Amruta Krishnan Srinivasan, 9San Jose, CA Life of a Pencil Amruta Krishnan Srinivasan, 9 Man’s best friend is a dog. Amruta’s best friend—a pencil. Well, I used to be. I used to be her treasure, a creator. Her creativity flooded through my tip. I made stories, I made artwork. Now, I am left forgotten like an old toy. I am rarely picked up these days. I wait around all day to be picked up. It is all about that good for nothing laptop and his even worse keyboard. Pen(cil)manship means nothing. Just choose a better font is all there is to it. She has traded a perfectly fine pencil like me for a keyboard. Well, what is there to complain. My buddy paper is traded for a screen and worse, a mere backspace button has replaced eraser. As fancy gadgets waltz in, we are pushed to a corner of the table. And that is how life has been for the past few months—in the shadow of a gadget never been able to show my true colors. Can this pandemic end?
Quarantine, a poem by Shravya Sethi, 11
Quarantine Shravya Sethi, 11 The light, not of sun The clash of a noise Coming from the box It’s not quite a toy The smell of a cake wafting from the oven door you dive in and say “I really want more!” A mask of protection For others, not you So that when you sneeze The germs can’t get through Digging holes, making new life Planting more, watching them thrive Aching back, going to sleep Joyous cries, seeing them strive A flight past the houses I’m a blur, on two thin wheels pumping my feet, dirtying blouses The sensation is surreal And sitting at home On the couch, all alone This year we shall stare silently at our phones
Saturday Newsletter: September 26, 2020
“Rainbow Lake” by Sage Millen, 12 (Vancouver, Canada). Published in Stone Soup September 2020. A note from Sarah I want to start off this newsletter by highlighting Sage Millen’s breathtaking photograph from this month’s issue. I encourage you to spend some time taking in the mesmerizing, almost otherworldly landscape that Sage has captured. Then I also want to remind you that if you’re interested in helping out with our new Publicity and Outreach Community, we’d love to have you! You can fill out the Google Form here to let us know your contact information and how you can help. I’ve been working the past few months on developing the Stone Soup podcast, which is very exciting. Hopefully it will be released soon for everyone to hear! This work has meant that I’ve had the pleasure of revisiting a lot of the stories and poetry read aloud on our Soundcloud account. Reading aloud is not as easy as it may seem. It’s a skill that requires a lot of practice. For your weekend project, I suggest that you take a piece of writing—maybe something you’ve written or a piece that you really enjoy—and read it aloud a few times. Try not to rush yourself. Read it deliberately and carefully, keeping in mind a listener who may be hearing it for the first time. Think also about what kind of inflections suit the story or poem. If there’s dialogue, do you give each character a different voice? A different accent? Or do you want to maintain the same tone throughout the story? These are things you can consider when reading a story aloud, and it changes the way we understand and interpret a piece. Listening to audiobooks might give you a better idea of different ways that reading aloud can be done. Make a note of which elements of audiobooks you like, and think about how you could incorporate them into your own reading-aloud technique. You can record yourself reading—or not, if you don’t yet feel comfortable. If you’re feeling ambitious, maybe you can organize a Zoom reading between your friends, family, or classmates. Let us know how it goes! Until next week, Stay Tuned for Next Month’s Flash Contest Every month we hold a flash contest based on one of our weekly creativity prompts. Take a look at this month’s prompt and the winner here. And keep an eye out for next month’s contest! Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! In a diary-style post, Prisha describes her experience marching in a Black Lives Matter protest. She talks about what it was like and what she learned in “Spread Love Not Hate.” Olivia, 10, reviewed the book King of Shadows by Susan Cooper. Read Olivia’s review to find out what she thought of the book and why she says it was about so much more than acting. Read an update from the writing workshop from last Saturday, where we learned about dragonfly narratives from two guest facilitators. Leila Lakhal, 12Seattle, WA From Stone Soup September 2020 Our Blanket By Leila Lakhal, 12 (Seattle, WA) Everyone has their own opinion. But it is not okay To say to me that I am wrong. That I am bad. That I have no place here. Because I just said that I am Muslim. We are not terrorists. Not the Awful people the media depicts us as. Every group has people who don’t follow the rules. The Islam I know teaches me: Don’t harm a hair on their head. No matter who they are. No matter what they say. But it is not okay to tell me that I have to say sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Saying sorry for all those rule breakers that gave you a false image. Tear that image away. Underneath you will see something beautiful. . . . /MORE 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. Stone Soup’s Advisors: Abby Austin, Mike Axelrod, Annabelle Baird, Jem Burch, Evelyn Chen, Juliet Fraser, Zoe Hall, Montanna Harling, Alicia & Joe Havilland, Lara Katz, Rebecca Kilroy, Christine Leishman, Julie Minnis, Jessica Opolko, Tara Prakash, Denise Prata, Logan Roberts, Emily Tarco, Rebecca Ramos Velasquez, Susan Wilky.
