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“Something white fluttered through the trees” Illustrator Gabby Heller, 12, for “The Scream in the Night” by Shyla DeLand, 13 Published September/October 2015. A note from Sarah Ainsworth I want to talk about one of my favorite genres: mystery. I’ve always found something irresistible in the way that mysteries are so often structured around a question. In the most basic stories, this question may be: who did it? But it can get much more complicated than that. In From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the question could be framed as: is the beautiful new sculpture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art really a Leonardo da Vinci original? (Nina just reviewed the book for our July/August issue). Another example is The Westing Game, reviewed on the blog last year by Ananda, which can be boiled down to: what happened to Samuel Westing? The best mystery stories require a considerable amount of planning. Ananda described reading The Westing Game as “watching two grandmasters play chess.” The book’s careful plot development is no coincidence. Like writing any story, a mystery could greatly benefit from some brainstorming before putting your pen to paper. Here are some questions to consider: What will the central question be? Who will be the main characters? Who will be the suspects? What will the answer to the question be? Or, in simpler terms, who did it? What kind of clues will you leave readers throughout the story? Once you have the plot all nailed down, you can get into the specifics of tone, setting, and any other details you’d like to include. There have been lots of great mystery stories published in Stone Soup over the years. Check out “The Haunted Mansion” by Lyla Lawless, “Mystery at the Marsh” by Marie Chapman. Have fun! If you write something, please feel free to submit it! P.S. If you’re lacking inspiration for a story, sometimes it helps to think of a title first to guide you. When I was in sixth grade, I thought of the title “Murder Burger” and ended up writing a whole novel based on that. Unfortunately, I did not submit it to Stone Soup! Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com. Another dramatic season of basketball has come and gone. Plenty of us watch the games on the edge of our seats without truly understanding the process of exactly how and why our teams advance (or don’t advance) to the playoffs. This week on the blog, 11-year-old Himank Chhaya breaks down how the NBA season works.  Contest and partnership news Contest: write a book! How are your books coming along? You still have more than a month to polish up your work to enter into our contest for book-length writing in all forms and genres by kids aged 14 and under. (We have extended our usual age limit for this contest.) The deadline for entries is August 15, so you have five-and-a-half weeks left to work on perfecting your book, whether it is a novel, a collection of poetry or short stories, a memoir, or other prose. There will be three placed winners, and we will publish all three winning books in various forms. Visit our Submittable entry page for full details. I nodded and stared up at the owl, my mystery solved From Stone Soup September/October 2015 The Scream in the Night By Shyla DeLand, 13 Illustrated by Gabby Heller, 12   It was a hot summer night when I first heard the scream. I sat up fast, the blankets tangled around my feet in a sweaty mass of itchy acrylic. My heart was pounding so hard that for a moment I wondered if it had only been a nightmare. But the sound lingered in my ears, steadily ringing, and I decided that it had been a real scream. I turned to my window and leaned towards it, so close that the screen was brushing my nose. The moon was bright, glowing yellow in the sky, leaving traces of thin light on the trees. I squinted into the darkness, one hand fumbling for my glasses. Something white uttered through the trees, dancing along just far enough away that I couldn’t tell what it was. My hand closed over my glasses and I slipped them on. The white thing disappeared; I caught a glimpse of it one last time before the green and black trees hid it away. I lay down again but didn’t take my glasses off or try at all to go back to sleep. Instead, I closed my eyes and tried to recreate the image in my mind. I kept picturing that whiteness, fluttering like a flag in the wind. But it didn’t make any sense. No animals that I could think of were white and none fluttered. I shook my head, puzzled, and tried to turn my thoughts to another subject. . . ./more 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.

“Meeting of the Minds” Avery Multer, 11, for “The Emperor and the Animals” by Natalie McGee, 13 November 2018. A note from Emma Wood I have been thinking a lot about dogs lately. I have two dogs, so I am always thinking quite a lot about dogs! But since one of ours, Charlie, was recently attacked—by a neighbor’s dog who escaped his fence and got onto our property—and we have been busy taking care of her for the past week, I have been thinking even more about dogs than usual. I have wondered: Is Charlie traumatized from this event? How will it affect how she interacts with other dogs in the future? Is she sad or scared? And then I have wondered, too: Is it wrong to ascribe such human emotions to an animal? And: How much can we ever know about how a dog thinks or feels? This is something I was thinking about on my recent vacation as well. I was in Italy and then Greece. In Italy, we were staying in a rented house in the Tuscan countryside. There were three dogs there: two 14-year-old pointers who were sisters—one fat and lazy, the other skinny and very active—and a three-and-a-half-month-old puppy! The dogs loved spending time with us but also simply loved to be in “our” house because, as we learned, it was actually their house: we were staying in the house where they lived with their owner when no renters were there. One of the pointers even tried to sleep inside with us one night. They clearly felt attached to the house. In Greece, we were staying at my aunt and uncle’s house. There were no dogs at the house, but there were lots of stray dogs (and cats) everywhere we went. At first, we were sad to see them. But then we noticed how friendly and well-fed many of them were. They got to live in packs and roam around wherever they liked. We even saw one dog take a dip in the ocean on a hot day. Their lives didn’t seem so bad. They only seemed bad compared to what I knew of dogs’ lives in the US. This week, I would like to you think about an animal you know—whether it is a dog, a cat, a fish, or a bird—and try to really see that animal as that animal. So often when we see animals, we really see another human. We imagine that they think and feel in the same ways we do. But, of course, they don’t. Dogs, for instance, rely more on smell than sight to navigate the world! Try, through writing or visual art, to imagine how that animal really experiences life. What is it like? I can’t wait to find out! Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com. “In my opinion you don’t have to do an advanced topic to get excited about math. You can do simple problems. The excitement comes from solving a problem from beginning to end and fully understanding it.” In her blog this week, Maya tells us about her time at math camp. Do you agree with her? Read her piece here and leave a comment! In honor of our review issue this summer, we’ve been posting some old book reviews on Instagram. Check out this one, from 1975, a review of “The Man with a Take-Apart Head,” plus another review of a biography of the writer George Sand. Contest and partnership news Contest: write a book! How are your books coming along? You still have more than a month to polish up your work to enter into our contest for book-length writing in all forms and genres by kids aged 14 and under. (We have extended our usual age limit for this contest.) The deadline for entries is August 15, so you have five-and-a-half weeks left to work on perfecting your book, whether it is a novel, a collection of poetry or short stories, a memoir, or other prose. There will be three placed winners, and we will publish all three winning books in various forms. Visit our Submittable entry page for full details. From Stone Soup November 2018 The Emperor and the Animals By Natalie McGee, 13 Illustrated by Avery Multer, 11 a-ra-ra. Raurau-ra… An extraordinary barking cry shattered the frosty air. A huge black eagle settled itself on an icy birch limb. Ruffling his feathers against the chill, he stretched his enormous wings one last time before settling them comfortably on his back. Respectfully, he cocked his head to meet the calm stare of the small copper animal before him, her sleek hide spotted like earth dappled with sunlight. Dea had taken the form of a rare Amur leopard and was reclining in the peeling branches of a birch nearby. The Protectress’s draping tail swayed hypnotically as the sea eagle began his narration of the day’s events. Through a series of harsh barks and calls, he told Dea of an emperor from the neighboring land who had come to build a palace in the birch forest. He explained that all of the creatures would be forced to move into the barren tundra surrounding the tiny woods and would have to live like reindeer, serving humans forever. The entire time, Dea sat with her tail twitching, showing no emotion on her severe face. When the sea eagle was finished, the goddess sat up. “I will take care of it,” she stated peacefully. “It will all work out in the end.” The eagle cocked his head, preparing a question, but, when he blinked, the leopard was gone. . . ./more 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.

““Do you still love dolphins?” he asked, shoving a ten across the counter.” Illustrator Celeste Kelly, 13, for “Pennsylvania” by Grace McNamee, 13 Published July/August 2007. A note from Sarah Ainsworth Good morning! Today I want to talk about writing with others. Writing doesn’t necessarily have to be a solitary activity. In fact, it’s very common for screenwriters, who write the scripts for movies, to work with a writing partner. But even with more traditional short stories, either written down or spoken aloud, it can be rewarding to work with others. Have you ever collaborated on a story with friends, classmates, or your family? It may surprise you how much you can learn in the process of storytelling with others. On fun way to create with others is to make a game out of it. When I way young, I would go on hikes with my family and one of our favorite games to play while walking was to create a story, with one person writing a sentence at a time. My older sister would start with a line that seemed straight from a fantasy novel: “Once upon a time, a dragon named George lived in a magical land. And perhaps one of my parents would add some grounding details: “George lived with his family and went to school with three of his closest friends.” Then it would be my turn. What did I want to add to this story? Where did I want it to go? One of my favorite tricks was to challenge the person next in line to create something dramatic. I would say something like this: “George and his family and friends lived happily together in their magical world, until one day everything changed.” And then, it would be up to my younger sister to decide what happened next (sorry, Isabella!). This summer you might find yourself in situations with a group and in need of a way to occupy the time– maybe on a hike, a long bus ride or in line to eat dinner at sleep-away camp. I encourage you to try to create a story this way, and see if it rethinks the way you tell stories. If you write it down on paper and like the way it turns out, please submit it to Stone Soup! Happy weekend,   Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com. How much do you know about rats? Read Louis Spindler’s post to test your knowledge. Although most people think of rats in a negative light, Louis points out that there are many benefits associated with the rodent as well. We published a blog about basketball this week by Daniel: “Where’s the Fight, Warriors? It’s all in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.” Though the Raptors may have won, Daniel details how the Golden State Warriors played a great game. Contest and partnership news Contest: write a book! How are your books coming along? You still have more than a month to polish up your work to enter into our contest for book-length writing in all forms and genres by kids aged 14 and under. (We have extended our usual age limit for this contest.) The deadline for entries is August 15, so you have five-and-a-half weeks left to work on perfecting your book, whether it is a novel, a collection of poetry or short stories, a memoir, or other prose. There will be three placed winners, and we will publish all three winning books in various forms. Visit our Submittable entry page for full details. “Do you still love dolphins?” he asked, shoving a ten across the counter From Stone Soup July/August 2007 Pennsylvania By Grace McNamee, 13 Illustrated by Celeste Kelly, 13   I turned to watch the Ohio sign fade, merging with the endless road carrying me away from home. What am I doing? The thought swirled around my head, ricocheting off the few other ideas that popped up, shoving them away Restless, I picked up a book and then threw it aside. I loved to read but was too miserable to do any such thing at the moment. I shifted my favorite toy, Kelly, a dolphin, and spread out. My eyes scanned the car for anything of interest to do, skimming over the notebooks, books, Kelly, and the car upholstery till my eyes settled on the back of my dad’s head. “Remind me why I’m moving?” I asked my father, longing to ask a different question: You left when I was two, why are you taking me away from Mom NOW? But the question remained in my head, jumping around. My father half-turned, lowering the volume on the radio but remaining silent. I flipped through memories in my head, trying to recall something of Dad from when I was two. But I’ve got no memories from before the divorce, before my mom swore she would never see my father again, before my father left in the first place. I knew some things, like the way my parents got into a huge argument and weren’t talking for weeks before the divorce. As far as I was concerned, I never heard of my father except when my aunt told stories, which my mother discouraged. Mom had refused to speak of Dad, hear of him, everything he did was wrong, and I agreed. No nice man would forget his two-year-old; no nice father leaves his daughter behind. . . ./more 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.