“There’s nowhere to hide on the world’s first moon base. After all, it’s only the size of a soccer field.” Yet, this doesn’t stop misfortune from rendering someone missing. With the Moon Base Alpha (MBA) base commander, Nina Stack, nowhere to be found, chaos spawns between the residents on the moon. Spaced Out by Stuart Gibbs is an astonishing novel where the mystery never ends. At only twelve years of age, Dashiell (Dash) Gibson is the best detective they’ve got. No one on the base has found footsteps darker than he has. While this confounding enigma takes place, an alien from a distant species, Zan Perfonic, remains in contact with Dash. Rather than traveling to the moon in an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO), Zan “thinks” itself to the moon. Zan connects its mind to Dash to project an image of itself before him, but no one else can see it. The only other human being that Zan had come in contact with before was Dr. Ronald Holtz, a brilliant scientist who played a key role in the creation of MBA. Unfortunately, Dr. Holtz was murdered by a fellow resident on the moon because of his contact with an alien. Despite this incident, Zan communicated with humanity again, an action that the rest of its species did not approve of. On the other hand, the people at MBA were beginning to believe that Nina had ventured out onto the lunar surface. Due to MBA’s small size, she could hide nowhere. After discovering more and more clues about Nina’s mystifying disappearance, Dash and the other Moonies began to get closer to unraveling a seemingly never-ending riddle. Once they solved the puzzle, they realized that the answer was hiding in plain sight. This book reminded me of the Chandrayaan-3 space mission, an Indian rocket sent to the moon recently. Unlike many that have been sent to the moon in the past, the rocket went to the south pole of the moon, a place that is yet to be explored by the human race. This mission is similar to Spaced Out because it shows that humanity is one step closer to eventually creating a moon base in real life, just like Moon Base Alpha (MBA) in Spaced Out. Overall, Spaced Out by Stuart Gibbs is a spectacular novel that exceeded my expectations. The author did a brilliant job creating this book, and I recommend it to other middle-aged readers around 10-14. Spaced Out by Stuart Gibbs. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2017. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Incredibles 2, Reviewed by Wilson Chen, 11
I was attracted to Incredibles 2 ever since I saw the vibrant poster. I couldn’t help but investigate the family of superheroes running at the train, all while holding a baby, who was astonishingly shooting lasers at a frightened raccoon. When I squinted even closer, I saw even more superheroes lurking in the background. The mysterious figure over the iconic Incredibles logo only added to the anticipation of watching this movie. When I finally got the chance to see it a couple of months later, it exceeded my extremely high expectations … by a lot. Incredibles 2 is an electrifying movie directed by Brad Bird, a famous director who shares an Oregon upbringing with me. Bird’s exceptional talents won him two Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and many Best Original Screenplay nominations. He also directed Ratatouille and The Iron Giant, which paved his path to later directing Incredibles 2. Incredibles 2 is a sequel to the movie Incredibles, and both revolve around the Parr family (a.k.a The Incredibles). After Helen accepts a job in order to regain public trust for superheroes, Bob struggles to simultaneously deal with Dash’s math homework and Violet’s boyfriend, who had his memory wiped after discovering Violet’s role as a superhero. Brad Bird manages to fit the entire story in only 1 hour 58 minutes! This allows you to watch it, even if you don’t have a lot of time. One of my favorite parts about the movie is the vivid designs and stunning animation. One of the advantages Pixar had with this film was its team of highly talented animators, which enabled them to have more flexibility over character designs. Another great part about this movie is the variety of characters. Brad Bird also introduced six new “superheroes” to Incredibles 2 with the names of: Screech, He-Lectrix, Reflux, Brick, Krushauer, and Voyd. These additions provide the movie with a rich array of characters and personalities. They play an important role in the final battle, since their abilities are used for good and bad, giving the viewer both perspectives on superpowers. My favorite character in the movie is Jack-Jack (the baby). He has a variety of superpowers such as multiplying himself, turning into a purple demon-looking thing, and becoming a human torch. Even though this movie was a smashing success, I believe there were some parts that could have been done better. One of the criticisms I have is the repetition of superpowers. For example, Mr. Incredible and Brick share the same ability, making each one less special. In the film, Voyd, Elastigirl, and Screech all survived a free fall at some point. Another main problem in this film is the sheer amount of characters. It can help make the movie diverse, but ruin it at the same time. Incredibles 2 cannot focus on one group of people without leaving the others behind. Therefore, they don’t really spend a lot of time on an individual character. This blocks the viewer’s ability to go in-depth on the characters they like. Some characters only appear once or twice in this movie, even though they are really well written and have a unique personality. Overall, this is a fantastic film. It uses high-tech animations and technologies to create a visually pleasing effect. The thrilling plot keeps you on your toes throughout the entire movie, while maintaining a humorous outline at the same time. Even though I believe there are some things they could have improved on, it still deserves a standing ovation at the end. This movie is perfect for people who like superheroes, comedy, and a whole lot of action!
Weekly Creativity #273 | Flash Contest #60: Make Up an Imaginary Celebrity and Write a Story in Which They are the Main Character
Make up an imaginary celebrity and write a story in which they are the main character. What are they famous for? What does their life look like out of the public eye?
