An Update from our Third Stone Soup Book Club meeting! On Wednesday, April 29th, we were lucky enough to be joined by author, Nicole Helget, as we continued to discuss her book, The End of the Wild. Participants offered a range of penetrating questions that opened our discussion to everything from Nicole’s inspiration for the book and particular characters, to suggestions for approaching the craft of wiring fiction, to practical tips for tackling writer’s block! We all learned so much. Among those suggestions that stand out most clearly in my mind, Nicole shared that she believes each chapter in a work of fiction should always start with setting–even if only briefly. Otherwise, as she explained, the story unfolds in blackness for the reader, with no movie reel running in their imagination as they read. Before beginning, Nicole advised, you should develop your main character and determine how many companion characters will accompany them on their journey throughout the story. Your core mission, as a writer, is to decide on what it is your main character wants that they don’t have and let this drive your plot. Finally, don’t be afraid to edit! As Nicole advised, whatever doesn’t serve your story, no matter how attached to the writing you might be, must go. It was a fascinating and informative session and we’re so grateful to Nicole for joining us. The Participants: Anya, Abhi, Allegra, Arianna, Chloe, Djin, Enni, Ever, Georgia, Joanna, Lena, Lucy, Michaela, Penelope, Rachel, Raeha, Simar, Sophia, Tristan. The Stone Soup Book Club is open to all Stone Soup contributors and subscribers, age 9-13, during the COVID-19-related school closures and shelter-in-place arrangements. We meet every Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. PST for one hour via Zoom to discuss our chosen book. Next week, we will begin discussing our 2nd book: The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or the Three Magical Children and their Holy Dog, by Adam Gidwitz. Hope to see you all there!
Nicole Helget
Book Club Report: The End of the Wild, by Nicole Helget
An Update from our Second Stone Soup Book Club meeting! The Stone Soup Book Club is open to all Stone Soup contributors and subscribers, age 9-13, during the COVID-19-related school closures and shelter-in-place arrangements. We meet every Wednesday for one hour via Zoom to discuss our chosen book. On Wednesday, April 22nd, we began discussing our first book, The End of the Wild, by Nicole Helget. We talked generally about how people felt about the book so far–whether they were hooked right away, how they felt about the writing style, etc.–before breaking into smaller groups for more in-depth discussions on setting and character development. We had a productive discussion where many interesting points were raised and some different opinions about characters emerged! The group decided to devote 2 weeks to each book we read. Next week will be our last session with The End of the Wild. We will delve into plot development and the book’s many themes, as well as revisit ideas about setting and characters. The following week we will begin discussing our 2nd book, The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or the Three Magical Children and their Holy Dog, by Adam Gidwitz. Finally, we are very lucky to have Anya Geist (13), a Stone Soup contributor, act as a co-facilitator of our book club! 1st Book The End of the Wild, by Nicole Helget 2nd Book (beginning May 6th) The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or the Three Magical Children and their Holy Dog, by Adam Gidwitz The Participants: Enni (13), Abhi (12), Anya (13), Lucy (12), Georgia (11), Lena (11), Mehr (12), Simar (6), Ever (10), Djin (10), Chloe (10), Joanna (10), Penelope (12), Allegra (10), Arianna (9) Next meeting: Wednesday April 29, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PST, via Zoom. To receive full meeting details and reminders, please sign up for the COVID-19 mailing list here. Note that the Book Club is still open to new members if anyone couldn’t make it this time, but wants to join and read with us. Join us!
Book Club Report: Our First Meeting!
An update from our first Stone Soup Book Club Meeting! The Stone Soup Book Club is open to all Stone Soup contributors and subscribers during the COVID-19-related school closures and shelter-in-place arrangements. We meet every Wednesday for one hour via Zoom to discuss our chosen book. Wednesday, April 15th was our first meeting. The aim of this meeting was to introduce ourselves to one another, share our book ideas, and to choose our first book! This was no easy task with all the interesting and varied suggestions offered by participants. After much discussion, we narrowed it down to two favorites and decided that these would be the first and second books we would discuss. All of the suggestions were such great choices that we’ve listed them below, to serve as a reading list should anyone be looking for their next book, as recommended by a fellow Stone Soup fan! The Books: Our chosen books to read in Book Club are: 1st Book – The End of the Wild, by Nicole Helget 2nd Book – The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or the Three Magical Children and their Holy Dog, by Adam Gidwitz How the Book Club will work: We agreed that we would read 3-5 chapters of our first book before the next meeting. So, at next week’s book club, we will discuss the section of the book that we have all read. We’ll then agree how much more we will read during the following week. The Participants: Enni (13), Rachel (9), Jewels (12), Reha (11), Abhi (12), Anya (13), Lucy (12), Georgia (11), Lena (11), Mehr (12), Simar (6, and Mehr’s sister!), Vivian (11, who could not attend this week but offered some great book choices). Note that the Book Club got started with the fantastic group on this week’s call, but it is still open to new members if anyone couldn’t make it this time, but wants to join and read with us. Next meeting: Wednesday April 22, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PST, via Zoom. To receive full meeting details and reminders, please sign up for the COVID-19 mailing list here. Join us! The Book List: other great suggestions included… Longbow Girl, by Linda Davies Out of My Mind, by Sharon M. Draper Bubble, by Stewart Foster The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green Storm Breaker, by Anthony Horowitz Animal Farm, by George Orwell They Both Die at the End, by Adam Silvera East of Eden, by John Steinbeck If This Were a Story, by Beth Turley Someone named Eva, by Joan M. Wolf
