The first ever Rubik’s Cube was invented in 1974 and the community instantly started to figure out how to solve it.The cube was created by a person named Erno Rubik.At first he wanted to learn how to crack the code of the Rubik’s cube. It took him almost 3 months to learn how to solve a Rubik’s cube. It didn’t take long until competition started to take place. There is a certain way to solve the Rubik’s Cube. The way to solve them is called algorithms, certain steps in order to get to the solved state. There are multiple ways to solve the cube. The one that I use is called Beginner method because like… im a beginner. The most advanced one is called C.F.O.P which stands for Cross, F2L, OLL, and PLL. All of those Acronyms stand for something. F2l stands for First two layers, OLL stands for Orient Last Layer, and PLL stands for Permute last layer. So that’s CFOP the most advanced way to solve the cube. This is a step by step in pictures. Now about the World Records that have happened, there was a guy named Ronald Brinkmann and he solved it in 19 seconds in 1982. Compare that to today’s World Record, Yusheng Du solved it in 3.47. Cubing competitions are a whole community that people love. Everyone is very happy for you if you get a new personal best, and the time you need to go to one is like 5 mins so if u can solve it in under that you can go to one. I feel that everyone can solve the cube, just look up a video there are thousands of tutorials of it. In cubing competitions there are many things you can do, there is blindfolded, feet, and even one hand solving. There are many different cubes like a MegaMinx a 2×2 a 4×4, pyraminx, skewb and even more. There are even puzzles that aren’t cubes like the clock.
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Harbor Me, Reviewed by Sascha, 13
In the novel Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson, six kids from Ms. Laverne’s class (Haley, Amari, Tiago, Ashton, Esteban and Holly) must meet every Friday of the year to talk – alone, with no adults in the room. They choose to name this special room, the ARTT Room (an acronym for “A Room To Talk”). With the ARTT room, they now have a safe space in which they are free to talk to each other about what’s bothering them, free from judgement. Whether it be Haley’s father in prison, Amari’s fears of racial profiling, Esteban’s father’s deportation, or Ashton adjusting to his family’s new financial situation, the six of them know they can count on each other to listen. They can talk about things they usually wouldn’t talk about: their feelings, fears and thoughts. Haley, Amari, Tiago, Ashton, Esteban and Holly all learn that they have the ability to express their emotions freely and ultimately grow braver. The unfamiliarity of the ARTT Room eventually becomes a place that they now look forward to going to every week. This novel is written in first person, from the perspective of the main character, Haley. What I liked about this, is that readers are able to hear how she, in particular, is feeling during a specific time. This allows the reader to understand the evolution and growth of the character (in this case, Haley), as the book progresses. Haley was an extremely influential character in the book, and hearing from her point of view, helps readers to grasp a better understanding of the story. Another aspect of this novel that I enjoyed was that it is a book that doesn’t require much focus. There isn’t much of a plot, and certain parts weren’t very structured throughout the novel. The book lacked most of the traditional elements of a story, such as, a climax or a main problem. The constant use of imagery within Jacqueline Woodson’s writing, helps readers to visualize what is happening in the book and guides them through the story. Woodson’s style of writing engages all five senses, while also directing readers to gain deeper insight of what is going on in the novel. This shows the reader what is taking place in the story, rather than directly telling them.I gravitated towards this book because I was able to learn about other people who are unlike myself and their personal struggles. While the students were talking to each other, they spoke about issues that many kids all over America have to deal with on a regular basis. I learned about things that many kids my age worry about, that I wasn’t aware of before reading this book. Through hearing about the students’ problems and concerns, it opened my eyes to how real problems in America can affect children personally. For example, Esteban’s father’s deportation caused him and his family a lot of stress and anxiety. Undocumented immigrants are clearly a source of controversy among Americans, and it was interesting to see how people are affected by this problem. Readers are able to educate themselves on cultural issues in America and what difficulties this can cause children. After reading Harbor Me, one can learn that it is crucial for children to express their emotions. Furthermore, having trustworthy people around to advice and support them through difficult times, is important in order to overall better themselves and achieve successful relationships. Presuming that the students in Ms. Laverne’s class hadn’t opened up to each other and expressed how they were feeling, they might have struggled to cope with the challenges that they faced. This book discusses a wide array of themes, such as, privilege, race, self expression, loss, identity, friendship, culture, and more. Overall, I would unquestionably recommend this novel to anyone that is interested in gaining a higher perspective of people from different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson. Penguin Random House, 2018. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process! Have you read this book? Or do you plan on reading it? Let us know in the comments below!
Saturday Newsletter: February 1, 2020
The Tower of Toronto by Justine Chu, 12 (Fremont, CA) Published in the February 2020 issue of Stone Soup A note from Emma This week, I am writing to announce the winners of our Personal Narrative Contest with the Society of Young Inklings (SYI). Naomi and I were both so honored to read these submissions as well as grateful for the big and small ways these writers let us into their minds and hearts. Writing nonfiction seems easy—you don’t have to make anything up!—but it is not. Personal narratives require honesty, deep thought and reflection, the ability to see patterns and narratives in past events, as well as the capacity to accept that sometimes there are no patterns or narratives—just the events themselves. Like all writing, they also require an eye for detail, an ear for language, and an aptitude for play. In her winning narrative, Kateri Escober Doran vividly recounts a sharp memory from a day in kindergarten, seamlessly blending evocative storytelling with thoughtful reflection. In second place, with “Swirling Arabesques,” Zoe Kyriakakis meditates on a single phrase while on the bus home from school—showing us how even the smallest moments can become meaningful and beautiful in the writer’s hands. Finally, in third place, with her narrative “Gratitude,” Alicia Xin gives a moving account of the summer she spent in a historically poor county in rural China. First Place “Locked out of Kindergarten” by Kateri Escober Doran, 12 Second Place “Swirling Arabesques” by Zoe Kyriakakis, 10 Third Place “Gratitude” by Alicia Xin, 13 Honorable Mention “Cody’s Last Day” by Elena Baltz, 10 “A Story” by Asher Jenvey, 10 “Life in the Jungle” by Arielle Kouyoumdjian, 13 “Writer” by Vandana Ravi, 13 “Believing” by Lily Shi, 11 “Kingdom in the River” by Lydia Taylor, 13 “Gentle Hands” by Michelle Wang, 12 We are excited to share these pieces with you in a future issue. We say this every time, but every time it is truer and truer: it was so difficult to select winners and finalists for this contest. A sincere thank you to everyone who trusted us with their work.We are thrilled to be reading personal narrative submissions year-round. Please scroll down to read Ugochinyere Agbaeze’s narrative, published in the February 2020 issue, below for writing inspiration this weekend. When you’re ready, submit your personal narrative here. Until next week, Contest update & a note to artists We are already starting to plan for our next book contest—it will launch this summer! Stay tuned. And also: calling all artists! Our art submissions are always open, and it’s free to submit. We currently have a backlog of animal images and are actively looking for images of landscapes, people, and objects as well as images that have a more abstract character like this, this, or this. The more abstract an image is, the easier it is to pair with a poem or a story since it often is capturing an idea or a mood rather than a specific scene. Submit your art here. Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! Have you ever had a friend who challenged you to try new things? In his blog post “Charlie,” Daniel tells us about his friend who has inspired him to “unleash his inner rebel.” Though he’s gotten some scratches along the way, Daniel has found himself enjoying adventures with Charlie that he wouldn’t have tried otherwise. How much do you know about the Rosetta Stone, the Sutton Hoo Helmet, and the Elgin Marbles? New blogger Mohan traces the history of these three cultural artifacts in “What Can We Learn About History from Objects?” From Stone Soup February 2020 Alone By Ugochinyere Agbaeze, 11 (New York, NY) Illustrated by Justine Chu, 12 (Fremont, CA) Boom! Crackle! It was dark and rainy, and as the clouds cried, lightning flashed through the sky like a gun being fired. The sky darkened. But in our school bus, there were always rays of sunshine. Our school bus wasn’t really a school bus, but more like a van. That didn’t really bother me and my friends, because we were always busy doing things to pass time. We did things together, like homework, or played truth or dare, or even watched movies on my friend’s phone. But like always, people would start to get dropped off and disappear like cookies from the cookie jar until it was just me and my friend Gabby. “Don’t you ever get lonely when it’s only you on the van?” Gabby asked. “Sometimes, but not really,” I said. But inside I knew that I was always lonely when it was just me. She looked at me with her eyebrows up in her questioning way, like she was searching for what I was really feeling. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked me again. “Yes, I’m okay. Really, I am,” I said reassuringly. We stopped in front of her house, and as she was about to leave she said, “Well, I’ll see you Monday. Bye!” “Bye,” I said as she shut the door. As we were leaving, I looked through the window and saw her bright polka-dot umbrella open up and bloom like a flower as she walked toward her building. …/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.
