An update from our twenty-first Book Club meeting! Our most recent Book Club meeting was on October 31–Halloween! We had several participants who dressed up, representing characters from Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, The Hunger Games, and our current read–Keeper of the Lost Cities, which is about a girl, Sophie, who discovers she is an elf with magical powers! Our discussion, which included 28 kids from across the US, and in the UK, began with a brief talk about whether we liked the book or not. We generally agreed that it was an entertaining story, though the characters were somewhat flat, and the elf-world was sometimes a little too perfect. We then split into breakout rooms to talk more in-depth about the characters and setting, coming to some very good conclusions regarding whether we felt Sophie was a compelling main character, and why or why not; and a deeper look into the very glossy, shiny elf world, which may not be as great as it seems. It was really fun to have these conversations, and hear everyone’s thoughts! Next, we were given a thinking/writing prompt: if you were an elf and had magical powers, which magical power would you want, and why? We pondered this for a few minutes, and then shared our answers. People responded that they would like to be Telepaths (like Sophie), Inflictors, Polyglots, Hydrokinetics, and many more! We also debated whether we would even want to have powers, and which powers we would not like to have. Overall, it was a fascinating conversation. We finished up our book club by choosing our next book, which is listed below. We hope you see you all on December 5 to discuss it! Our Next Book (to be discussed on December 5): The Girl Who Drank the Moon, by Kelly Barnhill The Stone Soup Book Club is open to all kids ages 9-13. Our next meeting is on the first Saturday of December at 9am PST, via Zoom. Registration is required. It is $10 per class–and half off for all subscribers. You can sign up for Book Club via Eventbrite here.
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
The True Meaning of Smekday, Reviewed by Pragnya, 12
The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex is not your typical science fiction novel. Sure, it does have some mind-boggling gizmos and gadgets, and your typical alien invasion, but it also has humor, an overload of alien cuteness, a few weird but funny wordplay jokes on an even weirder alien race, and much more that makes it stand out way more than you’d expect it to. The True Meaning of Smekday is a uniquely mind-bending, witty and hilarious novel centered around 11-year-old Gratuity Tucci’s essay about the time alien races invaded the United States and what it meant to her. The story starts out on Moving Day, the day when the Boov, an alien race trying to find a home for themselves, decides to put the whole population of America within one state, Florida. The protagonist, Gratuity, along with her pet cat called Pig decide to embark on a quest to find her mother, who had gone missing the same morning. After hiding from the Boov spaceships in a convenience store, she meets J.Lo, a quirky yet lovable Boov who tells her he accidentally sent a radio transmission of their location to another enemy alien race called the Gorg, who destroyed every planet they could get their hands on. Gratuity reluctantly teams up with J.Lo, who proves to be very resourceful when he wants to be. Together, their adventure to find Gratuity’s mother takes them across the country where they meet many friends and foes alike, visit many places to hide from the Gorg, and use many futuristic devices, like Slushious, Gratuity’s family van which J.Lo modifies to float in the air, and a cloning device which J.Lo used to refill the petrol in Slushious. Above all, though, the growing bond between girl and Boov is extremely heartwarming and special, and I personally enjoyed reading about the two of them learning and trying to experience each other’s culture and lifestyle. This book is special mainly because it has a trait which seldom many books have; you can’t summarize the whole story without revealing too much, like after Gratuity and J.Lo find ”mimom”, the story takes an even bigger plot twist. It seems as though all the adventures the two of them undergo for 300 pages seem to have nothing on what happens next. Another example is seen in the very beginning of the book, the title. What is the true meaning of Smekday? I also like the fact that the author has made all the characters (including the non-humans!) in a very humane way, unlike many science-fiction novels, where most scenes are exaggerated. Debut novelist Adam Rex was originally known for his picture books like ‘Frankenstein makes a Sandwich’, and in this full-fledged novel, his small drawings and comics like Smektastic Voyage, and guide to the Nimrog add little comedic touches which push this book to the next level. This book is definitely worth reading, and its entertaining narration, funny and easily relatable characters and one-of-a-kind plot will definitely make you want and reread and relive Gratuity and J.Lo’s world of adventures again and again. The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex. Disney-Hyperion, 2009. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
Weekly Creativity #125 | Flash Contest: Write a Story with Traditional Opening and Closing Lines
Write a short story that begins with “Once upon a time, in a land far away…” and ends with “…and they all lived happily ever after.” This prompt is our November Flash Contest. Please check the Contest page for full details.
