readers digest

With Navya Nittala

Table of Contents

2 Teenage Anxiety
3 Recipe: Samosas
5 An interview with Ms. Stoops
6 Strange but true
7 Book review: The Gathering
8 Technology: Computers
9 Things to know for 8th grade

1

Teenage Anxiety

Anxiety is a normal part of childhood, and every child goes through phases. A phase is
temporary and usually harmless. But children who suffer from an anxiety disorder experience
fear, nervousness, and shyness, and they start to avoid places (ADAA), this can make them feel
isolated. Anxiety disorders affect one in eight children. Research shows that untreated children
with anxiety disorders are at higher risk to perform poorly in school, [they] miss out on important
social experiences, and engage in substance abuse (ADAA). Anxiety can also be a good thing,
like when it helps you deal with a tense situation. For example, when you're studying for a test,
a little anxiety can make you want to study hard so you do well. But at other times, anxiety can
be harmful, especially when it is excessive and irrational, and prevents you from being able to
focus (WebMD). A teenager who has been anxious since childhood may have a lifestyle built
around her anxieties: the activities and environments the person chooses and those she/he
rules out, the friends the person is comfortable with, the expectations and limitations the person
has trained her family, friends, and teachers to accept. That’s why it’s more challenging to treat
anxiety the longer a child has lived with it, and developed unhealthy coping mechanisms to
manage it (ChildMind).
Citations:
https://www.adaa.org/living-with-anxiety/children
http://teens.webmd.com/anxiety-and-teens
https://childmind.org/article/mood-disorders-and-teenage-girls/

2

How to make Samosas

Ingredients

Dough:

 3/4 teaspoon salt
 2 1/4 cups self-rising flour
 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, cut in small pieces
 9 tablespoons water

Filling:

 1 1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
 1 cup fresh or frozen mixed peas, corn, and carrots
 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
 1 medium onion, chopped
 1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
 1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh ginger
 1/2 habanero chile, minced
 1/2 teaspoon garam masala spice blend
 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
 1 teaspoon red chile powder
 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
 1/2 lemon, juiced
 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander leaves
 Vegetable oil, for frying
 Chutney, for serving

Directions

To make the dough: Mix the salt and flour in a medium bowl or a food processor. With a pastry
blender, incorporate the butter until crumbs have formed. Add the water a few tablespoons at a
time, until you can form a ball. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes. Let it rest for about 15
minutes more. You can prepare the dough in advance and refrigerate it.
To make the filling: Boil the potatoes until tender. Drain and set aside.
If using fresh carrots, chop and simmer in water, to cover, in a small pot. Add the corn and peas
to barely cook. Set aside to cool.

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion until golden. Add the garlic, ginger, and chile and cook for
2 minutes. Add the garam masala, turmeric, chile powder, and salt and cook 2 minutes more.
In a bowl combine the mashed potatoes, the onion and spice mixture, carrots, peas, corn,
lemon juice, and chopped coriander. Mix well.

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To assemble the samosas: Divide the dough into 9 equal size balls. On a floured surface, roll
each ball into a 5-inch circle. Cut each circle in half.
Brush the straightedge side with a little water, fold it in half, and align the two straight sides so
they overlap to form a cone shape. Squeeze the edges together to make a tight seal. Place
approximately 1 generous tablespoon of filling inside each cone, leaving the top edge clean.
Moisten the inside top rim of the cone and press the edges together to make another tight seal.
Place the samosas on a tray until ready to fry. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
Heat approximately 3 inches of vegetable oil in a deep saucepan. Fry several samosas at a
time, being careful not to crowd them. When 1 side turns golden brown, flip it over to brown on
the other side. Drain on paper towels.

Why is it meaningful to me?

Samosas are meaningful to me because when I went to India one of the most famous and most
eaten foods there were samosas. Samosas are a savory snack that many people like to eat with
different types of toppings and sauces. There are so many different types of fillings that you can
put in a samosa, one of my favorite filling is the one with potatoes and peas. My mom makes
samosas on some very special holidays in my religion and when she does my family is very
happy. When my mom makes samosas my sister and I like to help her because it is very fun
shaping and filling the dough. There are also some stores where you can buy premade or
frozen samosas, and when my mom does not make them we go a specific store where we can
buy the best samosas. But out of the whole entire process the most fun part is getting to eat
them.

4

An interview with Ms. Stoops

Danielle N. Stoops is a student teacher in Overland Trail Middle School who was born
on Oct. 19 in Springfield, Missouri. Growing up she had one younger brother who is now
a sophomore in college. Ms. Stoops has 4 pets 2 dogs and 2 cats, which one of her cats
thinks it is a dog so more like 2.5 dogs and 1.5 cats. Ms. Stoops enjoys eating steak
and has it as her birthday dinner most every year. In her free time Ms. Stoops like to
read and write and one of her goals is to finish a novel she is writing. Since Ms. Stoops
is a student teacher she is not allowed to have a job, but when she was in fourth grade
she wanted to be a writer and when she went to fifth grade she decided to be a teacher.
Another goal of Ms. Stoops is to one day have a pet ferret and to have her own house
and live comfortably. One of Ms. Stoop’s favorite quotes right now is “Not my circus, not
my monkey” which is from Poland, she also really likes William Shakespeare and Mark
Twain.

Ms. Stoops Black lab

5

Strange but True

Did you know that it was illegal to chew gum in Singapore? This is because the
government decided that there were too many people disturbing the public transit
system by sticking their gum on the doors of the trains. Because of the ban many
people decided to go to the nearby Johor Bahru, Malaysia, to get some gum. What
many people do not know: During the debate for the US-Singapore free trade
agreement in 2003, two things could not be resolved: the war in Iraq, and chewing gum.
A deal was made by both sides, and Singapore finally decided to take away the ban on
chewing gum in 2004, saying that the gum was for "therapeutic purposes" like dental
purposes or teeth whiting. Since then, sugar-free gum has become available for
purchase in mostly all convenience stores in Singapore. Even though ban has been
partially lifted, the government in Singapore does not want to completely lift the ban for
the risk of gum littering again.

6

Book Review: The Gathering

The Gathering is a book written by Kelley Armstrong, it was released on April 12,
2011 by HarperTeen. The Gathering is the second trilogy Darkest Powers series,
Darkness Rising. The setting takes place in a small medical-research town called
Salmon Creek on Vancouver Island, the island is so small that it only has about two
hundred people, and you can't even find it on a map. Salmon Creek was built by St.
Cloud Corporation, who are the owners of the town and the park around it. Maya who is
the main character, is adopted by a park ranger named Rick Delaney and his wife.
Maya has a real love for animals and takes care of the ones who have been hurt in the
park where they live. No one knows why but the animals seen to heal a lot quicker when
Maya is around, most of her friends say it is because of her native blood. The story
starts a year before Maya's friend, Serena dies. Serena and Maya were swimming in a
lake, Serena, who is the captain of Salmon Creek High swim team, mysteriously
drowned in the lake, which leaves Maya very sad for not being able to save her friend.
The Gathering is full of suspense, action, romance, and adventure. It also ends in a very
annoying cliffhanger which makes you want to read the next one, which is called The
Calling. I would recommend The Gathering to people looking for a very interesting and
suspenseful book to read.

7

Learn more about: Computers

Before the now famous cellphones and laptops many people would use computers.
They would use them to search things up, Gmail their friends or family, or if they are
bored maybe go to Buzzfeed and take some online quizzes. Early electronic computers,
developed around the 1940’s, they were the size of a large room and consumed huge
amounts of electricity. The first electronic computer ENIAC weighed more than 27 tons
and took up 1800 square feet. They were very different to the computers we use today,
especially when compared to small and portable laptop computers. Computers are
programmed to carry out instructions. These instructions are usually very simple and
require adding numbers together, moving data from one place to another etc. HP, Dell,
Microsoft, and Apple are some of the famous computer companies that many people
use. Like the computer the first hard drive was created in 1979 and could hold 5MB of
data. There are many interesting facts about computer some are: TYPEWRITER is the
longest word that you can write using the letters only on one row of the keyboard of your
computer. The house where Bill Gates lives, was designed using a Macintosh
computer. The first 1GB hard disk drive was announced in 1980 which weighed about
550 pounds, and it costed around $40,000. Although we normally think of computers as
the ones we use in our everyday lives to surf the web, write documents etc, small
computers are also embedded into other things such as mobile phones, toys,
microwaves and MP3 players. We use computers all the time, often without even
knowing it!
Sources:
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/technology/computers.html
http://www.incrediblelab.com/interesting-computer-facts/

8

Things to know for 8th grade

Everything you do in 8th grade (work, grades, and homework) count as
you move onto high school, especially if you're taking an advanced class.
So here are some things to know before you go into 8th grade. Be
organized: before you get into class make sure you have all the things you
need (paper, pencils, pens), asking a friend for a pencil and paper on the
first day of school might not be the best thing to do. Be well rested: you
can't be at your best level if you only got three hours of sleep. Know when
you have to wake up and how much time you need, it might not seem like
the biggest worry, but when you wake up late it is. Give yourself enough
time to take a shower, get dressed, do your hair, and eat breakfast, that
way when you go to school you will be ready to go through the entire day
without being so tired. Don’t procrastinate: make sure you have all your
work done on time, this can really help you when you get to high school.
Not getting your work in on time can really affect your grade, and since
you're only giving yourself a little time to do any homework or project it can
lower the quality of your work too.

9