About

Shattered Landscape (iPhone 7) By Leah Koutal, 12 (Wayne, PA), published in Stone Soup November 2020 A note from William Congratulations to Abhi Sukhdial, winner of last year’s Stone Soup Book Contest. His book, Three Days Till EOC, has been nominated for Cybils Awards (Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards). Read his great book! Support a young author. Buy a copy at our Stone Soup Store. I would like to call your attention to the new Stone Soup design. We implemented a revised home page a few weeks ago, and now you will find a completely revised navigation system and design for the interior pages. The Refugee Project portal has been designed and will soon be implemented. Please check out the new design. Many thanks to Carlos, Carly, Daniel, Ravi, and the entire staff of c2cg for their patience and the quality of their work. Annual Drive I will try to mostly keep the Annual Drive correspondence in separate emails so that the newsletter remains appropriate for our young readers. I do want to say, however, that we absolutely need more of you to contribute to our Annual Drive than ever before or we will not be able to continue. The simplest, easiest way you can help us—and a way that costs you nothing—is to order through the AmazonSmile program. You will see where you choose your charity. Our official name with the IRS is Children’s Art Foundation-Stone Soup. Type that in and then accept that we are the charity you want to help and then 0.5% of what you spend will be given to us. It uses the same password as your regular Amazon account. Your orders, wish lists, and etc. will all be there. It takes a little getting used to to go to the smile.amazon.com site every time you buy (even for me), but Amazon will sometimes remind you to go there. In the spirit of Stone Soup, every little bit each of you contributes adds up. At half a percent, it does take a lot of you to make a difference. If Stone Soup is important to you, then please make the effort to do your holiday shopping through the AmazonSmile site. Thank you. Art project Shattered Landscape. What an interesting photograph. Cubism is the modern art movement that worked with shattered perspectives. This image is of Pablo Picasso’s 1910 Girl with a Mandolin: You can read about cubism on Wikipedia and look at cubist works or art online. For the project this weekend, I think most of you will want to work with your camera. By using mirrors, reflections in glasses, windows, and polished surfaces, create a photograph that explores illusion, broken perspectives, and dreamlike visions. As always, if you like what you create, please send it to Stone Soup so editor Emma Wood can consider it for publication. Stay safe! Until next week, Congratulations to our November Flash Contest Winners Flash Contest #25: Write a Story that begins with “Once upon a time in a land far away . . .” and ends with “. . . and they all lived happily ever after.” What a difficult task we had judging these entries! We could see that all our entrants had fun with the idea of playing with and subverting the fairytale form, and we loved reading the range of imaginative journeys everyone took. While we enjoyed many stories involving the more traditional witches, royalty, dragons and other magical creatures (not necessarily in traditional mode, though!), we also encountered aliens and were transported into outer space—and even entered the mind of a roll of toilet paper (look out for that one, plus one other, on the COVID-19 blog)! A huge thank you and a hearty well done to everyone who wrote a piece and submitted it to us. In particular, we congratulate our honorable mentions and our winners, whose work you can appreciate on the Stone Soup website. Winners The Alien by Benjamin Fraenkel, 8, Mansonville, Quebec, Canada The Queen and the Tiara by Samantha Lee, 11, Thomaston, CT The Bookcase by Iago Macknik-Conde, 13, Brooklyn, NY The State of Matter by Maya Mourshed, 8, Silver Spring, MD The Forest of Mystery by Areesha Nouman, 12, Westlake, OH Honorable Mentions Happily Ever After by Isabella Bixler, 13, Fairview Park, OH The Witch’s Journey by Lorena Manrique, 11, Fort Worth, TX Dragon Tales by Georgia Grace Hoover, 11, Forth Worth, TX The Naughty Princess by Atalie Lyda, 11, Portland, OR My True Self by Michelle Peng, 10, Scarsdale, NY  Selected for the Stone Soup Blog Pecky’s Bravery Saves the Forest by Elise Cheung, 8, Danville, CA The Toilet Paper Roll’s Quest by Charlotte Zhang, 12, Portland, OR Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! Salma, 11, writes a poem on the powerful feeling of loneliness and how we have to fight against it during the pandemic. Aarush reviewed Roald Dahl’s autobiography, Going Solo, on the blog. Read why Aarush thought the book was “easy to connect to” and a “page-turner.” Rex, 10, read quite a few books for the Oregon Battle of the Books, but was particularly struck by Out of Left Field by Ellen Klages. Check out Rex’s review to learn more about the book. Trevor, one of our new bloggers, wrote an exciting blog post titled “Aiming High” about a rock climber. Sydney Burr, 13Chino, CA From Stone Soup November 2020 Regrets and Broken Gas Pumps By Sydney Burr, 13 (Chino, CA)   I’m pumping gas in the summer sun but the only gallons I can think about are the gallons of sweat that I’m sweating although it doesn’t make a difference anyhow and there are no good movies out and the flock in the sky has wandered to float far away above the mountains so there’s nothing to stop anyone from frying an egg or themselves on the sidewalk. The dull lifeless hot air is not stimulated until a breeze awakens but the breeze is even hotter and the skating rink is closed for refurbishment and the darned pump isn’t working so I collapse into the driver’s

“Patterns” by Analise Braddock, 9 (Katonah, NY) Published in Stone Soup November 2020 A note from Emma Wow! For us, the shiniest silveriest silver lining of the COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders has been reading all of the incredible manuscripts that were submitted to our second annual book contest—it is clear that everyone who submitted was able to channel all that time at home into powerful creative work. Although we are only able to give official recognition to some of those writers, all of us were amazed at the attention and skill evident in every one of these manuscripts. Writing a book is HARD. If you submitted, regardless of the outcome for you personally, I hope you will take the time to celebrate your achievement. Our winning novel, Kansas by Tristan Hui, opens when Azalea Morroe falls into another realm—the realm her father claimed he needed to explore to keep his job at the astronomy lab. Though disoriented, Azalea is intent on completing her father’s quest in order to save his livelihood—and his sanity. To reach the perfect vantage point to view the night sky, she must cross an empty, haunted desert in a broken-down truck with a runaway fifteen-year-old as her guide. Their adventure ultimately forces us to consider what makes a home, or a family. In the end, we found we weren’t able to pick just one, so we will also be publishing another novel as an “editor’s choice”: Anya Geist’s Born on the First of Two. In the book, Maya has lived with her aunt in the Land of the Clouds for as long as she can remember, but she was born on Earth—and can’t stop dreaming about traveling back down to it. Earth was where her parents lived, and where they died. One day, desperate to understand the mysterious message on a necklace that belonged to her mother, Maya runs away to Earth, determined to figure out her destiny and her past. Both books will be forthcoming in 2021. We can’t wait for you to read them! Until next week, Congratulations to our 2020 Book Contest Finalists Winner Kansas, a novel by Tristan Hui, 14 Editor’s Choice Born on the First of Two, a novel by Anya Geist, 14 Finalists Earth Matters, a poetry collection by Benjamin Ding, 9 Oliver Garner and the Rebellion of Traitors, a novel by Liam Hancock, 12 Get Myself a Rocking Chair, a novel by Nora Heiskell, 12 The Trials and Tribulations of Swifty Appledoe, a novel by Ariana Kralicek, 12 Alternate Names for Autism, a poetry collection by Rainer Pasca, 14 Semifinalists Journey with Wolves, a novel by Raya Ilieva, 10 Until the End, a novel by Ela Kini, 11 Falling Through a Cloud, a poetry collection by Summer Loh, 8 The Lost City, a novel by Sruti Peddi, 14 Poetry Collection, a poetry collection by Soheon Rhee, 12 Shapeshifted, a novel by Camille Rico, 12 Last Year’s Winner Don’t forget—the winner of last year’s book contest, Three Days till EOC by Abhi Sukhdial, is available for purchase in our online store. Abhi’s book is a climate-fiction thriller that author Zillah Bethell said had her “gripped from start to finish.” Reading from a Stone Soup Author Tatiana Rebecca Shrayer, whose poetry collection Searching for Bow and Arrows won second place in last year’s book contest, read aloud some of her work for the Brookline Public Library. She was joined by her father, Dr. Maxim D. Shrayer, who is also a published poet. Check out the recording of the event here. Tatiana’s poetry was published in the July/August issue, but did you know you can also purchase it as an eBook? You can find it at the online Stone Soup Store. Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! Pragnya, 12, reviews The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex. Find out why she thinks the comedic story about aliens and adventure is worth a read. Check out the update from our twenty-first book club meeting on Saturday. The next book we’re going to read is The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill. We hope you can join us for our next meeting on December 5! Have you read the book Wish by Barbara O’Connor? Audrey, 10, writes in her review of the book that she thinks it’s one of the best books she’s ever read. Learn why Audrey’s so fond of the book by checking out her review. We’ve published a review of Holes by Louis Sachar before (you can find it here). But that doesn’t mean we can’t publish another reviewer’s opinion! This time, Cici, 12, advocates for the book enthusiastically. In her words, “Read Holes! You won’t be disappointed! It sounds like I am advertising, but it’s actually true!” There are many middlegrade books about bullying, but it’s not so common for them to have them written from the perspective of a bully, as is the case for The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. In her review of the book, Prisha, 8, notes this approach and discusses the message she thinks the book imparts to the reader. November Flash Contest–deadline tomorrow! Check out the flash contest prompt for this week below: Write a short story that begins with “Once upon a time, in a land far away . . .” and ends with “. . . and they all lived happily ever after.” You can submit to the contest here until noon Pacific Time on Sunday, November 8. We can’t wait to read your entries! Watch this space next week for the winners. Galen Halasz, 13Saranac Lake, NY From Stone Soup November 2020 We the People By Galen Halasz, 13 (Saranac Lake, NY)   People want to say a lot of things. People think they know a lot of things. People want always to be in the right. People think they’re always on the good side of every fight. People say be open to new ideas. People mean their ideas. People are stupid. I am stupid. We are stupid Read

“A Lonely Girl” by Sloka Ganne, 9 (Overland Park, KS) Published in Stone Soup October 2019 Illustrating “The Ghost of the Forest” by Carmen Flax, 10 (Liechhardt, Australia) A note from William Thanks to all of you have already started pre-ordering our new magnificent blank journals and sketch books! These make great gifts for students as well as for adults, perfect for your stock of last minute gifts. Order these, along with the Book Contest novels, poetry, and our annual anthologies from our Stone Soup Store. Thank you. I know. It is Halloween! And yet, it isn’t. Like the girl in the illustration for “The Ghost of the Forest,” we are all looking into the Great Unknown! Somehow, Halloween got swallowed by the Fates. Halloween is a time when “spooky” is in. It is the “spooky” holiday. I put “spooky” in quotes because, really, how often is one actually frightened by anything you see on Halloween? There is a house in my neighborhood where the people go to great efforts to create frightening effects — and some years they do succeed in making us jump. For example, one year they had a blow up snake jump out at us from behind a bush. But, there as no real danger and the context was fun. Horror! This last Saturday, in the Stone Soup Saturday Writing Workshop, we worked on horror.  What makes horror different from spooky?  One answer is the context. Horror is scary things happening within a context of fear. Horror is being forced to go the house with a super smart aggressive snake that is out to get you — AND YOU CANNOT GET AWAY! I’d like to share with you today some of the writing from last week’s class: Horror Stories from the Stone Soup Saturday Writing Workshop. This weekend’s writing project is to write a horror story. A ride on a roller coaster is scary. The drawing, “A Lonely Girl” suggests to me the kind of context in which horror takes place. “The Ghost of the Forest,” below, opens with this evocative sentence: The woods glowed that mildewy night in October as the transparent, lilac-colored figure hovered eerily between dense thickets of elegant dark green pine trees, whose rich aroma curled through the forest.” Give your horror story context that includes how things look, how they feel, and how they smell — all with the purpose of tightening tension so that when your character is confronted with danger we, the reader, feel fear. How to start? Read Carmen Flax’ fabulously evocative ghost story, below. And also, read through the stories posted from last Saturday’s Horror writing workshop. And then, when you have some time to write, set your scene, and go for it! Scary can be a one-off adventure. Horror chills you to your core. As always, if you like what you write, please go to the Stone Soup website and submit it to Stone Soup. Blogging for Stone Soup. Welcome to Sita, one of our newest Stone Soup Bloggers! Sita has just posted a book review of books by Kate Mitford. Sita writes about the way in which the more Mitford books you read, the more real her fictitious world becomes. A well thought out piece. Thank you, Sita. If any of you are thinking you might like to blog for Stone Soup, which can include posting book reviews, contact Sarah at sarah@stonesoup.com. Until next week, Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! What would the pandemic look like to a bottle of Purell? Emily, 9, takes the perspective of the inanimate object in her story “Defeating COVID-19 Together.” Check out all the spooky, unsettling and sometimes terrifying work created at last week’s Writing Workshop, the theme of which was horror. Perfect Halloween reading material! One of our newer bloggers, Sita, writes about how much she enjoys the shared worlds of author Kate Milford’s books. Mia, 13, reviews Chirp by Kate Messner. Read about why she “thoroughly enjoyed” the story about crickets, family, and speaking up. From Stone Soup October 2019 The Ghost of the Forest By Carmen Flax, 10 (Liechhardt, Australia) Illustrated by Sloka Ganne, 9, (Overland Park, KS) The woods glowed that mildewy night in October as the transparent, lilac-colored figure hovered eerily between dense thickets of elegant dark green pine trees, whose rich aroma curled through the forest. The lady waded through roaring black-colored rivers, tearing through the determined barriers of water. She stopped, but only to lean against an ancient, knobbly tree, and let out a choked cry that rears up in your ears only to come rolling into your heart and leave it weeping the purest and most tender of tears for the lost caller. The pale being looked up at the luminous, pearly white moon and flinched, as if something so bright and hopeful had wounded her permanently and forced her to live in such darkness and be so helpless. Suddenly, the figure stood up and slunk away into the shadows where all strange things are called. …/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.