Ellis Yang, 12 (Los Altos, CA) An Unsent Letter Ellis Yang, 12 Dear Miriam, That morning in the city, two weeks before you left, I walked down the avenue as I do now. No sudden alteration great enough to be recognized transpired, for outwardly it was only a brief two weeks. For me, however, it could NOT be more different. My eyes gaze from down to up — from freshly cemented roads to twisted shrubberies to ostentatious Victorian-style houses behind the sidewalks. I follow across the first avenue, past the barbed wire fence, until I sight the rusty 49 on the condo’s face where you had lived. I am thinking of you, old friend, Miriam, as I walk down this avenue today. I am reminiscing about you. –––––|––––– “I can’t take it.” Your voice breaks up. “The other girls, the boys too, they’re all so — so — I don’t know. Whenever I do anything they all gang up on me — when someone else does they’re half blind. Don’t you think I’m not intimidating enough? Is it a ‘me’ problem?” I shake my head. If I could talk, I’d ask, “Ya who finna gave you that idea. Ain’t no girl deserves to fall victim to this madness. Ain’t nobody. Ain’t nobody these days knows you better than I. When I say you’re fine, them words are fortified by experience.” But I hold my tongue. “Girlie, you’re fine. Them broads can tail whatever browbeater they want. Better trust me when I say you ain’t a pushover,” I say. “But nobody else thinks that.” A silence. “Sharon asked me to hang out with her last Saturday. At my house. You can think what happened next. That morning Ma yanked me awake and we plowed through all the disgust in all the space — and then she never showed up. Nope. We sat on our couches, for what, an hour? And she never came.” I fold my arms. “Oh… that sucks. Really.” “Guess what — it gets worse. Sharon — oh god, I hate that girl so much — she posted this goddamn — what was it, they went to the beach, she and the girls? Look at them all, eating pizza and playing volleyball. Look at all of those jerks at the goddamn place —” “Woah there —” “— Look at her. Ditching me over a goddamn stale pizza. She could have just told me! Goddammit! That shrew! I can’t believe we’re friends.” I place a hand on her shoulder and sigh. “Then find new ones. She finna hang out with the popular kids — fine, if you’re so sure, ditch her. Don’t cut ties with her, just drift apart, you and her. Hate interacting with her — just don’t. No need to go all out.” “Alright…” you say. I reckon that’s a good enough answer. Over the next few weeks it gets worse. In PE, you say, Miss Hart asks y’all to pair up into twos. Of course you turn to Sharon — what other kid is there to stick with? But no — she’s already waving her racket next to Maggie. You slump away, wiping away your worthless tears in the ladies’ room. Ya say that during lunch Sharon saves a seat for Maggie and her gang as invisible currents tug y’all away. Her texts, too, come in slower — then stop altogether. Girl ghosted you completely. Ya say that some kind of dynamic between y’all has shifted — not dramatically, though, as if they could only be particularized in the subconscious… They occur gradually, too implicitly to measure, but you are certain. You are unsure of why — and so am I, but you are sure of it, nonetheless. –––––|––––– Today as I walk down Willow Avenue I remember your twinkling eyes — and beneath them your earnest smile — beneath that your sorrow. The diverse yet interconnected world we occupy is a beautiful one, and my time over at your place has helped me appreciate it. Yet as I gaze at the street, I swear it is not the same without you. I wish you had stayed somewhere nearby or switched to some closer school. Nonetheless, I am grateful that you trusted me enough to confide in me. Yours truly, P. Monica This story was originally submitted as part of Flash Contest #43, May 2022: Write a story where somebody betrays their best friend for a slice of slightly stale pizza.
The Whole Story of Half a Girl, Reviewed by Aditi, 13
I have always wondered how others live a cross-cultural life. Whether it’s the culture you are born into or trying to understand a different one, this diverse topic continues to fascinate me. Imagine a girl who struggles to juggle her identity since she is half-Indian and half-Jewish. Sonia Nadhamuni is far from normal as she tries to be less than herself. But, what does that mean? Does it mean lying about her culture, fitting in with her new friends, or just giving vague answers when asked about her heritage? Sonia’s life is an absolute mess, but author Veera Hiranandani smooths out a path leading the reader into Sonia’s not so “half” life. “Maybe it would be easier just to be Indian and not have to explain the Jewish part.” This quote resonates with Sonia’s thoughts about herself. For most of the book, she has the mindset that she is either just Indian or just Jewish, not both. Her heritage was never a problem at her expensive private school, where the kids just knew each other and never asked questions. However, Sonia’s close to ‘perfect’ life came to a sudden end when her father lost his job. As a result, her mother had to work more hours, her dad had severe episodes, and worst of all, Sonia and her sister had to attend public school. I felt terrible for Sonia at first, especially when she had to transfer schools. Her life gets turned upside down– she has to adjust to the new surroundings and make new friends. A couple more chapters in, I noticed that Sonia was quite spoiled, and I started to sympathize with those around her. Once she starts at her new school, Sonia quickly finds herself wavering between a group of popular girls and kids who would consider themselves introverts. Kate, a popular white girl, has a controlling friendship with Sonia, while Alisha, a nerdy Black girl, has a heart of gold. After making the cheerleading team as an alternate, Sonia learns that to fit in she first needs to be true to herself. The Whole Story of Half a Girl is a fast-paced young adult novel encompassing the true nature of middle school, adorned with the hard truth of reality. Throughout the book, Hiranandani offers the question of one’s heritage and identity. This made me ponder my heritage, and I connected with Sonia in many ways. Still, while she tried explaining that she is American Indian, Indian from India, I started to smile, knowing that even I had to explain my heritage to my friends. All in all, The Whole Story of Half a Girl is a spellbinding book, and I couldn’t enjoy it more. The Whole Story of Half a Girl by Veera Hiranandani. Yearling Books, 2013. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
Saturday Newsletter: June 18, 2022
Title page from the picture book “Silver Carp Lullaby” By Madeline Cleveland, 12 (Belleview, WI), published on the Stone Soup blog A note from Caleb Dear friends, This Saturday newsletter will mark our last through August as we take a summer hiatus. Please be advised that we will continue to send out announcements and information about the fall session Writing Workshops, contests, the Refugee Project, and summer camps. We hope you all have fulfilling, deeply relaxing summers, that you write and create freely, and that you meet and surpass your summer reading goals! Speaking of summer, we have a couple reminders about summer camps. First off, there is a little over one week left to sign up for my summer class on micro fiction and prose poetry, in which you will learn to express the biggest of ideas in the tiniest of forms! You will write multiple self-contained pieces per day, and will finish the class with enough writing to fill up a chapbook. Monday June 27th – Thursday June 30th at 9 – 11 AM Pacific. Scholarships available via this link. There are ten seats left – I hope to see you there! And, as one final reminder, we are offering tickets to the Half Baked Art Collaboration, a special initiative of the Stone Soup Refugee Project and MyStart in recognition of World Refugee Day, 2022. This workshop will allow participants to work on a piece of artwork in collaboration with a student living in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya. The dates for this set of two workshops are June 20th (9 – 11 AM Pacific) and June 22nd (9 – 10 AM Pacific). Please watch the video linked here and embedded below for a brief introduction to MyStart and the artwork from the Kakuma Refugee Camp. In news that is sure to inspire Stone Soup writers, especially those who plan to submit to our fourth annual Book Contest, Oakland teen Leila Mottley’s debut novel Nightcrawling has been chosen for Oprah’s Book Club! Mottley, 19, is the youngest-ever author to be selected. As an aspiring novelist who is also from the Bay Area, I feel particularly inspired by and proud of Mottley’s achievement. In the spirit of summer vacation, I will keep my segment highlighting the art and writing of Stone Soup contributors brief. The image above comes from “Silver Carp Lullaby,” a picture book written and illustrated by Madeline Cleveland, 12. I encourage you all to read it and feel the relaxing pull of the river’s current in Madeline’s soothing song. Sonia Teodorescu’s poem “Nostalgia” is similarly hypnotic, especially while listening to her brilliant reading of it. The first three stanzas pull the reader in with the gentle lull of ebb and flow – “dark, light, dark, light… on, off, on, off” – and from there the poem begins its descent. Stanzas full of fragmented memories, each ending with an elemental refrain – “fire… water… wind… earth… does not forget” – set the table for the poem’s crushing, poignant final line, also its volta – “People don’t remember.” I haven’t stopped thinking about this poem since I first read it a month ago, and I hope its startling precognition lingers with you, too. Till August, Congratulations to our most recent Flash Contest winners! Our June Flash Contest was based on Prompt #207 (provided by contributor Molly Torinus), which asked that participants write a scene (as a story, a poem, or a play) in which the author met their past or future selves. This prompt, a creative reimagining of the classic “write a letter to your future self,” resonated deeply with our participants as we received over 40 submissions! The participants’ brilliant work ranged from a semi-fictional origin story for the author’s pet guinea pigs to a time-bending competition over the homework of the author’s past and future selves to a heart wrenching letter asking that the author’s future self be kinder to their soon-to-be-dead brother. If I may inject myself into this short summary, in all the time I’ve been judging the Flash Contest—since September 2020—I have never seen such a crop of brilliant writing. It took me over two days to ultimately decide the winners and honorable mentions, of which there are six each—one more than the usual five—and even then two more pieces were selected for the regular and Covid blogs. I distinctly remember being blown away by the quality of writing and artwork the first time I encountered Stone Soup—better and more robust than that of my college peers—and my admiration and awe for you contributors has only increased since I became an employee. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you to all who submitted and have submitted their work in the past, and please submit again next month! Congratulations to our Winners and Honorable Mentions, listed below. You can read the winning entries for this contest (and previous ones) at the Stone Soup website. Winners “Have We Met?” by Alia Ashworth, 11 (Thousand Oaks, CA) “The Visitor from the Stars” by Hanbei Bao, 11 (Lakewood, CO) “Homework Thieves” by Wilson Chen, 10 (Portland, OR) “Last Vacation” by Caroline Gao, 11 (Milpitas, CA) “The Interview” by Savarna Yang, 13 (Outram, New Zealand) “Piano Can Transcend Time” by Joycelyn Zhang, 12 (San Diego, CA) Honorable Mentions “Future” by Sophie Li, 11 (Palo Alto, CA) “The Life of a Guinea Pig” by Nova Macknik-Conde, 10 (Brooklyn, NY) “Time’s Reminders” by Audrey Ren, 11 (Linwood, NJ) “Me Too” by Daniel Shorten, 11 (Mallow, Republic of Ireland) “Déjà vu” by Eliana Wang, 13 (Potomac, MD) “A Second Chance” by Hannah Wu, 12 (Washington DC) For the Stone Soup blog “White Lilacs, Purple Lilacs” by Cayleigh Sukhai, 12 (Manitou Beach, Saskatchewan, Canada) For the Stone Soup Covid blog A Strange Dream by Melody You, 11 (Lake Oswego, OR) From Stone Soup June 2022 Nostalgia By Sonia Teodorescu, 13 (Tampa, FL) Dark, Light, Dark, Light— The clouds float across the sky, sometimes covering up the sun as they go. Dark, Light, Dark— Illuminating the room, then bringing it to a gentle shade, Making shadows dance on the paper drawings tacked to the
