2020 was a disastrous year, but many good things came out of it. There’s a quote that says, “Sometimes you have to put up with the rain to get to the rainbow.” But we didn’t only put up with the rain, we fought through it. There was a terrible virus, a president who divided us, and heroes who died fighting. This is our story. In March, a terrible virus called Coronavirus, or just COVID-19, came from China to the US, and we all had to go down into lockdown. We had to sanitize almost everything, bleach our groceries, wear masks when we went out, and stay six feet apart. Now we don’t have to sanitize everything, or bleach our groceries, but we still have to wear masks and stay six feet apart. We also have a vaccine, that’s coming out soon! We’re slowly getting through this. Together. For the past four years, we’ve had a president that divided our nation. But we are a nation who stands united, we are the United States. In the presidential election, it was a very close call. But in the end, Joe Biden won. President Trump claimed it was a fraud, and demanded a recount. Some states did recount, and he got a few more votes, but Biden still won. People die every year. But this year especially. Chadwick Boseman was an African-American actor who acted in many famous movies. He died on August 28, 2020. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the first Jewish woman on the Supreme Court, and the second woman, after Sandra Day O’Connor. She died on September 18, 2020. George Floyd wasn’t a big celebrity, but his death might’ve been the most moving. He was an African-American man killed during an arrest after a store clerk said he had passed a counterfeit $20 bill in Minneapolis. A white police officer knelt on George’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, before he slipped away. His famous last words were, “I can’t breathe.” George Floyd was only one of many African-Americans who were killed by police. Rest in power, you are not forgotten. The terrible virus, the disputed election, and the heartbreaking deaths really educated many people. It brought us together, and told us that we need to start doing something. Together. As a united country.
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Weekly Creativity #137: Write a Story with the Same First and Last Sentence
Write a short story that begins and ends with the same sentence.
Saturday Newsletter: January 23, 2021
“Little Mermaid” by Rebecca Wu, 9 (Medina, WA) A note from Sarah Did you catch Amanda Gorman’s powerful poem at the inauguration earlier this week? If not, I highly recommend you check it out here. Gorman is the first ever Youth Poet Laureate for the United States. And that’s not the only inaugural poem this week! Sofie Dardzinski, 10, wrote “Notes on our Nation,” which we published on our blog this week. Take a minute to read that one too, if you missed it. Though there is much that could be said about these two poems, I’m going to keep my analysis brief because I believe the words of these young poets speak for themselves. Thematically, these two poems cover similar territory. Both young poets wrestle with the inheritance of a divided, “unfinished” nation. Gorman presents us with visual metaphors, like a “never-ending shade” that has felt impossible to escape in recent years. In contrast, Sofie uses the language of music. “Dissonant chords and jagged notes” characterize the music that Americans have been playing, according to Sofie’s poem. And while both poets use expressive language to describe the “imperfect union” that is the United States, they also end on a hopeful note. I thought of both of these poems when I read Ronit Plank’s article in The Seattle Times about the hope she felt reading entries for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards (which some of our contributors have gone on to win). These are difficult times to grow up in, but as Plank notes, young writers prove again and again how “Writing, creating and thinking of another path forward is its own kind of light in the darkness.” Or as Gorman puts it, “For there is always light, / if we’re only brave enough to see it / if we’re only brave enough to be it.” Until next week, Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! Pragnya, 12, reviewed Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly. Read her review to find out why she found the book full of interesting characters and relatable situations. As we mentioned above, Sofie wrote a lovely inaugural poem, “Notes on our Nation.” Take a few minutes to read it and reflect on her words. We posted another Stone Soup author interview to the blog! This time Anya interviewed Enni Harlan. The two young writers talk about writing novels, researching for historical fiction, and so much more. Vivaan writes about the enduring appeal of Sherlock Holmes, and why the character and his “Theory of Deduction” is so fascinating. From Stone Soup January 2021 Sawterra By Rose Amer, 10 (Belmont, MA) Illustrated by Rebecca Wu, 9 (Medina, WA) Sawterra had a terrible name. She wished she had been called something beautiful, like Janis or Jasmine. But no. She had to be named Sawterra. Sawterra, I am sorry to say, looked exactly like her name. She had matted brown hair, muck-green eyes, and a sallow, drooping face. She had a height of nearly six feet, but was far wider than she was tall. She was flabby and sallow and drooping, and she wished more than anything to be beautiful. One day, as Sawterra was walking along, dragging her feet in the mud, she came across a stone gargoyle stuck deep in the ground. It was a tangle of scaly gray legs and arms and claws and tails, and its huge, gaping mouth looked wide enough to swallow a bowling ball. Sawterra took a great liking to it, as it looked so much like herself. “I feel sorry for that gargoyle,” she said aloud, though no one else was around. “I know what it feels like to be ugly.” And she pulled the gargoyle out of the ground and carried it home in her thick, floppy arms. . . . /MORE 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. Stone Soup’s Advisors: Abby Austin, Mike Axelrod, Annabelle Baird, Jem Burch, Evelyn Chen, Juliet Fraser, Zoe Hall, Montanna Harling, Alicia & Joe Havilland, Lara Katz, Rebecca Kilroy, Christine Leishman, Julie Minnis, Jessica Opolko, Tara Prakash, Denise Prata, Logan Roberts, Emily Tarco, Rebecca Ramos Velasquez, Susan Wilky.
