“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!
Book Reviews
Fever 1973, Reviewed by Zoe Li, 12
Laurie Halse Anderson’s historical novel Fever 1793 takes place in Philadelphia during the Yellow Fever epidemic. Nearly 5,000 people died from yellow fever, and those who could afford to leave town fled to safety. Like the recent global COVID-19 epidemic, chaos reigned, and majority groups started accusing minorities and immigrants for spreading the sickness. Yellow fever struck fear in the hearts of the people in Philadelphia as everyone was petrified of catching the fatal disease. Oftentimes, sick people were denied entry into hospitals, homes, and towns. The infected were left to fend for themselves. Matilda Cook tells the story of a 14-year-old girl who lives with her widowed mother and grandfather. Matilda’s mother owns and operates a coffeehouse with only the help of her cook, Eliza. Eliza is a free African American woman who is part of the Free African Society, a group of people who help with taking care of the sick. Matilda’s grandfather, a Revolutionary War veteran, takes on her father’s role and brings humor and color to the story. Matilda is a strong female character who is lovable, smart, and caring. Teens, especially girls, will relate to Matilda as she expresses her independence from her mother on her way to adulthood. She grows and matures from a lazy kid to an independent and hardworking teen. Hints of romance are dropped along the way, but the partnership is not the main point. Matilda is a very dramatic character who must change her personality if she wants to survive. The separation of social classes presents another challenge that Matilda faces in addition to death. As the deadly plague spreads throughout the town, only the rich can afford to leave, while the less fortunate must stay. Matilda faces many dire situations and problems that could potentially end her life. While reading this book, I felt Anderson wanted to inform readers about yellow fever. She did an excellent job! She filled the book with information. Before reading Fever 1793, I knew nothing about yellow fever. I did not even know that Pennsylvania had a pandemic. When reading this book, readers will learn the details about the role African Americans played during the Yellow Fever epidemic, the strange medical practices that “treated” patients, and the controversy that surrounded doctors at the time. Although Fever 1793 is a great book, there are other historical fiction books that I would recommend more. The plot did not fully engage me at all times, and the author had not developed strong enough characters to make me have to keep turning the pages. The plot was predictable, and the suspense was not emphasized enough so it was not always a page turner. All things considered, it was one of the easiest historical novels that I have read. Not only does this book follow a chronological order, which is easy to follow and understand, it also did not leave out any key elements. Everything that I needed and wanted to know is conveyed in the book. The only thing I would do differently, if I was the author, is fully develop the minor characters. When a character goes through something bad or unfortunate, I wanted to feel empathy for that character but instead, I did not care about them. Generally speaking, Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson is good, but not a must read book. If you are looking for an easy historical novel to read that is interesting and relatable, this is the perfect book for you. If you like this genre, then what are you waiting for? Stop staring at your screen and start reading! Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2002. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
The Fort, Reviewed by Sydney Kesselheim, 11
The Fort, by Gordon Korman, is a novel about four 6th grade boys who all share a clubhouse in the woods. Their special place has remained secret until a new kid, Ricky, follows them into the woods. Together, the group discovers a hidden bomb shelter complete with food, a sink, a stove, a TV and a couch. These kids, working to keep their find from everybody, must also strive to accept Ricky as a new member of their group. All the while, each boy is facing serious life challenges. It’s inspiring to watch how the fort helps all the characters with their own individual problems but still helps each of them bond together as friends who confide in each other. One special feature of the novel is that each character encounters an individual problem that makes all of them need the fort in different ways. One example is CJ who uses the fort because his parents are divorced, and he does not like his new stepfather, Marcus. The fort helps CJ escape from his stepfather who gives CJ many presents but is abusive. When Marcus gets mad, he hits his family members, and then after that goes back to being his happy self again. CJ is frustrated with his mother and her texts, “12:02 AM from Mom. Why are you doing this?” CJ explains, “ It bothers me because my mother knows the answer to that question. I’m doing this because my scrapes and bumps and bruised ribs have nothing to do with the bike jumps or skateboard stunts, or death-defiers. They come from the man who became my stepfather when she married him.” The readers learn that not only is Marcus hurting CJ, he is also hurting CJ’s mother. He uses death-defiers as a way of making purposeful injuries in order to cover up the real ones and, as a safe place, CJ needs to hide out in the fort. The second reason I like this book is because the characters know how to deal with bullies. The bullies in this book are Jager and Luke, who are older and carry a knife, and their whole mission is to find out what these five kids are doing in the woods alone after school. The fort kids come up with ways to mislead Jager and Luke, like making a decoy fort and creating a lookout tree. They find victory in other great ways as well. Third, through the character of Mitchell, this book helps readers understand the struggles of kids with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). For example, Mitchell needs to make sure the couch in the fort is positioned perfectly before he sits down. For him, this is just a normal thing he does, and he does it with anything he sits, stands, or lays on. Mitchell’s need to control his environment in this way creates special challenges for him because he gets judged for these behaviors. On the contrary, Mitchell thinks these actions are as natural as breathing or walking. Meeting Mitchell helps the readers expand their empathy for kids with OCD. In conclusion, The Fort by Gordon Korman is a great read for rising sixth graders. I recommend this book because its characters exhibit courage, independence and friendship. It is a wonderful story about how trust binds us together. Similar themes are emphasized in Gordon Korman’s other books like Mixed Up and Restart which are also stories about challenges teens might face. The Fort by Gordon Korman. Scholastic Press, 2022. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
