Hello there. I think that I’m going to stay anonymous for now, but I can tell you that I’m planning to be a mountain climber when I grow up, which is why I’m here, getting ready for my first bouldering lesson. Now, before you start thinking “Hey, you should know something!” as far as mountains and me go, I’m not really into rock climbing. Yet. I have seen a documentary about a person who free solo-ed a cliff, and I have hiked at least a few times, though none were very steep. Now, if you’ll excuse me for a second, I’ll meet you at my first route. Hi! Just met up with my coach, and now I’m going on my first route! I put both hands on the starting hold, and then hoisted myself onto the wall. I found the right holds, and with my coach’s help, I made it to the top. Then my coach told me to jump off the wall. I gave him a look of disbelief. He just grinned, and I sighed, took a breath and jumped, hitting the mattress intact. My coach said that I was doing great, and I was ready for a harder route. I tried it, and I was doing fine until the middle, where two holds were far apart. I moved my feet, put my hands on the hold and hauled myself up to the top. It might be worth mentioning that I’m not very athletic. But nonetheless, I mustered the strength that I needed to get on the hold and complete the route. My coach said that I needed to practice that route more, and that’s what I did for the next bit. After going up and down some times, my coach set me a challenge: I had to climb the wall sideways, using any holds I wanted without falling off. I started and quickly realized that it was essential to know which holds are “good” and which are “bad.” Here’s an explanation: You could only step on the flat parts of the large round rocks, otherwise you would more than definitely slip off. You also needed to keep distance between your arms and legs, because if they were too close, then your elbows would collide with your knees, but if your limbs are too far apart, then you end up stretching, and that hurts! I kept falling at this point where I had to stretch my leg to get to the next hold, but I kept slipping in the process. I asked my coach for some advice, and he told me to “jump.” I gave him my look again, and he demonstrated. I had to release one foot while I land the other. I tried it, and it worked! I made it halfway across the wall when the lesson ended. Want to know what I learned next lesson? I do too!
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Out of Left Field, Reviewed by Rex, 10
You may know that there is a book reading competition in Oregon called Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB). You have to read the 16 books assigned by OBOB, and remember some very specific details. Then, you and your team will have a battle against another team in which you see who can answer more “detail questions.” On my quest to read all the books, I stumbled upon Out Of Left Field by Ellen Klages. It was the third book in the series, about a girl named Katy (that uses the nickname Casey). She played baseball with the other boys. She was really good too. But she lived in San Francisco at a time where women baseball players were not accepted. So when she registered for Little League, she was rejected because she was female. However, they mentioned in the rejection letter that “[baseball] has always been the sole province of male athletes.” So, this sends Casey searching for a needle in a haystack, or in other words some professional women baseball players, while making a few friends along the way. The book is mostly wrapped around the idea that no matter how long it takes, inequality and injustice will be solved. This is helpful to remember in our hearts, especially for me, who at some points in life, just wants to break some rules like other kids. I watch kids who play video games when I study, and at some points, I wonder what I am missing out on, even though I know it is wrong. But, I always remember that in the end, I will get better grades, get a better education, get a better job, and turn out better. It also has an idea that no matter who you are, what you do, or what is your background, you are never alone. Casey found a network of females who felt the exact same way as her on baseball. I value these ideas and hope you will think well of them too. The book also has a very obvious motive of teaching us, the readers, that these women baseball players exist! I had never even heard of such a thing, and happy to support these characters in their route to fame. I also like how the author doesn’t mind adding some extra pages to talk about non-baseball related aspects of Casey’s life, like when she talked about the launch of Sputnik. Overall, I really liked the book for its morals, format, and plot. And if this book sounds appealing to you, look out for Out of Left Field by Ellen Klages in libraries and bookstores near you. Trust me. Your book will have a couple of creases by the time you put it down. Out of Left Field by Ellen Klages. Puffin Books, 2019. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
Dan Bloom, Editor of The Cli-Fi Report, reviews “Three Days Till EOC” by Abhi Sukhdial
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
