“We’re like tea bags. In hot water, we just get stronger and stronger.” These two sentences from Shouting at the Rain by Lynda Mullaly Hunt echoed in my mind for days after I read them. The memorable simile seemed to sum up the essence of the book – and, ultimately, of life. I was impressed, enchanted – and when I realized that the words came from a twelve-year-old kid like myself, I was under the spell of a new favorite character. Delsie McHill dislikes surprises; that’s why she loves tracking the weather, so that she can always be ready for what’s coming. But one summer her life is beset with unexpected changes. She has always lived with her kindhearted grandmother in Cape Cod, but now she begins to look at her life with new eyes and wonder why her parents abandoned her. A newcomer causes her to question the game-show-loving, tag-sale-shopping, quiet life which she and her Grammy lead. Most painfully, her best friend is growing away from her, and she is left suddenly and starkly alone. Luckily, Delsie has plenty of friends and neighbors who – although she doesn’t realize it – comprise the “normal” family she longs for. And through her experiences, Delsie finds out that people aren’t just what they seem on the outside – they are made up of the layers of history within. The thing that makes Shouting at the Rain so satisfying, yet intriguing, to read is that – unlike with many other books – the main idea is never confirmed in one climax paragraph, but hinted in small ways throughout the story. Finding one of these keys to the theme is like discovering a hidden gift, giving the reader a feeling of accomplishment which isn’t easily found in most middle-grade books. However, clues like the description of a boat whose top coat chips away to show a rainbow of different-colored paint layers underneath, or the main character’s obsession with Strong Shoulder jars, cannot be connected to the main theme with absolute certainty because there is never any validation: novels don’t have answer keys. Despite this, one of the joys of reading is the search for meaning beyond the obvious, and the author of this book is adept at providing this pleasurable literary treasure hunt. Another thing that impressed me about Shouting at the Rain is the author’s use of the “show-not-tell” writing tool; in other words, the art of showing a character’s emotions through their actions. Strikingly, not once in the book did the author give away any character’s feelings in a single word, but painstakingly described physical actions: staring at shoes, standing straighter, bouncing on toes. More than once, I had to stop reading and consult my knowledge of human body language – what are people feeling when they avoid someone’s gaze? And do shining eyes actually entail tears? The writing style of Shouting at the Rain forced me to rethink what I took for granted about how a person’s mental state correlates with their actions. In a way, it reshaped the way I look at the world. That is the power of books, and why I enjoyed this one so much. “In hot water, we just get stronger and stronger.” This is a truth that applies to everyone. Shouting at the Rain brought it to life for me, as it brought to life many other truths, skillfully woven together into a story I’ll never forget. Most of all, Shouting at the Rain reminded me of how magical a good book can be, and I hope it does the same for you. Shouting at the Rain by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. Nancy Paulsen books, 2019. 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!
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Saturday Newsletter: May 4, 2019
“Illuminated,” photograph by Lara Katz, 14. Published April 2018. A note from William Rubel It is so easy to take a glance and then just turn the page. Photography was invented in the 1840s. Photographers have been recognized as great artists since the beginning of the art form. But it has only been in recent decades that exhibits of photography at museums have drawn crowds that match those of exhibitions of paintings. In newspapers and magazines we become accustomed to seeing photographs as documentary tools. The photograph shows us the subject that is discussed in the article. We glance, our internal voice registers, “Ah, that is what it looked like,” and we then usually focus on the accompanying text. Stone Soup is a literary magazine. The photographs that are included in Stone Soup do not illustrate the stories (though they can partner with them, and add another dimension). They stand as works of art in their own right. Photographs are not composed of words. Words slow us down. It takes a while to read a page. But we can read a photograph in an instant, literally. How many words would it take to describe your house? And then how long would it take to read the description? But it only takes a short glance at a photograph of your house to recognize it. I hope all of you read Editor Emma Wood’s thought-provoking note on reading poetry in the April 6 Newsletter. If you didn’t, then read it now. I promise you, you will find something there that you will remember for a long time. I’d like to borrow one paragraph from Emma’s note: The poet Wallace Stevens once said, ‘A poem must resist the intelligence almost successfully.’ What does this mean to you? To me, this means that a poem should operate just on the edges of reason and rational thinking. It should tell me something that I don’t quite understand. The poem should force me to spend time with it, to read and reread it, and, with each rereading, to come closer to my own understanding of it. Lara’s Katz’s photograph, which we published last year, forces you to stay with it. You cannot understand it in a glance. As Emma puts it regarding understanding poetry, it “operate[s] just on the edges of reason and rational thinking.” What is happening to the right of the column? What do we see on the left? And what is the column part of? Is this a doorway? A gate? An arch along a walkway or in a grand building? Is that graffiti or a projection? Is that a face at the top of the column? Eyes in the wall to the right? There is a lot in Lara’s photograph that we “don’t quite understand.” This is a photograph you can come back to for years. Where does this photograph take you? I’ll leave it at that. Once you are done, send us what you’ve written to Stone Soup. Until next week, Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com. In a review written together, Ben and Jackson discuss Angie Thomas’s modern classic The Hate U Give. Read their review to find out why they think the book offers a ‘unique perspective’ of main character Starr being ‘split between two worlds.’ Have you read this book or watched the movie? Let us know what you think! Soohong reviews Coraline by Neil Gaiman (which is another book that got turned into a movie!). ‘Coraline was a very amusing and super enjoyable novel. Though it scared me so much and sometimes gave me nightmares, this would definitely be a book I would recommend to people.’ Read more of Soohong’s thoughts here. From Stone Soup April 2018 The Stone Angel By Julia Lockwood, 12 Photograph by Lara Kaz, 14 The pewter sky hung like a tapestry over the graveyard, dark clouds spilling across it. The clouds boomed and thundered like an angry beast, releasing torrents of water that drenched the gray headstones below. Lightning sliced through the air like a sword, illuminating the world for a second with its violet light. Libby liked the rain. The way it left her honey hair wet and clingy, the way the droplets slid down her cheeks like cool tears. She knelt down next to her favorite grave in the furthest corner of the cemetery. Most of her neighbors grew up in fear of the cemetery across the street, but Libby loved it. Each weekend she would place flowers on her favorite graves, and she loved calculating the ages of the people on the headstones. Libby peered at the grave in front of her. The cool stone of the memorial was cracked and crumbling, with moss climbing up it, filling in the crevasses. A smiling angel stood atop the base of the grave, holding a harp in its chubby hands. The angel’s face had been worn away by decades in the rain, giving the grave an eerie look. Engraved in the podium was the name of the girl who rested there. Here lies Ada Lee Clemmons 1896-1907 Beloved daughter, sister. May her soul rest in peace. “Pretty, isn’t it?” a sweet voice said from behind Libby. Startled, Libby turned quickly to see a girl standing behind her. The girl looked about Libby’s age, with tawny skin and soft coils of chestnut hair. Her cheeks held a slight rosy blush, probably a result of the cold of the rain. But what struck Libby as particularly striking were the girl’s eyes. They blazed blue against her darker skin, as if holding a cold fire inside them. The girl took a step closer to Libby. “It’s sad isn’t it?” She asked. “She was so young. Only eleven, only as old as I am now.” The girl turned to look at Libby, as if noticing her for the first time. “You come here a lot,” she said. It was not phrased as a question, but simply as a statement. “Y-yes.” Libby stammered.
Coraline, Reviewed by Soohong, 12
The amazing book I read this summer was Coraline by Neil Gaiman. I found this book so enjoyable because there are so many surprising twists. This book starts with a curious and adventurous girl named Coraline Jones and her family moving from Pontiac, Michigan to the Pink Palace, an extremely old building in Ashland, Oregon. Coraline keeps whining to her parents that she is so bored until one day, there is a horrible thunderstorm. With her parents busy working on a garden catalog, she finally decides to explore her new house. She keeps exploring until she tries to open the large carved door in the drawing room. The door was locked so she takes the iron key and unlocks the door. She expects a new room but surprisingly, there is just a pile of bricks. That night, she quietly walks to the same door and opens it. However, this time, instead of a pile of bricks, there was an unusual hallway. She keeps walking down and when she opens the door, she sees her mother cooking. Or was it her mother? When her “mom” turned around, Coraline noticed something weird about her. Instead of human eyes, there were black round buttons! There, she met her button eye dad and for the first week, they were very nice to her. However, one night, her mother tried to persuade her into replacing her normal eyes with buttons. Since I do not want to spoil the book, I’ll just say that throughout the story, there are many surprising and chilling twists that will make you jump out of your chair. I think that the book, Coraline, is both dark fantasy and fairy tale. Coraline, in a lot of ways, is a fairy tale. A fairy tale is a story with magical elements and some of its common characteristics include enchanted settings (such as forests, and weird castles/buildings), and clearly defined good and evil characters, a completely understandable problem, climax, and resolution. Coraline has all of those characteristics. Coraline and her family lives in a creepy, old building and a significant part of the book occurs in Coraline’s garden. Also, clearly, the good characters are Coraline, and Coraline’s parents and the evil character is Coraline’s fake mom. Lastly, Coraline’s problem, climax, and resolution is so clear. However, Coraline is not a Disney fairy tale but is more of a Grimm fairy tale. The reason I am saying I think Coraline is both dark fantasy and fairy tale is this reason: As I said, Coraline is similar to the Grimm fairy tales. Grimm fairy tales are very dark, creepy, and has a lot of twists. Coraline has all of those traits. Dark fantasy is mainly explored in Coraline through the setting of both the real world and the other world. Though both settings can be very different at the start, when all the sacred truths are revealed, both settings are very similar. They have very unusual, mysterious, and chilling settings, which are definitely primary elements of dark fantasy. Even until the end, Coraline’s setting remains a supernatural atmosphere. Throughout the book, scary and surprising twisted parts come out, making it more of a dark fantasy. As you can see, this is why I think Coraline is a dark fantasy and a fairy tale. In conclusion, Coraline was a very amusing and super enjoyable novel. Though it scared me so much and sometimes gave me nightmares, this would definitely be a book I would recommend to people. In addition, I would recommend this book to people who are over 10 years old and people who are not scared of horrors. The reason is that this book can really shock someone and terrorize someone’s mental state. If you can not see, read, and imagine scary things, then, please be alerted. However, if you liked Alice in Wonderland, you will enjoy reading this book. Those who plan to read this book, you are in for a scare! Coraline by Neil Gaiman. HarperCollins, 2002. 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!
