At 7:30 PM one night, although I was only in the middle of the book, I set out in determination to finish Evangeline of the Bayou. I ended up reading so ardently that time didn’t seem to be passing at all. But it was, and when I finally finished it was 9:30 PM. That’s how amazing it was. Evangeline Clement is a haunt-huntress-in-training living with her grandma in the Louisiana bayou. What’s a haunt huntress? Well, they’re women who protect people from supernatural creatures like bayou banshees, dixie demons, and graveyard ghouls, among many others. Evangeline is very excited to become an official haunt huntress and for her familiar to arrive. But what if she’s not a real haunt huntress, but just a middling? The story begins when Evangeline and her Gran are called to New Orleans to solve a case involving a strange illness. This one is like nothing Evangeline has ever seen before. And soon, she’s gotten herself mixed up in a mystery that quickly gets very frightening and very dangerous. The best part of this book is the clever and innovative plot, and the combination of mystery, adventure and fantasy. I also loved the different creatures. My favorite was Fader, the four-eared cat who is Gran’s familiar. I enjoyed learning about all of the magical elements. There are spells, magical items, talismans, voodoo, and more. The blend of cultures in New Orleans is a lot like the gumbo Evangeline loves. In addition to that, I liked the realistic characters. Take Evangeline-like many people, she aspires to be something (in her case, a haunt huntress), but the problem is that in order to be approved as a haunt huntress, she has to prove that she “has heart”, and she’s worried she won’t be deemed worthy. Being a haunt huntress connects Evangeline to important women like her Gran and her dead mother. From the start, you’re rooting for her. Evangeline of the Bayou is a wonderful, exciting and fast-paced book that I recommend for just about anyone, in particular mystery fans and avid fantasy readers. I suggest you immediately get this book. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did. Evangeline of the Bayou by Jan Eldredge. Balzer + Bray, 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!
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
10 Fun Things To Do This Summer
School is out and the sun is blazing hot each day. You are looking forward to some fun days since summer has finally arrived! However, there may be some days that you are feeling bored at home with nothing to do. Here are 10 fun things you can do this summer to help you get rid of this problem: Hike: This is a great way to get exercise while observing the beauty of nature! Go to the park: Parks are also a great way to get exercise. You can even invite your friends to play with you–it’s a good way to stay in touch during the long break. Go camping/glamping: Staying outdoors and living completely off the grid is another great way to have some fun this summer. If camping isn’t your thing, try glamping, which could include staying in a cabin or RV truck (these places let you enjoy nature while still having access to amenities like air conditioning, a comfortable bed, and a clean, bug-free bathroom). Volunteer: Whether at a library, the animal shelter, or a nursing home, volunteering is a great way to spend your time. It helps other people and makes you feel good inside. Look online today to find a local place that offers volunteering opportunities for kids! Visit a Museum: Museums are great places to spend your time, if not admiring famous art pieces then doing hands-on activities. You can learn so many new things while having fun. Read: Make a list of books that you want to read over the summer. You can even do a book club with your friends or participate in a summer reading challenge at a local library. Have a sleepover with your family/friends: Order some pizza, bring out the sleeping bags and watch a movie. This is a great way to have fun and bond with your family or friends! Start a big project: Choose a big project to work on by yourself, as a family, or with friends. Some examples are: building a large Lego sculpture, making a big puzzle, or even writing a book. Summer is the perfect stretch of time for you to take on a big project and be happy with the results. Learn something new: Whether it is a new language, a new skill or hobby, learning something new will make you feel proud of yourself. This can be a big accomplishment that is perfect to begin this summer. Create a summer scrapbook: Near the end of summer break, collect things that represent what you have done throughout the summer and put them together in a scrapbook. Add captions and you will have something to remember the summer by! All of these activities for the summer are great ways to spend your time instead of lying on the couch all day watching TV or playing video games. It is important to stay active and be productive for at least some days in the summer. Have a great fun-filled summer and comment down below what you are planning to do this summer. The more ideas we can share with each other the more fun we all can have!
Saturday Newsletter: June 30, 2018
Her family had done nothing wrong, why was she so angry? Illustrator Tiger Tam, 13 for The Gap and the Gift by Shannon Jin, 12. Published November/December 2011 A note from Jane Levi This week’s illustration from the archives is a fantastic snapshot of a family dinner—the different generations around the table, each person caught in a moment of action, whether eating, pouring tea, or turning their head to talk. The bold use of color and the gorgeous detail in all the elements of the picture place us firmly in the dining room with this family and tells us a clear story of a meal—from the different foods on the table to the serving dishes and utensils. The picture also starts to tell us the rest of the story about this family (immigrants to the United States from China) and the different experiences every individual has, no matter how close they are to one another. We hope seeing this image this week will whet your appetite for our December Food Issue. Last year, we devoted our winter holiday issue to food and drink, for the first time in Stone Soup’s history. And we enjoyed it so much we decided to do it again in 2018! So, to all of our readers and contributors who love to cook, eat, and write about it: please fasten your aprons, polish up your pans, stretch those typing fingers, and get cooking! You need to send us your recipes along with photographs of the results by September 15 so we can consider which ones we are going to include in this year’s food issue. Happy cooking, and bon appétit! What makes a good recipe? On the surface, the answer to that question might seem easy: a good recipe is one that (a) works and (b) tastes good! But the best cookbooks, and the best recipes that make it into Stone Soup, have an extra ingredient: a great story. Besides clear instructions on what to do, we want to know where your recipe comes from, why you care about it, and therefore why we should care about it enough to want to try it. Our blogger Sarah Cymrot did this beautifully last year in her piece about her family’s monkey bread tradition. Skylar Carriosca told us a lively tale of pie crust disaster averted with the delicious Very Berry Pie she baked with her grandma. Charlotte Weimer made her best ever brownie, free from every possible allergen, but tasting as though it had every delicious thing in the world in it. And everyone laughed along with Evelyn M. Kelly’s Disaster Raspberry Smoothieadventure. You’ll see in all these different approaches that there are many ways to express who you are, all while telling us what you love to cook. This year, we’d also like you to send us a picture of your dish (last year we only used the images from the Stone Soup test kitchen). All the details and more advice are on our Recipe submission page. Please use the summer to get cooking, and send us the results. I can’t wait to read—and taste—everything you send us! Until next week Where do you write? We’ve loved seeing some of the pictures you have sent us of where you write. We all envied Nina Vigil’s porch last week! This week, we are sharing with you an image of the place our very own Emma Wood, Editor of Stone Soup, writes (complete with her very cute dog). But hers is strictly the only adult writing space we are going to share on our Instagram feed! Like the rest of Stone Soup’s content, #whereIwrite is for those of our readers who are aged 13 and under. As an added incentive for you to send us your photos of your writing spaces, we are going to give free submissions in all categories for the rest of the summer to the first 10 writers who send us pictures of their writing spots. You can check all the details by looking at our special #whereiwrite submission category. “Dad, why did you bring me here?” From Stone Soup November/December 2011 The Gap and the Gift By Shannon Jin, 12 Illustrated by Tiger Tam, 13 Sherry had not returned to her home country in years. In a way, it was no longer her home country. What had been home is now the past. Father was the one who had insisted on the trip. She had been indifferent at first, but her father had persisted. China had changed; no longer a third-world country, it was now a Mecca of wealth. Yet once in a while, Sherry would catch a glimpse of the slums, normally overshadowed by the forever reaching skyscrapers. The day after their arrival, Sherry’s father had purchased a round-trip train ticket to his hometown. Sherry watched the city view zoom by, crushing the assumptions and conclusions Sherry had carefully welded from outdated books and movies on modern China. She closed her eyes, and a billion years seemed to float by, accompanied by the soft rumble of a train and a low patter of words she once knew. * * * * * TEN YEARS AGO A six-year-old Sherry knelt in the garden, dirt tickling her bare knees. Her grandmother knelt beside her, her fingers skillfully separating weed from vegetable. Sherry’s grandmother did not believe in planting flowers. “They only feed the eyes.” Instead, the two planted a wide array of vegetables to supply the family kitchen. So many wonders were cultivated in the garden, tomatoes for pasta, cucumbers destined to fulfill a delicious egg drop soup. Sherry relished the moment, the day was warm but not stifling; her backyard was well shaded by the great oaks behind her. Yellow orchids framed the old wooden fence wrapped around her backyard. Sherry liked spending time with her grandma; she eagerly helped with the gardening and cooking; it generated a swelling pride within Sherry. “Lai, bang wo jiu yi xia zhe ge cao,”1 her grandma spoke again, her Chinese punctured with a few heavy pants. Sherry pulled out the weed and then paused for more instruction. Sherry watched as
