Sistories is a brand new podcast about travel hosted by two sisters–Maryam and Nour! https://stonesoup.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Sistories-1.m4a Welcome to our new podcast, Sistories! My sister and I love to travel, and we want to inspire you to travel too. My name is Nour, and I’m one of your hosts, along with my sister Maryam. I am ten years old, and I love to travel. My family has been to many places near and far. We have a mini Goldendoodle named Lulu who sometimes gets to go with us on trips. My name is Maryam the Magnificent. I am eight and a half. I love to travel, and I also like sports like swimming and soccer. One of my favorite spots to travel is Grenada. I was born in Houston, but my family was from Grenada and Egypt. I have lots of family there. Today’s topic is why you should travel. Why? My sister and I will both talk about some reason we love to travel. Nour is up first! Here are my two top reasons to try out traveling. Reason 1: you should travel a lot so you can see the lifestyles of locals and notice how they may do things differently than we do in the United States. One year my family visited St. Maarten, a beautiful island in the Caribbean. When you’re driving there the sides of the road that you drive on can change. Why? Because one side of the island is Dutch and the other side is French. You have to drive on the opposite side of the road depending on which part of the island you’re on. Another year, my family traveled to Grenada where my dad is from. We went to a restaurant that was right on the beach. When the server came she told us if you’re hungry in Grenada, you shouldn’t come to a restaurant. It took a really long time for our food to arrive because all of the ingredients are fresh and prepared right then. Reason 2: You can explore new places and try new things. Like when we went to Mexico City and walked to the city square. We saw smoke and wondered what it was. My dad’s uncle explained to us that they were using incense to cleanse you. The incense is supposed to make you feel better. My dad’s uncle said it made him feel like he could fly. We ended up trying it, and it was great! Another place our family went was Egypt. When we were there we got to snorkel in the Red Sea, which is very clear. As I was watching my dad scuba dive, I jumped off the dock; I could see my dad below me with all the beautiful fish. We also got to visit the pyramids on horses and camels. It was a bumpy ride, but I recommend you try it. Now it’s my turn. I have 2 more amazing reasons you should travel. Reason 1: you should travel so that you can be amazed. One time my family and I were in Boston. We went on a boat ride with my cousin. It was a big boat. We were going whale watching. When we were far from land, we saw a whale wagging its tail in the ocean and slapping the water. It was giving itself a high five! Then we saw 4 whales swimming together, and they blew out water. Next, a gigantic whale jumped out of the water and twirled in the air. It was pretty and cool because the water droplets were surrounding it. I wanted to see it again, but it was time to go back. Reason 2: You should travel to take a break from your stressful life! Kids who have to deal with school, activities, homework, impatient and annoying friends, and your chores. When you travel you can go to places like Grenada and put all of it behind you. Grenada is my favorite place because it has a magical beach that can change your life. And you can also pick off mango from the trees, and you can walk on the beach all around. It’s just one of my favorite places. Thank you so much for listening to our podcast, Sistories! Come back again to listen to our new podcast topic: how to pack for an awesome trip. Have a great trip!
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Wink, Reviewed by Arjun Nair, 11
Ross Maloy couldn’t have been put against a harder challenge. With middle school being extremely tough to conquer as it is, a rare eye cancer just sharpens the sword. He must remain resilient to defeat the deadly disease. It wouldn’t be a piece of cake, but rather, a tough cookie. Wink by Rob Harrell is an inspiring novel that shows how the light in the darkness may be brighter than one would think. With no great aspirations, Ross intended to sneak his way past seventh grade slowly. Ross had lost his mom years back to cancer, but he was able to get through that hurdle with his dad and step-mom. To keep a memory of his late mother, Ross, an exceptional artist, uses one of his mom’s old sketchbooks to express himself. With his “non-noteworthy” B grade average and a small friend group, everything was in place until cancer knocked its giant fist on the door. After being diagnosed with one of the rarest eye cancers, Ross had many more problems to face: from wearing funny hats and dealing with disgusting eye goo to the possibility of losing his sight forever or worse. Due to his unfortunate circumstance and “winking” eye, rather than helping him beat the disease, other kids at his school bully him. Yet, every cloud has a silver lining. Along his treacherous journey, Ross picked up the guitar, an instrument he began using as an outlet for his emotions. Throughout the book, he grows as a character, understanding the world through a new lens. While he has to endure the challenges that cancer brings, he doesn’t have to do it alone. With help from his friends and family, Ross fights with a determination completely unrivaled. “I walked out of there like a boss. I was going to go through a difficult surgery and eight weeks of radiation and lose the sight in one of my eyes…and yet I felt like a million bucks.” I would recommend this book for children around the ages of 9-13, but this wonderful story can be read by anyone. In my opinion, this novel would be mainly directed towards a middle school audience because of the connections they may be able to make with Ross. Wink is a meaningful story that continued to sink deeper within me as I flipped each page. At some points, there was a feeling of resolution until another problem sprouted from beneath the pages, prompting me to read more. Author Rob Harrell did an exceptional job creating this novel, outlining every detail with a layer of happiness, humor, and, sometimes, sadness. Wink by Rob Harrell. Puffin Books, 2021. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
Bring on the Gratitude: A Review of “Be Thankful”
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I reviewed a poem about gratitude, called “Be Thankful” by an unknown poet. To me, gratitude means being thankful for what you have instead of thinking about what you don’t have. It is important to feel empathy for individuals who have less than you do and to appreciate all that you have. Everyone can be thankful for something–whether it be food, water, warmth, a house, or family. I chose the poem “Be Thankful” among a whole group of poems about gratitude because I was incredibly inspired by the message and tone of this poem. If you would like to read this poem, here is the link: https://blog.gratefulness.me/gratitude-poems/ “Be Thankful” is a 17-line poem divided into 7 couplets and ending with a three-line grouping. Though it doesn’t rhyme, it repeats the “Be thankful” phrase at the beginning of each stanza, helping emphasize to the reader the central theme of gratitude. The poem is intended to help readers recognize aspects of their lives that are challenging or hard, but nonetheless still could be positive and deserving of gratitude. One of my favorite parts in this poem is the stanza that reads: “Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire, / If you did, what would there be to look forward to?” This stanza highlights the emotion of envy, in which people yearn for things that they don’t have but that other people have. Envy is usually thought of as a negative emotion, but the poet suggests that one should be thankful for not having everything you want because it gives people something to look forward to. From this couplet, I thought about how to turn my jealousy into gratitude. Another one of my favorite parts is the fourth stanza that reads: “It is easy to be thankful for the good things. / A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are / also thankful for the setbacks.” As the holidays approach, it is easy to be happy for the things you have, but the poet emphasizes that people with challenges barreling towards them may be the most lucky because they have even more to be thankful for. In my opinion, this poem was a great kickoff to Thanksgiving, and it really helped me understand how to be thankful. Even if I don’t have everything, it is important to be thankful for what you do have – and if all you have right now are challenges, you can be thankful for those because they can make you better in the long run. I think people should read this poem with their family or friends on Thanksgiving to understand that everyone is a lucky person no matter what the situation is. Enjoy this holiday and time off as much as possible!
