Lazy Cat (oil pastel) by Tutu Lin, 13; published in the July/August issue of Stone Soup A note from Laura Moran Hello all, I start this week’s newsletter with exciting news! Refugee Project contributor Parwana Amiri, has just published her collection of poems, We will fly higher. Parwana is a young refugee poet from Herat Province, Afghanistan. Her book is available at Barnes & Noble and other major booksellers. Congratulations on this exciting achievement, Parwana! I imagine the majority of our readers will receive this week’s newsletter on the cusp or at the start of a new school year! I can also imagine the myriad of emotions that accompanies this time of year. Indeed, I don’t even have to imagine—the air is thick with nerves and excitement in my house as my daughter is about to begin her first year of high school and my son is set to enter the third grade, both in new schools. Whether you are excited or nervous, or a bit of both, I hope you had a fun and restorative summer. One of the highlights of my summer was teaching Anthropology of the Everyday as an offering of Stone Soup’s Young Author’s Studio Camps hosted in collaboration with Society of Young Inklings. It was inspiring work to see what students came up with as they set out to explore and think critically about their everyday lives and environments. I am so excited to be working with our new Refugee Project collaborating organization, Humanitarian Service Team, to offer elements of this workshop to young people in Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda this fall. Following the workshop, we hope to provide an opportunity for young writers in both sessions of the course to share their work with one another. I look forward to telling you more about it soon! Until then, best of luck with the start of your school year, and while you’re feeling that tangle of emotions that comes with new beginnings, why not take a moment to write a poem about your experiences? As always, if you like what you’ve written, we hope you consider submitting it to Stone Soup. Best wishes, From Stone Soup July/August 2023 The Sun’s Sister by Katja Muckle Eizenberg, 9 I am the sun So big and bold My seeds leave me When I’m old I stand and sway watching them fly away to freedom Bobbing in the breeze And finally landing in the shade beneath The trees But now it is Spring And I am blooming bright Now it is Summer and I am still a lovely sight Fall is here and I look like the moon All of my seeds will leave me soon Soon is here as they blow away Soon is here as one little one stays The moment is here The moment is sad but happy Bad but good The moment is here as the last seed blows away The moment is here as I close my eyes And enter a long winter’s sleep Click here to read more from the July/August issue… Don’t wait until it’s too late! This fall, we’re offering an all new course: Novel Writing! Class begins Saturday, September 16th at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time, and seats are filling up quickly, so register today! Join us this fall for Novel Writing, a multi-week, virtual course instructed by writer, translator, and professor Conner Bassett that will teach you how to write a novel. We will focus on the basic techniques and tools of good storytelling: voice, description, setting, character, plot, conflict, and dialogue. The course will consist of brainstorming activities, in-class writing exercises, readings, and workshops. By the end of our time together, you will have a complete novel draft. Register now! Stone Soup is published by Children’s Art Foundation-Stone Soup Inc., a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization registered in the United States of America, EIN: 23-7317498.
Playing with Cliches: Three Cartoons by Madeline Male, 14
Odder, Reviewed by Madeline Male, 14
Odder always yearns to dive deeper and swim further. She is an otter whose curiosity and playfulness are captured in Odder, a book of free verse poetry by Katherine Applegate. The poems build on each other, telling a story that captivated me. Here is one excerpt from the book that describes Odder’s exuberance: Nobody has her moves. She loves to roughhouse, can be pushy and eager, too unruly for some, but watching her work the water is a joy. This adventurous character makes Odder likable, but it also has a downside: when Odder ventures too far into the waters of Monterey Bay, she encounters a shark. For a portion of the book, Odder is healing at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. While this story is fiction, it was inspired by the stories of real life sea otters who have been rescued by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Applegate uses poetry to personify Odder and emphasize an array of emotions that can be strong, subtle, or anywhere in between. Odder’s character is portrayed in a way that caused me to care about and identify with her. She is put in circumstances where she feels the way a human might feel. Sometimes, she even reacts the way a human might react. By the end of the book, I realized that I’d actually ended up exploring human nature, but through otters! Throughout Odder, the medium of poetry is used to capture vivid imagistic details. For example, in this excerpt Applegate highlights Odder’s forepaws and flippers by describing them as: held aloft, soaking up sun like tiny solar panels. Then, the poem goes on to describe what Odder is holding: Tucked in a pocket of skin under her arm is a favorite rock, just right for opening mussels and clams. With the help of these descriptions, I felt like I was with Odder everywhere she went. This book also includes facts, which are incorporated into some of the poems. This makes the facts more memorable and enjoyable. For example, a whole poem is dedicated to explaining that sea otters are a keystone species, which means they are essential for the survival of the ecosystem. Unfortunately, sea otters are also endangered. Applegate spreads awareness about the importance of otters in a way that is inspiring, rather than depressing. Overall, this book gives the reader plenty of opportunities to explore human nature, but through a different species: otters. It joyfully celebrates them, and deepens the reader’s appreciation for these fascinating creatures. Odder by Katherine Applegate. Feiwel & Friends, 2022. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
