Stone Soup Editor’s note: We sent a copy of Three Days Till EOC by Abhimanyu Sukhdial, the winner of our 2019 book contest published in September 2020, to the (grand)father of cli-fi, Dan Bloom, in Taiwan. He wrote us a wonderful letter of recommendation which he has given us permission to publish on our website, since his own, cli-fi.net, is not currently being updated. SCI FI NOVELLA by 12 year old boy in Oklahoma gets rave review from 71-year-old book reviewer in Taiwan In a new 66-page science/climate fiction novella by a 12-year-old boy named Abhimanyu Sukhdial from Oklahoma, titled Three Days Till EOC, time is running out. “It is the year 2100 and water, the thing that matters to all life, is wiping out life itself. The ice sheets have melted, the Earth has passed its last cataclysmic tipping point, and now there are only three days until the ‘End of Civilization,'” as the notes on the back cover of this well-designed and easy-to-read novella tell us. “Climate scientist Graham Alison, one of the last 1,000 humans left on Earth, is racing against the odds to save the world before the last rescue shuttle leaves for the Mars colonies. Will he manage to persuade the leaders of the past to change their behavior so that the present can be different? Or will it be precious networks of family relationships across time and space that actually save humanity?” The publishers, Children’s Art Foundation–Stone Soup Inc., sent me a copy of his book by air-mail and although it took two months to arrive at my home in Taiwan during this global pandemic, it finally arrived last week and I immediately sat down to start reading it. I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t put the book down. It’s that’s good. It’s amazing that a 12-year-old boy in America could write such a well-plotted sci-fi story and get it published. You can order it via Amazon and other book ordering sites online. This is a science fiction book set in the future–some call it dystopian, although Abhi feels that such a label limits it to just a particular sub-genre. Among the people in the book: We meet the main character Graham Hart Alison and a cast of characters, including the first Indian-American U.S. president, Mr. Ram Singh who is in office in 2052. Teens and sci-fi geeks will love it, and so will YA readers and adults, too. Famous sci-fi writers like David Brin or Kim Stanley Robinson might even enjoy reading this book. It’s a novella that combines “science fiction” with “climate fiction” and I at the age of 71-going-on-72 enjoyed every single page. This is a young writer to watch! Signed – Dan Bloom, editor, The Cli-Fi Report www.cli-fi.net
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Going Solo, Reviewed by Aarush, 12
I was given Going Solo when my family and I visited a family friend some time ago. Since they knew I like Roald Dahl books, they gave me his autobiography. Even though it was written by my favorite author, it took some time for me to read them for the first time. I regret that I didn’t do it sooner. This book is, as you would expect, about Roald Dahl when he was a young adult. The book starts with Dahl on a boat to Africa. Right before this, he decided that he wanted to work for Shell because he wanted to see the world. Shell being the gas company. However, his plans get interrupted by war: World War II. In his words, “A life is made up of a great number of small incidents and a small number of great ones.” The book detailed many other things as well like the eccentricity of the people around him and other interesting bits of life. Some examples include the snake man, an Englishman (in Africa) who can catch snakes, a stray lion, and a moment in war he described as a piece of cake: firmly strapped into the cockpit of his Gladiator with a fractured skull and a bashed-in face and a fuzzy mind while the crashed plane was going up in flames on the sand of the western desert. This book was very easy to connect to because even though it was the story of his life, it was like reading fiction, not because it wasn’t believable but rather because it was so easy to understand. I then wonder whether his books were that good because life sure was. This book was quite the page turner and if you decide to read it, I hope you think so, too. One thing I liked about the book with that road all included maps of where he went, which works well with the book since he traveled a lot because of the war. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to see a different perspective of World War II. If you want to have a look through the window into Roald Dahl’s life read his autobiography, illustrated by Quentin Blake to find out more. Going Solo by Roald Dahl. Puffin Books, 1986. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
Loneliness, a poem by Salma Hadi-St. John, 11
Salma Hadi St. John, 11 Oak Park, IL Loneliness Salma Hadi-St. John, 11 My friends are all gone My life has disappeared Into a new world of loneliness It is just my family and I Loneliness is like a tree in the desert The only cat in town A star stuck in space A speck of dust in the air Loneliness is when you are the only one At your birthday party When you sit on the steps of your porch On a dark rainy day It feels like I am trapped inside Waiting for people to come Watching the clock on the wall Scratching the door like a dog But sometimes you just have to fight Loneliness You can’t be alone everyday When I wake up today It is the start of a new day We can be a force together We just need to reach out for each other Feeling happiness again
