Abhi with his family at the award ceremony Some great news from one of our Stone Soup contributors All of us at Stone Soup were thrilled to hear that Abhi Sukhdial, Stone Soup blogger, reviewer, and artist, was the 2019 Oklahoma recipient of the Nicholas Green Distinguished Student Award. The award is given each year to one deserving 3rd-6th grade student in each of the 50 states. 5th grader Abhi (described at the ceremony as a “writer, artist, musician–and black belt!”) formally received his award at the annual OAGCT (Oklahoma Association for the Gifted, Creative and Talented) event on February 16th in Edmond, OK. When his mother shared the good news (and some pictures) with us, we were so touched by what she said in her letter: “Thanks to the whole Stone Soup team for supporting Abhi’s love for creative self-expression. We, as his parents, hope he will continue writing, and creating works of art that inspire him and others…” The team at Stone Soup certainly hopes so too! Thank you, Sukhdial family–and many, many congratulations to you, Abhi, on your great achievement! About the award The Nicholas Green Distinguished Award, a $500 award, is designed to recognize excellence in young children and is awarded to one student in each state who is in grades 3, 4, 5, or 6, and has distinguished himself or herself in academics, leadership, or the arts. Originally the award program was established through funds provided by Maggie and Reg Green in honor of their seven-year-old son Nicholas, who tragically died during a family vacation in Europe. The Greens feel it is important to recognize gifts and talents in children who are now at the age that Nicholas was when he passed away. In Oklahoma, the award is conferred by OAGCT (Oklahoma Association for the Gifted, Creative and Talented). Details can be found at www.oagct.org. Abhi’s essay “Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Already Taken.” -Oscar Wilde When I write, I feel I am most myself. I’m a very quiet kid, but when I write, my ideas explode with imagination. I love writing and thinking about my own thoughts as no one is there to bother me. I started to read when I was two years old, and began writing a few years later, first with a pencil/pen, and then later on my home computer. I have so many stories and ideas for stories that I keep going back to time and time again. I especially love to write stories about great adventures. I also love to read, and I’ve gotten so many ideas from different books I’ve read. For me, reading and writing are two related things. Because reading a book can give you great ideas for your own book. This year, for the first time, several of my stories as well as some art pieces I created were published in Stone Soup, a children’s literary magazine (written by and for children 13 years and younger). I love that Stone Soup allows you to write whatever you want in your own style, so I became a blogger and started writing and submitting video game, book and movie reviews hoping they would get selected. When my first piece (a book review of Holes) was published online and then was later chosen to be included in the 2018 Best of Stone Soup Annual (Print Edition), I was extremely astounded and it motivated me to write more. Below is a list of stories, articles, and art that were published in 2018 and/or awards I have received: Stone Soup Magazine ( https://www.stonesoup.com/) – “Legend of Zelda, Breath of the Wild” (video game review) – “The Breadwinner ” (movie review) – “Holes” (book review) – “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (book review) – “The Crossover” (book review) – “Holes” included in selected blog pieces in the Stone Soup Annual 2018 – “Summer in India 2018” (diary pages with drawings) – “Pink” (abstract art drawing); printed in Stone Soup magazine, June 2018 issue and included in the Stone Soup Annual 2018 KidsWorld Fun International Short Story Contest (http://www.kidsworldfun.com/) -“All about Abhi” chosen as one of the Outstanding short stories in sub-junior category (7-9 years old) Skipping Stones Magazine (http://www.skippingstones.org/) – Art piece “Sun” published in Autumn 2018 Youth Honor Awards Issue, September 2018 PTA Reflections Arts-in-Education Program (http://www.pta.org/) – “All about Abhi” selected as city wide and state winner in Literature category (2016) – “Diary of a Hindu Hero” selected as city wide winner in Literature category (2017) – “Dadaji” selected as city wide and state winner in Literature category (2018) – “The Chosen” selected as city wide winner in Literature category; advanced to state round of competition (2019) – “An Unusual Sunday,” an original film, selected as city wide winner in Film/Video Production category; advanced to state round of competition (2019) Writing has always shaped my ideas. I want to show my friends the cool stories I write so that they will be really surprised. When I grow up, I want to be a writer and have my stories published worldwide. My strong interest in reading/writing and math has helped me get straight A’s so far in elementary school, and this past December (as a 5th grader), I received for the first time a 7.4 in STAR Reading and >8th grade level score in STAR Math. I am really proud of this, and I hope I can continue working hard and doing well in school. While I really love creative writing, I also want to talk about two other interests of mine. 1) After five years of taking karate classes, I finally passed my Black Belt karate exam on December 1, 2018 and am now an official “black belt” in karate. Karate has taught me how to defend myself if someone ever bullies or attacks me. 2) I started taking both piano and violin at five years of age, and in 2018, I entered my first piano competition and earned I+ (the highest score available) in both the District and State
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Saturday Newsletter: March 2, 2019
A note from Jane Levi Dear Stone Soup readers and writers, Would you like to have your very own short story performed as part of a podcast series? If this sounds interesting, read on to learn about our brand new spring contest! We have launched our new spring writing contest, working with our friends at AV Entertainment, producers of the By Kids, for Kids Story Time podcast. The winner of this contest will have their short story turned into a dramatized reading, with up to five performers, that will be broadcast as an episode in the Story Time podcast series. The winning story, along with the second- and third-place entries, will also be published in an edition of Stone Soup magazine and receive a number of other great Stone Soup prizes. We are looking for original short stories of 500–1,000 words. Our theme is climate change. Your mission as writers is to deliver your message in an accessible, fun style: the material that works best for the Story Time podcast tends to be fantasy, magical, or fairy-tale. The winning stories will feature a strong narrative and plenty of direct speech. (But remember, we are looking for a story, not a drama script.) The winner will have their story turned into a podcast episode performed by the Story Time cast of one narrator and up to four character actors, embellished with suitable music and sound effects. Climate change and the environment are serious topics, but that doesn’t mean the stories have to be somber. We are looking for lively, enjoyable stories with a sense of drama and some scope for silliness in the performance (and some good sound effects). All of the stories already featured in the By Kids, For Kids Story Time podcast are fun audio dramas performed by kids for an audience of kids. The idea is to take the listeners on an audio emotional rollercoaster—to be funny, zany, heartfelt, suspenseful, ridiculous—and especially fun! Follow the links on their website to find out more, to listen to some of the more than 56 episodes that are already there, and to get an idea of the style. You will find all sorts of stories to enjoy: fairy tales, folk tales, myths, legends, and more. There is even going to be an episode of the original “Stone Soup” tale soon! This week I particularly enjoyed a story with the brilliant title of “The Bearded Fool.” It’s lively, action-packed, brilliantly performed, and, like all good stories conveys a message in a very entertaining way. Let me know which is your favorite! Writing with direct speech This week, to encourage you to think about your entries for the new contest, we’ve found a story from deep in our archive (all the way from 1986!) that uses a lot of direct speech to build its narrative. You can read the first part of it below, and visit our website to read the rest—you’ll also find one of our online activities on the same page. We hope you enjoy the story and feel inspired to think about how to tell your own contemporary story through the voices of a lively group of characters. Who knows? You might just find it is brought to life in an audio drama! Happy creating! P.S. It’s the beginning of a new month, so look out for the brand new March 2019 issue of Stone Soup online and in the mail now! P.P.S. While we are on the subject of contests and drama, there are six days left to submit entries to the BBC’s 500 Words contest, in which Stone Soup will be helping with a little bit of the judging. The winners of this contest will have their stories read on the UK’s BBC Radio 2 by a famous actor. Also on the 500 Words website, you will find some good advice on writing short stories for dramatic reading that might help you with our contest too–check that out here! Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! Maya writes a compelling blog post about competing in a math contest. “The same things that make it scary, the short amount of time to solve each problem and the huge room of people watching you, also make it exciting, an adventure.” Read the rest to find out what happens! Do you know what the old covers of Stone Soup look like? Check out our Instagram postto see the cover from the May/June 1981 issue. Abhi Sukhdial is a frequent contributor to Stone Soup who recently won a fantastic prize for his work. Congratulations, Abhi! Read his essay about how getting published inspired him to write more. From Stone Soup September/October 1986 As Long As We’re Happy (part 1) By Clea Rivera, 14 I was a proud woman on my first day teaching at the elementary school. I was trying to be the typical teacher. I brought a shiny red apple and placed it on my desk. I wore a stiff black skirt and high-collared white blouse and did a fine job of commanding my third-grade class to work. I held the white, dusty chalk firmly and wrote neatly on the blackboard in ridiculously large letters. I was also very happy, for I was engaged to a handsome doctor about 10 years older than me. Every afternoon he’d spin me off in his little racy car or he’d sometimes take me out to dinner. “Boys and girls, who can tell me what five times five is?” I asked that first day. Several rowdy boys and a few girls began shouting answers. However, one girl raised her hand. “Twenty-five,” she answered. “Very good. What is your name?” “Grace Matthews.” “Everyone, did you see how polite Grace was?” The room was quiet. “Have I gone deaf?” I asked. Finally, the children assented that Grace had been polite and they promised to be that way, too, in the future. * * * Three years later I was promoted to teach the sixth grade, therefore switching from the elementary to the junior high school. I was married now and I had the same batch of children that I had in third grade. I sometimes found it a little
The Count Down Round
I fingered my pencil nervously as I stared ahead at the big screen. A new question appeared. This was it. After this question, it would be my turn. I was terrified and excited at the same time. I have been looking forward to my turn for a long time but as it got closer, I became nervous. I was at the Mathcounts chapter competition and this was the countdown round. In the countdown round, a math problem is projected onto a screen for two kids to solve. The one who figures it out the fastest presses a buzzer. After three questions, the kid who answered more questions correctly goes on to the next round and the other one leaves. It is very intense, since there are only forty five seconds to solve each problem. MathCounts is a math competition with different parts. First, there are two individual rounds where your score and ranking come from. That determines whether or not you get an award at the end. Then there is a more fun round where you get to work with a team. Finally, there is the countdown round. Only one person represents their school during the countdown round. The countdown round doesn’t actually affect your score, it is just for fun. But in my opinion, it is still the scariest out of all the rounds. I didn’t have to do the countdown round. I chose to do it because I enjoy it. But as my turn came closer, I got more nervous and I almost regretted the decision to do it. The countdown round takes place right before the awards, so everyone’s mind is on the awards. We’ve all worked hard for this and we all want the award, but there’s only so many to give out. My parents say that it doesn’t matter what I get. That even if I do badly, I still learned a lot from preparing. That what matters is the journey, not the destination. But still, it would feel good to get an award after practicing for this so much. Everyone is there in the award room waiting, watching from the long rows of seats spiraling upwards in the huge room, as the kids down below, answer the questions. Sitting there in the front you can feel everyone’s eyes on you as you rush to solve the problem. I heard applause. This round was over. As they called my name, I walked to the front of the room and sat down in one of the two chairs for the participants. I smiled at my friend as she sat down in the other chair. My friend and I were both representing our schools in the countdown round. We were both hoping that we wouldn’t have to go against each other, but the people in charge didn’t know that. I held the buzzer in my left hand and my pencil in my right hand, ready for the question. The first problem was an equation where they wanted the smallest value of x. I started thinking, going through the options. I was pretty sure that the answer was two but not sure enough to buzz in. Then, my friend buzzed in. “Four,” she said. The moderator said that it was wrong. Then I buzzed in and said “Two.” They announced that two was correct. Then, the next question appeared on the screen. I did the problem and answered correctly. The round was over. I shook hands with my friend and then I went back to my seat to wait for my next turn. Next, there were two more people. The winner would go against me next. Did I stand a chance? I knew the girl in that round. I knew that she is very good in math and very fast. I wondered what the boy was like? The first question appeared on the screen. The moderator began to read it aloud. He’d barely begun when the boy buzzed in. I didn’t even know what the question was. I hadn’t finished reading it. “That is correct.” the moderator said. The same thing happened with the second question and the round was over. How can anyone be so fast? I knew that I didn’t stand a chance against this boy. Still, part of me was hoping that I could answer at least one of the questions. When it was my turn, I went down the stairs to the seats. The first question appeared on the screen. This one was an equation that I had to solve. I started to write it down and solve it but then the boy pressed his buzzer. He was correct. I tried again for the second question but I wasn’t fast enough. I lost at the countdown round but I didn’t really mind. It was fun anyway. As scary as it was, I enjoyed it. The same things that make it scary, the short amount of time to solve each problem and the huge room of people watching you, also make it exciting, an adventure. I would never choose not do it. Even though the competition was only a couple of weeks ago, I am already looking forward to next year’s countdown round.
