There’s a fine line between right and wrong. A lot of times, there isn’t even a line at all. Some of the biggest challenges faced by modern day society involve navigating this endless gray space, searching half-blind for any kind of telltale divide. The fast-paced novel Sinless by Sarah Tarkoff takes this issue and turns it on its head. The teenage protagonist, Grace Luther, lives in a near-future world where morality is possibly the easiest thing to tell about someone. Any person who is good and righteous is instantly rewarded with a perfect, beautiful appearance. However, the slightest ethical misstep could lead to a literally hideous punishment. In order to catch a liar in the act, just look at his face—not for shifty eyes or a nervous tic, but for an immediate disfigurement of features. This attack on one of the most idolized aspects of humankind results in a veritable utopia, with crime and cruelty practically nonexistent. But perhaps everything is not as perfect as it seems. As the plot escalates in this exciting science-fiction-fantasy, Grace’s very beliefs are challenged anew with every turning page. Dark and thrilling, Sinless steps into the ranks of middle-grade dystopian favorites, such as Divergent, Uglies, The Maze Runner, and Lois Lowry’s classic The Giver. This story boasts just the right amount of science fiction, religion, and romance for an instant success. Sarah Tarkoff weaves a very entertaining tale with this novel, one that flows seamlessly and leaves the reader thinking about it for a while after the final page is turned. This book will surely appeal to a broad audience, such as fans of the aforementioned series, though, like those, it is rather intense and definitely no children’s story. Sinless is the first of the new series Eye of the Beholder, and it is certainly a grand entrance. Many who read it will be craving for the next in the series—I know I am. Sinless by Sarah Tarkoff. Harper Voyager, 2018. Buy the book here and support Children’s Art Foundation–Stone Soup in the process! Have you read this book? Or do you plan on reading it? If so, comment below!
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Escape from Aleppo, Reviewed by Claire Rinterknecht, 13
Nadia’s family had a plan. If ever their house was bombed they were supposed to meet at the dentist’s office. But Nadia is terrified of leaving her house because she already knows what it feels like to live through a bombing and the shrapnell in her leg is a constant reminder. So when her sister wakes her up one night to leave because the bombing is getting close Nadia hesitates a moment too long and is thrown out the front door by the force of the bomb. Her family leaves her for dead. But she’s not dead and when she regains consciousness she makes her way to the dentist’s office where she finds a note from her grandmother saying they are on the way to Turkey. So Nadia sets out on the long journey alone. But she doesn’t stay lonely for long. Along the way she meets an old man with many identities and his donkey, Jamila. They travel together to the old man’s friend’s house where they meet two orphaned boys who join them. But hiding from the Syrian Army, the rebel groups, bombers and snipers make their journey to the border very long and perilous. Last year I made a friend who was Syrian and who, five years before had fled from the war when her kitchen was bombed. This book helped me understand a little better what she went through and what other refugees are still going through today. I did not enjoy this book very much because I did not like the style of writing and it was very hard to like the main character, Nadia. She was a one dimensional character who didn’t have much personality. She was self absorbed and did not seem to realise that having perfect nails in the middle of a warring country did not matter. However, by the end of the book she became more likeable but I never really liked her enough to worry about whether she would get to the border. Even though I did not like the main character or the style of writing, Escape from Aleppo gave me a clearer picture of what is happening in Syria. I also learned a lot about Syrian culture and how and why the war started in the first place. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about what is happening in Syria but not to someone who wants a good story with a strong main character. Escape from Aleppo by N.H. Senzai. Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books, 2018. Buy the book here and support Children’s Art Foundation-Stone Soup in the process! Have you read this book? Or do you plan on reading it? If so, comment below!
Saturday Newsletter: April 27, 2018
I realized that I’d probably never have what she had. She had hope Illustrator Anika Knudson, 13, for Hope, by Isabel Folger, 12 Published January/February 2014. A note from William Rubel Another week! Where do they go? Last week, I said that I’d write about blogs this week. To begin, I’d like to acknowledge my colleague, Sarah Ainsworth, who manages the blogs, including the book reviews. We at Stone Soup are very excited by the material that our young bloggers and reviewers have been sending to us. I would like to ask you–whether you are a young Stone Soup reader or an adult Stone Soup reader–to please look at the material being published in our blogs. The blogs enable us to publish more book reviews than we can in Stone Soup, and they enable us to publish writing by young writers that falls outside of the literary framework of the magazine itself. When you read a blog post or a book review that you like (and I’m sure you will), then leave a supportive comment. If anything you read on the Stone Soup website makes you think of something, if a blog post or review gets your own thoughts and creative juices flowing, then please share. I am now working with a web developer who is going to set us up with a system to reward you for commenting on blogs, but in the meantime, please leave comments anyway! I can tell you as a writer of books and magazine articles that it is rewarding for authors to receive feedback and fan mail. We are so pleased with the additional material we are publishing online that I’d like to issue another call for bloggers. We are particularly looking for young bloggers–that is, age 13 and under–and we are also looking for teenagers, young adults, and adults. If you are a homeschool parent or a teacher, then we especially want to hear from you. We are about to launch an educator blog. To become a blogger you need to to first send us an example of a blog entry. You will find full instructions on our submissions platform. I want to share with you an excerpt from Vandana Ravi’s review of The Book of Boy. It is thought provoking. “I think that this book, though told in a medieval setting, really applies to modern day. Everyone is different. Although most kids have been told this many times, we still tend to single out the people who are very tall, very short, who have learning problems, who look different. We look at someone and judge them, forgetting hidden under everybody’s metaphorical disfigurement, there is a mind that thinks and feels just like we do. Everyone has, at some point, felt that they don’t fit into the norm. It’s hard to realize that our differences might actually be assets. When you are singled out or made fun of, it’s difficult to put a smile on your face and show the world that you may be different, but you have your own special powers. When you do, however, you are given wings for your personality to fly free.” For something very different, I recommend ‘The Winds of Change,’ by Lukas Cooke, who we think of as our nature blogger. This is Lukas’ fifth post. ‘The Winds of Change’ is about Spring. Lukas talks about the smell of the air, the signs of the season’s change. At the center of his story is a nest of moles that he saves from from a bonfire. The post includes a photograph of the nest. My summary does not do Lukas’ work justice. It is a well written evocation of Spring on a farm. Here is the link to find all of the work by our young Stone Soup bloggers: STONE SOUP BLOGGERS. Until next week, Making Stone Soup even more accessible Those of you who read our masthead will have noticed that for many years Stone Soup has been available in braille and ebraille for our visually impaired readers. This free service, in print and online, is provided by the US Library of Congress’ National Library Service, who you can contact to sign up or receive more information either at their website or by calling +1 800-424-8567. Now, we have expanded our accessible options by partnering with the US National Federation of the Blind’s NFB-NEWSLINE®, a free audio information service available to anyone who is blind, visually impaired, or print-disabled. We are delighted to add Stone Soup to the list of more than 500 publications already available via this service. Our young authors’ writing is standing shoulder-to-shoulder with an incredible range of publications: national, international and regional newspapers (like the New York Times), breaking news sources (such as Sports Illustrated Online, CBS, and the BBC), and magazines including Air and Space Smithsonian, Discover, Family Fun, Poets and Writers and Teen Vogue. There are a variety of ways to access NFB-NEWSLINE, always free of charge. You can use your touch-tone telephone in your home; you can access the service via the website, receive On Demand emails, or use your portable player or mobile devices. To learn more about NFB-NEWSLINE and to register, please visit www.nfbnewsline.org or call +1 866-504-7300. Please spread the word to friends, family and colleagues who could benefit from these accessible options! Business News Our Santa Cruz web designer has time for us, again! I met with Jordan Iverson last week and will be meeting with him again on Monday. Over the next couple of weeks you will be seeing tweaks to the website. When we finish fixing what we know could use improvement, then we will come to you to ask for direction. Now that the subscription login system has been simplified (you just need your email address) we have started sending out letters to make absolutely sure that those of you who are subscribers know how to get in. We also have a one-month free offer for non subscribers. If you are a newsletter reader, but not yet a subscriber, you may go to our homepage and choose ‘Subscribe’ on the menu bar. This will take you to our order form. Enter MAY18 where it asks
