I, for one, am really unhappy about the changes… Cricket was almost the only good, widespread literary magazine that existed for young people, so it’s an enormous loss. I also wouldn’t mind so much if it weren’t for the fact that they seem to have completely forgotten about quality – from one issue to the next, it turned into a horrid, cheap-seeming magazine that’s actually difficult to read through >:(

Anyway, for books, I love a ton of stuff – any good fantasy that comes my way will be thoroughly consumed and then reread multiple times (Chronicles of Narnia, anyone…?), and a good romcom is worth its weight in pillows.

I knowww the stories just aren’t that good anymore :/

@admins, no worries – glitches happen:)

@WildWolf, yeah, they aren’t ): It seems like Cricket’s best time was around 2021-2022-ish; the stories from then were really good. (Did you ever read the one called “Katrina and the Bright Falcon” (at least I believe that was its name)? It was so lovely <3) I also don’t like the whole new look – it’s way less literary and beautiful, kind of like the changes to the CB’s appearance – and some of the articles are terrible :/

I agree about Cricket (I was a Cricketer originally, and then I also got Cobblestone for a few months but didn’t like it as much); I feel like even before the whole combination thing, the stories were getting slightly worse for a little bit? I don’t know if that’s anyone else’s opinion as well.

I forgot to say that I like a lot of types of books: fantasy, mysteries, adventure stories, and some well-written romcoms.

I read muse and I absolutely do not like the change, I love science and when they combined the mags I found that I didn’t find any joy, or intrest in the topics. Everyone has different interests, so different mags are best!!!!

What did you guys think of this month’s magazine?

Tried to post here earlier, but CAPTCHA wasn’t showing up… Trying again!

I made a post over on This Month about a part of the magazine I didn’t like. I got Cricket and Cobblestone before the merge, and Spider, Ask, and Ladybug and Click before that. The subject specific magazines made it feel more unique, meaningful, heartfelt, and special in my opinion, but maybe that’s just me. 

And in terms of Reading Nerd stuff, has anyone else noticed in Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Starry River of the Sky, and When the Sea Turned to Silver, by Grace Lin, that the protagonists are in the same family, just different generations? You can tell they’re connected if you pay attention to the dialogue surrounding the blue bowl with the white rabbit painted on it!

It’s not letting me reply so I’m doing this instead.

The stories are definitely different! I remember every once in a while in Cobblestone, there would be a short story, but it would be very information heavy so the writing would be really choppy… I think they’re trying to select short stories that are more choppy like that, so Cobblestone and Muse and Faces readers appeal to them more… I don’t think they need to change them to appeal to the other readers, though. The Cricket short stories are so iconic and wonderful! Anyone can appreciate them!

I agree! I’ve noticed that a lot of the stories are told in the first person now. I don’t mind the first person, but I do feel like it’s being used a little bit too much, which can make the main character’s POV feel incredibly distinct, in my opinion. Thank you so much for pointing that out! I’ve been getting so many “this feels off” vibes from the new Cricket, and now I feel like I have a better understanding of where they are coming from!