An update from our twentieth Book Club meeting! Last Saturday, September 26, was the Stone Soup Book Club’s first Book Club meeting at its new meeting time: 9am PST on Saturdays. The Book Club ran for around an half-and-a-half and was attended by thirty participants from across the US, as well as in the UK. The book we discussed was The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, which is the sequel to our previous read, The War that Saved My Life. In The War I Finally Won, Ada and Jamie continue living under the care of kindly Susan in rural England during World War II. Our first activity was splitting into “ARTT rooms” which are social breakout rooms of three or four people. In these breakout rooms, people introduced themselves and were able to share out and talk about their favorite books. The ARTT rooms are a great way to get to know people! Next, we split into two groups, each of which discussed the similarities and differences between The War I Finally Won and The War that Saved My Life. It was really cool to hear what people thought of the two books, and which one they liked better! We then went into discussion groups to talk about the characters and settings in The War I Finally Won. It was great to get everyone’s perspectives on these topics (as well as to hear who their favorite characters were!), and to explore how all of the people and places in the book are connected. We also talked about themes in The War I Finally Won; we discussed what elements of the book impacted the themes, such as places, actions, and people. Some of the themes we came up with are these: bravery, trust, friendship, acceptance, and finding a home. Finally, before we chose our next Book Club book, we read an email interview that author Kimberly Brubaker Bradley did- just for us! When we discussed The War that Saved My Life, we sent her ten questions about the book. Then, we were able to send her three more about The War I Finally Won. We read out the answers to all of these questions in our meeting. It was extraordinarily cool to hear Ms. Bradley’s thought process on different parts of the book, as well as her advice about writing; and of course, we thank her immensely for answering our questions about the book! Please, if you attended this Book Club meeting, we would love it if you would write a thank-you note to Ms. Bradley. You can send them to me at anya@stonesoup.com and I will forward them along to Ms. Bradley. Lastly, we chose our new book. There were ten options, and the one we chose is: Keeper of the Lost Cities (book 1) by Shannon Messenger. We will be discussing this book at our next meeting on 10/31. And, since that meeting will be on Halloween, we are inviting all of our Book Club participants to dress up as their favorite book character for Book Club (and bring candy, if they wish)! Our Next Book (to be discussed on 10/31): Keeper of the Lost Cities, by Shannon Messenger Special Halloween Book Club Activity! Since our next meeting is on Halloween, we are inviting all of our Book Club participants to dress up as their favorite book character for Book Club, and bring candy, if they wish! The Stone Soup Book Club is open to all kids ages 9-13. We will meet on the last Saturday of October and 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 here.
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Weekly Creativity #120: Write about Someone You Know as a Superhero
Write a story about yourself, or someone you know, as a superhero
Saturday Newsletter: September 26, 2020
“Rainbow Lake” by Sage Millen, 12 (Vancouver, Canada). Published in Stone Soup September 2020. A note from Sarah I want to start off this newsletter by highlighting Sage Millen’s breathtaking photograph from this month’s issue. I encourage you to spend some time taking in the mesmerizing, almost otherworldly landscape that Sage has captured. Then I also want to remind you that if you’re interested in helping out with our new Publicity and Outreach Community, we’d love to have you! You can fill out the Google Form here to let us know your contact information and how you can help. I’ve been working the past few months on developing the Stone Soup podcast, which is very exciting. Hopefully it will be released soon for everyone to hear! This work has meant that I’ve had the pleasure of revisiting a lot of the stories and poetry read aloud on our Soundcloud account. Reading aloud is not as easy as it may seem. It’s a skill that requires a lot of practice. For your weekend project, I suggest that you take a piece of writing—maybe something you’ve written or a piece that you really enjoy—and read it aloud a few times. Try not to rush yourself. Read it deliberately and carefully, keeping in mind a listener who may be hearing it for the first time. Think also about what kind of inflections suit the story or poem. If there’s dialogue, do you give each character a different voice? A different accent? Or do you want to maintain the same tone throughout the story? These are things you can consider when reading a story aloud, and it changes the way we understand and interpret a piece. Listening to audiobooks might give you a better idea of different ways that reading aloud can be done. Make a note of which elements of audiobooks you like, and think about how you could incorporate them into your own reading-aloud technique. You can record yourself reading—or not, if you don’t yet feel comfortable. If you’re feeling ambitious, maybe you can organize a Zoom reading between your friends, family, or classmates. Let us know how it goes! Until next week, Stay Tuned for Next Month’s Flash Contest Every month we hold a flash contest based on one of our weekly creativity prompts. Take a look at this month’s prompt and the winner here. And keep an eye out for next month’s contest! Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! In a diary-style post, Prisha describes her experience marching in a Black Lives Matter protest. She talks about what it was like and what she learned in “Spread Love Not Hate.” Olivia, 10, reviewed the book King of Shadows by Susan Cooper. Read Olivia’s review to find out what she thought of the book and why she says it was about so much more than acting. Read an update from the writing workshop from last Saturday, where we learned about dragonfly narratives from two guest facilitators. Leila Lakhal, 12Seattle, WA From Stone Soup September 2020 Our Blanket By Leila Lakhal, 12 (Seattle, WA) Everyone has their own opinion. But it is not okay To say to me that I am wrong. That I am bad. That I have no place here. Because I just said that I am Muslim. We are not terrorists. Not the Awful people the media depicts us as. Every group has people who don’t follow the rules. The Islam I know teaches me: Don’t harm a hair on their head. No matter who they are. No matter what they say. But it is not okay to tell me that I have to say sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Saying sorry for all those rule breakers that gave you a false image. Tear that image away. Underneath you will see something beautiful. . . . /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.
