Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists

Victoria Jamieson’s fantastic new graphic novel, All’s Faire in Middle School, tells the tale of an eleven-year-old girl named Imogene (Impy, for short) who, after being homeschooled her whole life, is entering a public school for the first time. Impy has grown up at the Renaissance Faire themed park in Florida where her father performs as a knight in jousting competitions and her mom runs a souvenir shop. Impy is finally old enough to work as a squire, an assistant to the knights, and even though some of her job is just shoveling up horse poop, she’s willing to do anything to how that she’s worthy of becoming a knight–her ultimate dream. Impy knows that knights are required to be chivalrous, honest, and brave…all traits she will need as she starts public school, which is a very frightening quest indeed! The first time she goes into the lunchroom at her new public school, she realizes that everyone is sitting with people they’ve known since elementary school, and she doesn’t know anyone. Luckily, she finds a group of seemingly-nice girls and hits it off with them. But when she is invited to one girl’s house, which is actually a mansion, Impy starts to become aware of the differences between her new friends and herself. She begins to see her own appearance in a new light, as well as her family’s weird lifestyle, and their not-so-nice-and-rich apartment. She also learns in middle school that everyone has a dragon inside. The girl who lives in a mansion starts to mock Impy for wearing different clothes and shoes than the other girls in their group. After Impy spends the money and time to buy a new outfit to fit in, her new friends start talking about how uncool it is for her to copy them. Then, Impy starts doing mean things just to fit in. After a difficult week at school, she gives into peer pressure and draws an unflattering picture of a girl named Anita who is considered the teacher’s pet. After one of Impy’s supposed ‘friends’ posts the picture all over the school, Anita sees the picture and is hurt, which makes Impy’s heart sink. Is Impy more of a dragon than a knight? Even though Impy doesn’t do the right thing, Ms. Jamieson makes Impy’s struggles relatable by showing us Impy’s insecurities and how they lead her to do things she regrets. Overall, this was a great graphic novel and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves adventurous books filled with color and vitality. The humor in this book is never-ending, like when her family embarrasses her at school and when she talks back to her ‘friends.’ I also learned many life lessons from this book; it gives a lot of good tips and on how to let your inner knight shine through and tame your inner dragon. For example, choosing the right friends plays a big part, along with having the ability to determine whether they see you as a friend too. The book also teaches you about peer pressure and how to be cautious so a similar situation doesn’t happen to you. Ms. Jamieson does a great job showing that you should not be afraid to be different from others, even if fitting in might seem like the best choice sometimes. This book shows us, through Impy’s journey through middle school, that you should not just follow others to feel accepted and in place. Being unique lets your true inner light shine through. All’s Faire in Middle School by Victoria Jamieson. Penguin Random House, 2017. 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!

Imagine living all your life without being able to walk, talk, or even move with fairly good coordination. Melody Brooks, the main character in this book, is almost eleven years old, and has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. She has lived all her life with words surrounding her, and a million thoughts in her head. Yet she has been tortured by the fact that she cannot respond to those words or express those thoughts. Then, with the help of her neighbor, Mrs. V., Melody purchases a machine (a special type of laptop) that gives her a voice. One where she can type any word or sentence and the computer will say it for her.  She is a brilliant young girl, yet until this amazing opportunity comes up she cannot prove to anyone, teachers and doctors alike, what her brain can actually do. I think one of the reasons that this book popped out to me was that fact that the main character has a disability. So many books have main characters that are ordinary kids. Middle schoolers who are trying to make it through middle school alive. Older siblings that are jealous of their new younger sibling. Those books focus on everyday things, and yet when we read them we always feel bad for them, and want to help them through their problems. But what about kids like Melody, who have more difficult lives than any of us? Don’t they deserve a standing ovation for just living through the first five years of their life? I also think I especially liked this book because I can relate fairly well to it. I have an uncle who has Down syndrome. In the book, there is a side character named Maria. Being in Melody’s class at school, Melody does describe her a bit. Maria has Down syndrome. Although she is the character who I can understand best (because of my uncle), the other children in Melody’s class have disabilities as well, that I feel I am able to understand what is going on in their heads because of my uncle. Later on in the book, Melody makes her school’s Whiz Kids team because of her smarts. Two girls, Molly and Claire, do not think she should have made the team, although both of them made the team themselves. They talk badly of her behind her back, and you find yourself taking Melody’s side and defending her. You start thinking “They’re so mean! Why don’t they just close their mouths?” But, the truth is, there are people out there like that. I think what we should take from this book is the fact that those people (people with disabilities) just wanted to be recognized for who they really are, and not as “that girl in the wheelchair” or “that boy who can’t talk”. We should judge these special people by their character and not by their appearances. Out of my Mind by Sharon M. Draper. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2010. 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!