Note: We coincidentally received two reviews for the same book, Save Me a Seat, by Gita Varadarajan and Sarah Weeks, so we’ve decided to publish them both to get two different perspectives. Review by Nandini Krishnan: We’ve all been in uncomfortable situations. For Ravi and Joe, it’s the first week of fifth grade as the book Save Me a Seat follows the trials and tribulations they face. Ravi is moving all the way from Bangalore, India to Hamilton, New Jersey. Joe has lived there all his life, but his best friends have moved away. They seem to have nothing in common at all, but soon enough they find common ground- Dillon Samreen, the most popular boy in school. Each chapter in the story alternates from Ravi’s and Joe’s perspective. The story starts on the first day of school: Ravi’s family are eager for his first day of school, but he soon realises all the differences between India and New Jersey. Besides from having an unpronounceable name, nobody can decode what he is saying because of his accent. In the cafeteria, his vegetarian packed lunches are peculiar. But Ravi is undaunted, because he knows that he and Dillon Samreen, the other Indian boy in class, will become best friends. Soon enough, Ravi realises that this may not be the case… Joe is alone without his best friends and the outlook for the coming year don’t look too good. To make things worse, his mom is becoming the cafeteria monitor. But to top it all of, Dillon is in his class, and is a bigger jerk than ever. Joe’s Auditory Processing Disorder, makes it even harder for him to make friends. How could Joe’s year possibly get better? You’ll have to read and see! This book focuses on a very important topic, on accepting differences and celebrating them instead of using them as a tool to put people down. It also beautifully displays the power of food in bringing people together! I was really able to relate to this book, because Ravi’s character comes from the same part of India as I do, and it felt really nice to read about my culture! I can also relate to him when he talks about the switch from India to the USA, because it is quite similar to how I felt when I moved from a largely monocultural school to an international one, where I had to understand how things changed and how different interactions were, but had to learn to stay true to myself and who I was and not have to change myself to fit in. I think that this a great feel good read that is suitable for anyone 9+ (although, my mom loved it too). The book brings light to some very complex issues, but makes them understandable for younger readers. My favourite part of the book, was finally seeing Joe and Ravi’s storylines merge at the end of the week. I liked how no matter how different Joe and Ravi were, they still became friends. If you are looking for an easy read, that will still make you think when you reach the end then you should definitely read this book! Review by Sarina Patel Banker: Ravi, a fifth grader at Albert Einstein elementary school, has a hard time fitting in. This is his first year at a new school, and he is not used to America. Ravi moved from India where he was “popular” and bullied kids who were different. Now, in America, he is the one who is bullied for being different. When he is hiding in the bathroom from the bully he says, “It seems I am getting a taste of my own medicine.” At the end of the book, he shares with the class his grandfather’s story of working in tea plantations and struggling, because many dangerous animals lurked nearby. I can relate to this because my Grandfather worked hard in fields in India every day to cut sugarcane. He had a dream to go to school in America. When he finally was able to come to America, he had a difficult time fitting in and was teased for his accent. Now, my Grandfather is a successful doctor in Texas. Joe, the other main character of this book is bullied by Dillon, the same boy that bullies Ravi. Joe has a hearing problem called APD, which makes your ears very sensitive to loud noises. Joe’s mom works at the school as a lunch monitor, and Dillon teases Joe about her. Over the summer, Joe’s only two friends moved away to California, and now he feels alone. Joe’s favorite time at school used to be lunch, but after his friends move away he sits by himself feeling lonely. Joe and Ravi are different people from different backgrounds, but they shared some hardships. They both feel like outcasts and are both bullied by Dillon. Though at first they are not friends, they start to support each other. By the end of the book, Joe and Ravi become good friends. Ravi says, “Winning is not always about shining brightest. Sometimes it is about sharing the light with someone who has been waiting in the shadows all along.” To me, this book is about friendship. The title Save Me A Seat captures the idea that no matter how lonely and sad you might feel, there could be someone nearby feeling the same way, who could become a good friend. It also shows how good friends look out for each other, whether it’s adjusting to a new country, dealing with a bully, or just having someone to share lunch with in the cafeteria. I highly recommend this book, and I hope you enjoy it. Save Me a Seat by Gita Varadarajan and Sarah Weeks. Scholastic Press, 2016. Buy the book here and support Children’s Art Foundation-Stone Soup in the process! Have you also read this book? Or do you plan on reading it? Tell us below!
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Earth Day Is For Everyone: How Do You Want To Make A Difference?
Photo via Pixabay by Clker-Free-Vector-Images Our earth has been alive for 4 billion years, but already it seems to be dying. Not only are plants and animals across the globe disappearing, but the earth itself approaches death. The ozone layer is getting ruined with human activities and pollution, and habitats all around the world are turning into modern cities and towns. Animals watch as their homes tear down in front of their eyes. Trees disappear, and carbon dioxide builds up in our world. All of this cannot be stood for. If we’d like a place for future generations to live, grow, and thrive, then we all need to do our part. We all need to take action, even us children! We can make a difference together! So what can you do to help save the earth? There are obviously the normal things: brushing your teeth without the water running, showering for less time, etc., but there are many creative ways to produce change as well. I’ll let you come up with some cool ideas yourself, but for now, here are three tips that you can use throughout the week to help Mother Earth out. 1. Use cloth napkins, not paper ones. My friend only uses towels and cloth napkins. Not only does this save trees, but it limits the amount of material that needs to be produced. They are especially good for wiping up spills. When we use paper napkins, they are really thin and get wet fairly quickly. One cloth napkin, however, can wipe up a lot of water. 2. Next time you go to school/work and buy lunch, bring home the plastic utensils you use. Don’t waste time and money by throwing away plastic spoons, forks, and knives. They may seem flimsy, but can end up useful for simply tasks like scooping a bit of honey for a cake and buttering bread. You’ve already used the cutlery now, so keep it going! (This also goes for brown paper bags. Don’t throw them away after one use! They can last a lot longer!) 3. Save, don’t spend (excessively). You can save up to buy what you really want over time instead of splurging it on candy and the movies every weekend. You’ll feel more accomplished and proud by saving! Since it is the month of Earth Day, I’ve also included an Earth Day Challenge below. You can do it any day you want, of course, but especially have fun trying it out on Earth Day, which is April 22nd. Happy reading! Let’s work together to save the earth! Earth Day Challenge Turn off the water when brushing your teeth and flossing. Grow your own tree/flower/other plant. Take a 3-minute shower. Don’t use a lamp to study, instead find some natural lighting. Turn off the heater and wear a sweater or fleece blanket instead. Turn off at least 5 excess lights on in your house. Walk anywhere within 2 miles of your current location. Persuade 3 people to recycle their empty soda cans, paper scraps, etc. Donate old clothing and toys. Only use shopping bags made of recycled paper or cloth. Compost!!! Go tech-free for an hour! And going to sleep does not count :). Prepare a meal without electricity. Salad, anyone? Drive around in electric cars and other earth-friendly vehicles. Carpool with 2 others. Go biking for an hour instead of surfing the web. Or just take a walk! Extra Credit: Use rechargeable batteries in devices. Phones count, as long as you don’t use them excessively.
Saturday Newsletter: April 21, 2018
I noticed the slightest little crack on the crown Illustrator Christian Miguel, 12, for ‘If Only’ by David Vapnek, 12 Published September/October 2014. A note from William Rubel I’d like to start out today with some business news. Firstly, some great news! Stories from Stone Soup are included in some of those assessment tests that so many of us adults recall with dread and that so many of you Stone Soup readers are about to sit for as the school year winds down. In the last year, Stone Soup stories have been read in reading assessment tests one million times! That is right: ONE MILLION pages. Wow! Congratulations to our Stone Soup writers. You writing is so good it joins the work of adults in those daunting assessment tests! Also business related. I spent two days last week in Philadelphia to work with the programmers and the account representative for ICN, the fulfillment house that handles Stone Soup orders. Finally, huge progress was made simplifying the login procedures. No more need to enter your name. No more passwords. All you need to sign in is the email address that we were given when your subscription was set up. We’ll be sending out a letter next week reminding you what that address is in case you don’t remember. Powerful portraits My colleague, Jane Levi, selects the art and the story from the archives for this Newsletter every week, and it is always a nice surprise for me to see what she has found when I come to write my part. She selected this striking and colourful portrait of a football player for this week. There are many things that I like about Christian Miguel’s painting, especially the well-observed attention to detail. The detail I want to call your attention to is the boy’s face and, in particular, his eyes. He is looking down, which reinforces the sense of the boy sitting in repose. His thoughts are inward. Yet, at the same time, we can still see his eyes, which communicates to us even more clearly that there might be something going on beyond a mere glance at the helmet in his hands. All of us, and by ‘us’ I mean both our Stone Soup-age readers and adult Newsletter readers, are handy with a camera. There is a custom that when we take a photographic portrait that the person we are photographing looks straight into the camera lens—like looking into our eyes. What I’d like you to do is take a portrait in which the person you photograph is not looking at the camera. Note how the downturned eyes, spread legs and forearms resting on his thighs all work together to communicate this moment of introspection. When working with photography it is reasonably easy to also work with lighting and the setting for your portrait. I am thinking here of a fairly formal portrait—not a photograph you take while someone is unawares. You and your subject are partners in this project. Your goal is to capture your subject’s inner self. Kids, parents, grandparents, friends, you may want to make this a shared artistic project in which you take portraits of each other. The only technical advice I’d like to give is to turn off the camera’s shutter sound. When you take your pictures the camera should be silent. That puts your subject at ease. Also, it is often effective when taking portraits to take several in a row. If you are age thirteen and younger then send Emma, the Stone SoupEditor, up to three of the images you like the best, and give them a title that tells us what the moment was about, beyond capturing the person’s likeness. Submit your writing, art, and music to Stone Soup Catch the latest on our Blog! Lastly, don’t forget to keep looking at our blog, where there is always something new. This link will take you to the latest blog posts, where we have several new book reviews (including, at last, the reviews of the books we received from publishers last November), plus a review of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, and another graphic story with the latest in the adventures of Luxi and Miola from Hana Greenberg. Until Next Week William Subscribe to Stone Soup From Stone Soup July/August 2015 Different City, Same Stars By Abby K. Svetlik, 12 Illustrated by Audrey Zhang, 12 I jolt awake when I hear the stewardess’s too perky voice come over the plane’s intercom system. “We will be landing in New York in just about fifteen minutes. I hope you all have enjoyed your flight thus far…” I zone out when she starts to ramble on about the weather conditions and time in New York. My dad realizes I’m awake and turns to me. “Welcome home,” he says. I give him a lame smile in return and hope he accounts its lack of cheeriness for sleepiness. But on the inside, all of me is frowning. New York is not my home. It never really was and it never will be. Colorado is home. Colorado was where I could lie on the roof in a sleeping bag and stare at the stars for hours. Colorado was where I kept a collection of newspaper articles and random doodles in a loose floorboard in my room. Colorado was where I grew up, despite the fact that I was born here, and where anything that ever mattered happened to me. * * * The airport we touch down in is like any other. Filled with people, smelling like dry bagels and tasteless coffee, and crowded with suitcases rolling along always clean hallways. As we make our way through the airport, Dad proceeds to tell me of his childhood here, the things he did, and the neighborhood he grew up in. I keep a few steps ahead of him so that he can’t see the grimace that contorts my face. Dad is just beginning a speech that I’m sure will go on for at least ten more minutes about where we’re moving in, and I can’t stand
