved to be the Newbery Medal Winner. The way Katherine Paterson describes Terabithia made me feel like I was there with the characters. As I follow them into Terabithia, it seems as if the woods are enchanted. It’s like being invited to the secret world. I also like the balance between fantasy and reality that Paterson creates. Everybody from fourth grade up can enjoy this book. It has just as much to offer for girls as it does for boys. When you get to know these characters, you might find yourself in them. If you enjoy this novel, you might enjoy the other stories Katherine Paterson has to offer. I’m glad it doesn’t end in Terabithia! Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. HarperCollins, 1997. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
The Night Diary, Reviewed by Anushka, 10
Some books are so meaningful and inspiring that you are grateful they were written. The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani is one such book. It is a historical fiction written in journal-style format set in 1947 when India and Pakistan became independent from British rule and separated into two countries. Even though the book is in the context of the partition of India and Pakistan, it is relevant today as millions of families around the world become refugees because of war, conflict, oppressive governments, and climate change. Through the eyes of one twelve year old girl, I got a glimpse into the feelings of children who are forced to leave their homes and loved ones, make long, treacherous journeys, and find a place where they are welcome. For this, I am grateful. Before The Night Diary, I had not read a book in which the story takes place in India and is about an Indian girl like me. Culturally diverse books are so rare, even though we live in multi-cultural society. This book connected me to my heritage. The food, community, songs, culture, and turns of language, all gave me a strong sense of belonging. For this, I am grateful. After reading this book, I learned that some of my family members lived through the horrific partition of India and Pakistan. My dadi (paternal grandmother) was born in present-day Pakistan and traveled to India as an infant with her older brother and parents during the partition. I wish I could learn more about their stories, but no one who could remember is alive now. The Night Diary shows what the feelings of many people would have been during that time. For this, I am grateful. This book is Nisha’s inner dialogue during her arduous and dangerous journey as a refugee from Pakistan to India. She writes to her deceased mother in a dairy gifted to her on her 12th birthday, who she misses now more than ever. As a girl who is both Hindu and Muslim, living through a partition based on religion, Nisha is struggling to make sense of the world around her. She cannot understand how people can hate each other so much because of the religion they follow. Pakistan and India are both part of her being. If Pakistan and India are divided, then she is torn apart too. The letters to her mama allow her to release her trapped feelings of fear and the pain of leaving loved ones. Through the process of expressing her feelings through written words to her mother who she has never known, she can understand her feelings and hope for a better future. This book is full of metaphors. Nisha’s body symbolizes the two countries. The home she is leaving behind symbolizes her mother. The diary symbolizes hope. It shows us that we can’t run away from our feelings, but should try to understand them and focus on the road ahead. I marvel at the way the author is able to feel the feelings of a twelve year old girl in a different context and time and make me feel the same feelings. Makes me want to write a book just like this one. To all children reading this review: Read this book! It will teach you something about the broader world beyond the borders your own community. It will make you aware of the experiences of refugees. It will teach you why it is important to welcome people seeking help in your homeland. It will inspire you to stand up against bigotry and work toward change. The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani. Puffin Books, 2019. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
Saturday Newsletter: May 29 2021
“Shoes” (pencil)From the “Everyday Objects” Workshop (2017), run by Hands On Art, at the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, and published in the May 2021 Issue of Stone Soup A note from Tayleigh An Update on Stone Soup’s Refugee Project We are so excited to announce that the Stone Soup Refugee Project Website is now up and running! The Stone Soup Refugee Project provides a space for children and young people displaced by war, social collapse, and climate change to publish their creative work to share amongst themselves and with the world. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all of the contributing programs and young people who have entrusted us with their writing and artwork and to the generous donors who have made this project possible. To explore our entire collection of creative work by young people living as refugees, please visit the Stone Soup Refugee Project website. Quarterly Reading on June 6th Are you registered for our second Quarterly Reading of the year? At this virtual event, we’ll have contributors from the April, May, and June 2021 issues of Stone Soup read their work. And, if you’re a contributor to one of these issues and you’d like to participate, you can submit your piece or an excerpt from your piece that you’d like to read to this Submittable category. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Sarah at sarah@stonesoup.com. A Little Bit About Me Since this is my first newsletter, allow me to introduce myself! My name is Tayleigh, and I handle the customer service side of Stone Soup. I also work as a personal assistant to Stone Soup Founder and Executive Director William Rubel. On my days off from the magazine, I work at a local garden store. I graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz in December 2020 with a BA in history, with a special focus on Italian history. La mia passione è la storia italiana! Weekend Project Returning to the subject of our Refugee Project, I wanted to highlight the striking piece Shoes, which was composed during the “Everyday Objects” Workshop (2017), run by Hands On Art at the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. What a stark yet evocative work of art! Many ideas could be read into this image, but what I see is one crisp, white shoe, its form straight, juxtaposed against its own shadow—smaller, crooked, edges blurred. Two sides to the story. What appears on the surface as sharp and clear muddles itself through reproduction, as in a reflection or a shadow. The image asks whether we lose some of the sharpness of our forms, our luster, in our shadows and reflections. Julia Marcus’s poem, “A Window in the Evening,” sheds some light on these questions. The melancholic speaker of the poem lingers on an image in the window blurred by their own breath, through which they “draw [their] name in the vapor” and “wipe it all away.” I’d like to focus on their breath, the vehicle that drives the blurry reproduction of “every sharp detail of [their] body” reproduced in shadow. Thus, the clarity lost in the speaker’s shadow is their own fault, their breath functioning as a metaphor for doubt brought on by self reflection. This poem, like Shoes, asks whether we lose some of ourselves in shadows and reflections, and answers back with another question, itself a reflection—is it our innermost self, our breath, that causes the loss? This weekend, I want you to write about someone who functions as their own worst enemy by way of excessive self reflection. In essence, their own obsession with the question of “Who am I?” should be precisely what keeps them from finding out. As always, if you like what you’ve written, please send it to us at Stone Soup for consideration either in the magazine or on the blog. Till next time, Book Contest 2021 For information on submitting to the Stone Soup Book Contest 2021, please click here. To submit your manuscript, please visit our submittable site. Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! Aditi, 12, wrote a review of Jennifer A. Nielsen’s “inspiring and motivating” 2019 novel Words on Fire. Young Blogger Janani Devendran posted the first installment in their mini comic, Web Wars. Nora, 13, wrote a review of Newbery award-winning author Lois Lowry’s (author of The Giver) 2011 historical fiction novel Like the Willow Tree. Idan, 11, wrote a personal narrative, “No Peconic in Pandemic,” about his experiences dealing with the fallout from COVID-19. Elias, 9, wrote a poem inspired by his experiences with the pandemic. Writing classes and Book Club Are you looking for classes to inspire, improve, and practice your writing with great teachers and a group of like-minded young writers and readers? Join us! We do charge fees for our clubs and workshops, but we try to keep them as low as possible, and we offer discounts to subscribers and scholarships to students who need them. Contact us at education@stonesoup.com with any questions. Writing Workshop: we have two writing groups for spring/summer that meet via Zoom every Saturday (except for William’s class, which does not meet for the last Saturday of the month). Come write with us and share your work with your peers. Find out more and register for a workshop at Eventbrite. To see some of the great work produced by current workshop members, read contributions published at Stonesoup.com, or join us at one of our free public readings! Book Club: a book club for writers that meets via Zoom on the last Saturday of every month. Find out more and register for book club at Eventbrite. Check out which books we are reading on our website. Young Author’s Studio Summer Camps: we are offering a wide range of classes through the summer jointly with the Society of Young Inklings. Each camp runs for two hours per day, Monday through Thursday. All details and bookings via Society of Young Inklings. From Stone Soup October 2020 A Window in the Evening By Julia Marcus, 13 (Culver City, CA) I press my face against the glass, blowing circles of air onto its cool surface. I step back, looking at the filmy, blurred image that faintly appears
