Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2025 i Cricket Magazine Fiction and Non-Fiction Stories for Children and Young Teens

DID YOU KNOW that one of the most dramatic “showdowns” in the old Wild West was between two astronomers? It occurred on July 29, 1878, near Rawlins, in what was then Wyoming Territory. One astronomer said there was a planet between Mercury and the Sun; the other thought no such planet existed. Their “weapons” were telescopes and sky maps. A total eclipse of the Sun for nearly three minutes in the afternoon set the time for their “duel.” The planet’s champion was James Watson, who supported a theory put forth by French astronomer Urbain J. J. Le Verrier. In 1859, Le Verrier gave his explanation for the puzzling irregular orbit of Mercury around the Sun. The French astronomer’s mathematical calculations suggested the presence of a planetary body whose gravity tugged…

ON JULY 20, 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to land on the Moon. They were aboard Apollo 11’s lunar module Eagle, a small spacecraft with soda-can thin aluminum walls designed by aerospace engineers to land upright on spindly legs. My friend Joseph Taylor tells me that, as Eagle descended toward the Moon’s surface, an alarm flashed. The onboard computer had overloaded with data. Back in Houston, Gene Kranz, the NASA flight director in charge of the lunar landing, quickly consulted with his flight-control team and ordered the mission to continue. Margaret Hamilton, who coined the term “software engineer” to describe her work, had programmed the early model computer to complete its most important tasks first. Although alarms continued to flash intermittently as Eagle…

Dear Cricket,I have finished my first-ever book! I don’t really like it, but I’m working on a new one that I like. To everyone who’s writing their own book right now, I just wanna say, “You can do it!” I always thought I couldn’t, but I proved myself wrong. I’ve also been drawing a lot and I think I’ve improved greatly since last year, but there’s always space to grow. I’ve also been reading a lot of great books, like Animal Farm and The Great Gatsby. Has anyone else read The Great Gatsby? It’s really good. The descriptions the author gives are amazing. Also I’m reading Great Expectations, and I’ve finished The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. It’s haunting and beautifully written, and I encourage everyone to read…

On his twelfth birthday, Solly’s parents take him to A Taste of Naples, which is his favorite restaurant partly because it is the one place his mom and dad never argue. Solly is surprised when his parents, who have never been particularly religious, announce that he must begin studying for his Bar Mitzvah. Grandma Rosie will teach him Hebrew. Papa Morris, a cantor who leads the congregation in prayer, will teach him to sing. Solly plays on his middle school basketball team, and he likes shooting buckets in the driveway with his dad, a busy ophthalmologist who was a basketball star in college. But Solly’s dad never has much time for his son and even forgets to pick Solly up after his first lesson with Grandma Rosie. At first resistant…

Today is September 20, 3012. In top news this morning, astronaut Willis Everson returns to Earth today. The famous aviator recently led a five-year expedition piloting Earth’s first mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa. Earlier in his illustrious career, Captain Everson established the National Space Settlement Program, commanding multiple supply convoys to Earth’s colony on Mars. After twenty years of service, he now looks forward to spending more time with his family. In an interview with SPACENEWS magazine, Everson said— ANTRIK EVERSON SWITCHED off the cosmovision. He had to get ready for school. “Are you excited?” Mom asked as she entered the kitchen. She took three eggs from the preserver and placed them in the Insta-Cook, then pressed SCRAMBLE and START. “Yeah,” Antrik answered. “But nervous, too. I sure hope I…

WINNERS OCTOBER 2024 POETRY CONTEST How Unexpected! First prize 10 and under Lyla W., age 10Chester, NJ Why Leaves Fall from Trees When the air turns cold and a little crisperAnd the wind blows sharp like a ghostly whisper, The leaves become so shriveled and small,But not for the reason that we think at all. You see, when Autumn begins to arrive,The leaves prepare and start to skydive! The feeling of gliding is what they love.They spend all their time in the trees up above. All they desire is the chance to fly,To float in the breeze in the clear Autumn sky. These crinkled brown leaves are actually jumping,Not falling and rotting and breaking and clumping. Then once they land on the ground’s frosty decay,They make their way back up…