I recently read the idiom, “Do not judge a book by it’s cover,” and I guess that’s exactly true for the book I am reviewing. The name of the book is The Hundred Dresses and it is written by Eleanor Estes, and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin. The cover also has a silver round medal, meaning that it is a Newbery honor book. So, when I saw this book in the bookstore, I was immediately drawn to it. The cover was pretty and colorful and it had beautiful and colorful illustrations inside. I quickly skimmed through the back of the book and soon bought it. I started reading the book. In the car itself. At first, I thought the book was going to be about a hundred dresses, but the real story had a very different meaning. Even though it is about a hundred dresses but, in a very different way, something that a reader wouldn’t have imagined. By reading the note from the author’s daughter in the first four pages, you can figure out that the book is about bullying. I was surprised to read that the author is one of the mean girls in the story and she wrote this book because she felt awful about how she helped a bully. She couldn’t ask for forgiveness at that time so this was her way of doing that. So basically what makes this book even more interesting is that it is written from the view of the person who is the bully’s friend and kind of bully herself. The story is about three main characters, Wanda, Peggy, and Maddie. Wanda Petronski is a Polish girl who is new to the school and in the same grade as Peggy and Maddie. She wears the same faded blue dress to school every day–yet she says she has a hundred pretty dresses, all lined up in her closet. The other girls, Peggy and Maddie, make fun of her uncommon last name and her dress and what she says about her hundred dresses. But when Wanda leaves the city and moves to another city, Maddie, one of the bullies, starts feeling bad for the way she didn’t stand up for Wanda when she was being bullied by her closest friend, Peggy, and the other girls. What I loved about this story is how at the end the mean girls realized their mistake. The story is also about friendship and realizing mistakes and forgiving and teaches you to be kind, and not bully other people, even if they have a funny name or something. And if you see a person being bullied, stand up for them. A way to remember this is, “Silence is violence,” which means you are also committing crime if you do not stand up against the bullies. Though The Hundred Dresses was written a long time ago, the message it gives, can be used today, since being kind is a message that will always be important and needed in the world. I highly recommend The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes to everyone. The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. Houghton Mifflin, 2004. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Holes, Reviewed by Cici, 12
Stanley Yelnats was innocent. He never stole the shoes of the basketball player, but too bad, life isn’t fair. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boy’s detention center–Camp Green Lake. It was odd that Camp Green Lake isn’t actually a lake. Well, it used to be a lake, but it’s not anymore. Right now, it’s like a desert. All of the water from the past has dried out, but the name is still Camp Green Lake. It is where boys are punished by being forced to dig holes that are exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. Some people said that if you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun, it will turn him into a good boy. But that is not what the Warden at Camp Green Lake wanted. She wanted something that had sunk down into the water many years ago, and it was still there. Making the boys dig holes will help her to find what she wants. All of the boys did something bad, except for Stanley. He didn’t deserve to be digging holes all day with the other boys, but for the Warden, he was a big help. Without him, the Warden would never find the object that was buried under layers and layers of sand. What do you think that object was? If you want to know, you have to read the book, of course! Oh! I almost forgot to introduce the author to you! The author of Holes is Louis Sachar. I don’t know about you, but I love his books! They are amazing! And also, Holes won the National Book Award, as well as many others. You may recognize his name as the writer of the Wayside School Stories and also There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom. Read Holes! You won’t be disappointed! It sounds like I am advertising, but it’s actually true! I can also introduce you to many more books that are good as well. Read my book reviews if you want to read more new books! Holes by Louis Sachar. Yearling Books, 2000. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process! Check out a past review that we’ve published of Holes. Have you read it too? Feel free to submit your own review!
Wish, Reviewed by Audrey, 10
Reading OBOB books (Oregon Battle of the books, also known as OBOB is a reading program for students 3rd-12th grade), I found a book that left me amazed. This book had many recommendations and reviews, and many people that I knew had suggested this book. I have read this book so many times; I am still not sick of it. The book is called Wish by Barbara O’Connor. Charlie’s life turned unexpectedly when she had to move to Colby from her home in Raleigh, because of her “broken” family. Her father (nicknamed “Scrappy”) is in jail, her sister is graduating from high school, and her mama won’t get her “dang feet” on the ground. She is sent to live with her aunt and uncle that she barely knows, and she is very unhappy about it. There were so many cons. The house hanged off the hill, people ate squirrel pies, the teacher called her Charlemange, and her only friend was Howard, who had a strange walk that went up and down from side to side. But on her journey in Colby, she will find a pro, a very good pro that would change her life forever. Wishbone. This stray dog that she sees one day, she knew that Wishbone would be perfect. Luckily, Howard, who looked quite shabby and seemed annoying, was a great friend and was very brainy too. Together, they could catch Wishbone. Along their quest to find Wishbone, there are things that will spark their friendship. Charlie has been making the same wish everyday since 4th grade (she is in 5th grade). She has never told anyone until she met Howard. One day when they are at the creek, they say something at the same time, so they get to make a wish. After they have made their wish, Charlie decides to guess what Howard’s wish is. She guesses that Howard didn’t have his up down walk. She instantly regrets it, and Howard gets up and leaves. Will she still be able to catch Wishbone (while fixing her friendship)? This book really makes the reader want to continue reading this book. Wish teaches a great lesson about perseverance. You can tell that Charlie is perseverant because the author noted that Charlie made the same wish for a year. I really hope you read this book and enjoy it as much as I did. In conclusion, I believe this is one of the best books I have ever read. The book doesn’t tell what Charlie’s wish is until the end, which I think makes the book suspenseful and keeps the reader hooked in the book. This book includes a lot of adventure, understanding, and friendship. I encourage you to read this novel. You won’t regret it once you read Wish. Wish by Barbara O’Connor. Square Fish, 2017. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
