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Reflection by Margaret Fulop, 11 (Lexington, MA), in Stone Soup February 2020 A note from Jane A few weeks ago I went to a lunchtime concert of music by Johann Sebastian Bach. The lead performer, a viola player called Maxim Rysanov, specializes in transcriptions of Bach’s music. This means that he rewrites music originally composed for one instrument so it can be played on another one. For this concert, he had transposed Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 for viola, arranged a selection of two-part inventions from The Little Keyboard Book for viola and and violin, and rewritten the Sonata in G Major for viola da gamba and harpsichord to be played by viola and concert organ. The performance was recorded by the BBC and broadcast on Thursday as part of their lunchtime concert series. You can read more about it and listen to the recording via BBC Sounds. The music is incredibly beautiful, but my reason for mentioning it in this week’s newsletter is to suggest this idea of musical transcription as a tool you can use to develop your writing. Just as the viola player revealed another dimension of a familiar piece of cello music by transferring it from the voice of one instrument to the voice of another, so too might you discover more about your story’s characters by writing a poem about them, or writing a poem in their voice. Maybe you can understand your poem’s emotional landscape or setting by transposing it into a story or a drama. Perhaps drawing your imaginary landscape or painting a portrait of your lead character will help you to see them more clearly. We all learn that writing is often mostly about rewriting. I don’t know about you, but sometimes that feels like something I don’t really want to do—a bit of a chore. Why not try transposition as a way of coming at rewriting from a fresh perspective? You might not use your transposition in the final work, but you might create a whole new work to sit alongside the original one. Either way, you can hit the refresh button and have fun trying! Until next time, Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! Sascha, 13, reviews Jacqueline Woodson’s Harbor Me on the blog this week. Read the review to find out why Sascha “would unquestionably recommend this novel to anyone that is interested in gaining a higher perspective of people from different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.” Have you ever tried to solve a Rubik’s Cube? Matthew gives us some background about Rubik’s Cubes on the blog this week, plus an easy method that you can try. From Stone Soup February 2020 The Creases of Time By Tara Prakash, 12 (Chevy Chase, MD)   Time—did it slip through my fingers, flow Subtly as water? My little big brother, Running across the pastures with his kite, where did that go? Footsteps trailing mine, hands clasped tightly—my mother. I can see the time pass in the creases of my Grandfather’s eyes, his skin lined with the trick of time. If only It wouldn’t go so fast, then we wouldn’t need to say so many goodbyes All too soon. If just once, my world could live forever . . . But if all worlds lasted forever, when Would new ones be born? Babies gaze at the world with big eyes, bright, Seeing things they’ve never seen before. The old watch with Eyes that have seen too much, the pale that follows a dark night. Time forces us to make use of what we have, unfurled, It forces us to say goodbye and hello to the ever-changing world. 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.

The Tower of Toronto by Justine Chu, 12 (Fremont, CA) Published in the February 2020 issue of Stone Soup A note from Emma This week, I am writing to announce the winners of our Personal Narrative Contest with the Society of Young Inklings (SYI). Naomi and I were both so honored to read these submissions as well as grateful for the big and small ways these writers let us into their minds and hearts. Writing nonfiction seems easy—you don’t have to make anything up!—but it is not. Personal narratives require honesty, deep thought and reflection, the ability to see patterns and narratives in past events, as well as the capacity to accept that sometimes there are no patterns or narratives—just the events themselves. Like all writing, they also require an eye for detail, an ear for language, and an aptitude for play. In her winning narrative, Kateri Escober Doran vividly recounts a sharp memory from a day in kindergarten, seamlessly blending evocative storytelling with thoughtful reflection. In second place, with “Swirling Arabesques,” Zoe Kyriakakis meditates on a single phrase while on the bus home from school—showing us how even the smallest moments can become meaningful and beautiful in the writer’s hands. Finally, in third place, with her narrative “Gratitude,” Alicia Xin gives a moving account of the summer she spent in a historically poor county in rural China. First Place “Locked out of Kindergarten” by Kateri Escober Doran, 12 Second Place “Swirling Arabesques” by Zoe Kyriakakis, 10 Third Place “Gratitude” by Alicia Xin, 13 Honorable Mention “Cody’s Last Day” by Elena Baltz, 10 “A Story” by Asher Jenvey, 10 “Life in the Jungle” by Arielle Kouyoumdjian, 13 “Writer” by Vandana Ravi, 13 “Believing” by Lily Shi, 11 “Kingdom in the River” by Lydia Taylor, 13 “Gentle Hands” by Michelle Wang, 12 We are excited to share these pieces with you in a future issue. We say this every time, but every time it is truer and truer: it was so difficult to select winners and finalists for this contest. A sincere thank you to everyone who trusted us with their work.We are thrilled to be reading personal narrative submissions year-round. Please scroll down to read Ugochinyere Agbaeze’s narrative, published in the February 2020 issue, below for writing inspiration this weekend. When you’re ready, submit your personal narrative here. Until next week, Contest update & a note to artists We are already starting to plan for our next book contest—it will launch this summer! Stay tuned. And also: calling all artists! Our art submissions are always open, and it’s free to submit. We currently have a backlog of animal images and are actively looking for images of landscapes, people, and objects as well as images that have a more abstract character like this, this, or this. The more abstract an image is, the easier it is to pair with a poem or a story since it often is capturing an idea or a mood rather than a specific scene. Submit your art here. Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! Have you ever had a friend who challenged you to try new things? In his blog post “Charlie,” Daniel tells us about his friend who has inspired him to “unleash his inner rebel.” Though he’s gotten some scratches along the way, Daniel has found himself enjoying adventures with Charlie that he wouldn’t have tried otherwise. How much do you know about the Rosetta Stone, the Sutton Hoo Helmet, and the Elgin Marbles? New blogger Mohan traces the history of these three cultural artifacts in “What Can We Learn About History from Objects?” From Stone Soup February 2020 Alone By Ugochinyere Agbaeze, 11 (New York, NY) Illustrated by Justine Chu, 12 (Fremont, CA)  Boom! Crackle! It was dark and rainy, and as the clouds cried, lightning flashed through the sky like a gun being fired. The sky darkened. But in our school bus, there were always rays of sunshine. Our school bus wasn’t really a school bus, but more like a van. That didn’t really bother me and my friends, because we were always busy doing things to pass time. We did things together, like homework, or played truth or dare, or even watched movies on my friend’s phone. But like always, people would start to get dropped off and disappear like cookies from the cookie jar until it was just me and my friend Gabby. “Don’t you ever get lonely when it’s only you on the van?” Gabby asked. “Sometimes, but not really,” I said. But inside I knew that I was always lonely when it was just me. She looked at me with her eyebrows up in her questioning way, like she was searching for what I was really feeling. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked me again. “Yes, I’m okay. Really, I am,” I said reassuringly. We stopped in front of her house, and as she was about to leave she said, “Well, I’ll see you Monday. Bye!” “Bye,” I said as she shut the door. As we were leaving, I looked through the window and saw her bright polka-dot umbrella open up and bloom like a flower as she walked toward her building. …/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.  

“A Sweet World” by Cathu Tu, 12 (Shanghai, China) A note from William I’d like to thank Cathy Tu from Shanghai for this month’s striking cover image. It is a sweet world, but it is also melting! As publishers of creative work by thoughtful young people, I think it appropriate today to talk a little about the Swedish youth Greta Thunberg. I am sure that she has inspired many of you to participate in youth school walkouts. I would like to encourage all of you to listen to a few of her talks. She is in the news this week as she attended a big international gathering in Davos, Switzerland. What I want you all to pay attention to is the unusual clarity with which she expresses herself. The ultimate task of all writers is to say what you mean and mean what you say using words that are aligned with your vision. I think Greta’s statements are worth studying for the way she distills complex ideas to their most basic core concepts and then has the discipline to stop. Unlike someone like me, who always talks too much, Greta never wanders. She is always on point. Your voices in Stone Soup are the voices of artists, poets, storytellers, and playwrights. As with Greta, your voices often speak with a maturity that surprises adults. I would like to call out one poem and the two plays from the January issue. The poem is Huài shì hǎo shì (“Evil Things, Good Things”) by Sabrina Guo, featured in last week’s newsletter. Sabrina is a long-term, repeat contributor to both the magazine and our blogs. This poem about friendship, and much more. Thank you, Sabrina. Plays! Stone Soup has not published many plays, so we are super lucky that Emma Wood was able to select two fabulous ones for this issue. Valentine Wulf’s parody of the often frustrating interactions we have over the phone with increasingly automated phone systems is a classic. The play, an excerpt of which is printed below, includes directions for music, so go to YouTube to find the appropriate soundtracks when Valentine tells you to. Parody is a literary genre that requires exaggeration. Through exaggeration, parody writers arrive at the truth. The dialogue in Valentine’s play is ridiculous, but in its ridiculousness it brings the reader to that same state of utter frustration that occurs on real calls with automated phone systems! Valentine’s play so thoroughly and creatively explores the most frustrating aspects of modern phone systems that it should be required reading for phone-system programmers. Funny, clever, insightful. You are all in for a treat! The other play in the issue is The Illusory Life of Mr. Brite. We included Galen Halasz’s play in our recently published Stone Soup Book of Science Fiction Stories. Order now if you haven’t already. Galen’s play revolves around the idea that computers end up taking advantage of a basic flaw in human behavior: our laziness. “This allowed them to turn people’s laziness against them, trapping them in the exoskeleton and weakening them for life.” Like Valentine, Galen exaggerates to find a truth. In this case, a work of science fiction, Galen extrapolates from behaviors we are all familiar with to ask what would happen if we continue in the direction we seem to be going—relying on computers “for everything.” Having read Galen’s play, the next time you look up from your tablet and realize that most of a day has passed with you watching a parade of self-loading shows, you will not have the excuse that you were not warned where this could lead. For a project this weekend, I suggest working on a short play. It can be helpful to list your characters at the beginning. And if you want people to imagine your character being dressed a certain way, then provide the kind of detail when you introduce them, as Galen does. In plays, you tell the story through dialogue. Playwrights vary in the amount of stage direction they provide, if any. Note in Valentine’s play her instructions for music and in Galen’s play his occasional notations of what gestures or tone of voice he expects of the actors performing his work. We look forward to seeing what you come up with. 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! On Tuesday, we published a blog by Vivaan about his travels in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Read more about the city, and where you can find “unforgettable views.” We’d love to see more travelogues like Vivaan’s on our blog. Submit yours through Submittable! Thursday, we published another chapter of Marco’s series on science fiction. Read “Magic Systems” to learn about “hard” and “soft” magic with examples of each, plus the pros and cons and using them in your story. From Stone Soup January 2020 I Would Like to Speak to the Manager By Valentine Wulf, 11 (Seattle, WA) Illustrated by Daania Sharifi, 13 (Gainesville, GA) Overture: “Happy Go Lively” by Laurie Johnson. On the left half of the stage is a pristine white office room. On the right half, we see the burned-down remains of a living room, with only a small side table still standing. On the table sits an old rotary phone. The OPERATOR sits in the office, and the CUSTOMER sits on a burnt stool in the living room. CUSTOMER angrily dials the phone. There is a pause, before the OPERATOR’S phone rings. The OPERATOR picks up the phone with a fake smile. OPERATOR Hello. This is customer service. How may I help you today? CUSTOMER Hello. Yes, I would like to file a complaint. The toaster I ordered exploded and burned down my house. OPERATOR Oh no! That’s terrible. First, you will need to give me the 16-digit personal identification code, your four-digit product verification code on the certificate of authenticity that you received with your product, and the official purchase edition number written on your product. CUSTOMER What? What are those!? OPERATOR You will need to take all of