Newsletter

“Self-portrait” (acrylics) Alyssa Wu, 12 (Pleasanton, CA) Published in the September 2020 issue of Stone Soup A note from William Labor Day sale! 15% off Stone Soup print and digital subscriptions, as well as books—including our newly published Three Days till EOC by Abhi Sukhdial. Use the code LABORDAY20 at the checkout. Now that you are all back at school, we have a few administrative details to share on the new programs we began for lockdown and are continuing through the end of the year. Writing Workshop and Book Club The Writing Workshop resumes next week on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 9 a.m. PDT with a workshop on metaphor. The class is for students ages nine through fourteen. Our schedule from now on will be to run Book Club in that same slot on the last Saturday of each month and Writing Workshop on all the other Saturdays (apart from Thanksgiving weekend). Having run the programs for free since the spring, we will now be asking for a small fee for the classes from non-subscribers, which I am sure you will all understand. We will also need everyone to register via EventBrite. Once you have registered, you will receive joining details for the Zoom calls. All the details and registration links will be posted on the relevant page on our website, Stonesoup.com. We are scheduling the performance we’d discussed with the previous attendees for the last class in December. This public reading will include work from all the classes since March, as well as new work from the second season. Creativity Prompts and Flash Contests We thought that since you are going back to school, it would make sense to reduce the frequency of the creativity prompts and flash contests. We also need to make sure our small staff has enough time to complete the additional work that comes our way in the run up to the end of the year! Thus, the flash contest is now monthly—first week of the month—and we are sending out a weekly, rather than daily, report. We are preparing a questionnaire to get your opinions on various Stone Soup activities, including the flash contest and daily prompts. Refugee Project Laura Moran, the Refugee Project coordinator, has been corresponding with the Kakuma camp in Kenya for months. Kakuma is the largest refugee camp in the world, with nearly 200,000 residents. The camp is operated by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). We have just been approved as an educational organization authorized to work with the camp authorities. Thank you, Laura, for your persistence! We had a Zoom meeting this week with the UNHCR education officer, and several others at the Kakuma camp, including the headteacher of the girls primary school funded by Angelina Jolie. We are developing a program with that school initially, with the intention of expanding to other less well-funded schools over time. We will now be meeting with people at the Kakuma camp on a regular basis to develop our partnership. Jane Levi and I also met with our website designers on Thursday to discuss building out a section of the website for submissions from refugee students. This portion of the website will have its own identity within the larger Stone Soup website. We look forward to soon being able to share with you works from refugee students that have been sent to us over the last year. Sincere thanks to those of you who are supporting this project. Your donations are making this important work possible. William’s Weekend Project Kateri Escober Doran’s “Locked out of Kindergarten” and Alyssa Wu’s self-portrait are the two creative works featured in today’s newsletter. Both of these works are extraordinary. I hope you will spend some time with each. Alyssa’s self-portrait shows us a girl on the cusp of becoming a woman, hair done up in a bun like a dancer and wearing a black top with a striking bird print. The black hair, black eyebrows, black eyes lined with black eye liner, black ear studs, and the black top gives this portrait a fantastic energy. The portrait projects itself in front of the vibrant green background. And the birds! A magnificent print, striking in its simplicity, and so effective. If you don’t feel confident drawing or painting, then use photography to develop your creative vision. Pick up your phone or camera. Dress yourself with a striking outfit. Then, either work photographing yourself in a mirror or work with with a mirror and your hands or work with your phone or camera to take a portrait of yourself. You can use a selfie mode and also photograph yourself in a mirror. “Locked out of Kindergarten” by Kateri Escober Doran was the winner of our 2019 Personal Narrative Contest. I have just re-read this story. It is everything that Stone Soup is about. Congratulations to Kateri for this well-remembered and well-written evocation of being in kindergarten—not yet on the first rung of the ladder to life. After you read this story, which I hope you will do right now, I’d like you to close your eyes for a few minutes, let the memories flow, and at least start your own narrative about something that happened to you when you were much younger. Kateri offers insights into the thinking of a child much younger than she is. As writers, one of your tasks is to create characters who offer insights into human behavior and emotions. Try to get back to a memory of you when you were younger and thinking in ways that are different from how you think now. Besides recording a memory that is likely to grow less precise with time, this is good practice for creating characters that think differently than you. As always, if you are happy with what you create, please go to our website and send Emma Wood, our editor, what you have done. Stay safe. Until next week, Winners from Weekly Flash Contest #22 Flash Contest #22: Write a Story About a Unifying Place For our last in the current series of weekly flash

A note from Emma When I selected Three Days til EOC as the winner of our inaugural Stone Soup book contest, I didn’t know how close it would seem we were already to the end of our civilization—especially in our little corner of the world, in Santa Cruz, California, where the pandemic has teamed up with climate change-driven wildfires, suddenly forcing evacuees into proximity with others after months of social distancing. Our home is in the evacuation zone, but we are lucky to be in Connecticut staying with my parents for a few months; we have been watching everything unfold at home with sadness and fear for our community. The fire has added a lot of uncertainty to an already uncertain year. We live in the mountains and even if our home is spared, we may be without power for months. Where will we live in the meantime? Will we need to leave Santa Cruz? And if we stay, what will it feel like up there, with some areas of the forest devastated and so many who have lost their homes trying to rebuild? The circumstances we are experiencing now may be different from the ones described in Three Days till EOC but the situation is the same: our world is in crisis, and it is up to us—not just one person, but all of us—to save it. I’m so excited to finally share Abhi’s novella with you all, and I hope, when you read it, you will be inspired to write and to take action against climate change. The official publication date is September 1, but you can preorder it now here, and at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or your usual bookstores.  Until next week, Winners from Weekly Flash Contest #21 Weekly Flash Contest #21: Write a poem about your favorite place Congratulations to our winners and honorable mentions, listed below. You can read the winning entries for this week (and previous weeks) at the Stone Soup website. Winners “Cherish the Temporary” by Reagan Ricker, 13 “My Favorite People” by Chloe Song, 12 “My Mind” by Analise Braddock, 9 “A Place Yet to Be” by Anushka, 10 “My Favorite Place to Be” by Georgia Marshall, 11 Honorable Mentions “The Observation Deck” by Nicholas Buckley, 13 “Perfect for Me” by April Yu, 12 “In the mountains” by Quinn Peacock Brush, 10 “Winter in my Bed” by Nova Macknik-Conde, 8 “My Room” by Julia Marcus, 13 Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! Alice imagines life as a book in her post “A Different Kind of Chapter.” Maybe this chapter of our books is a little sad, but rest assured that more exciting chapters will follow. In “Exploring Madame Tussauds,” Alex gives us an overview of the famous wax museum, including how the sculptures of famous figures are made. Emma entered her poem “Mad World 2020” in our Flash Contest that asked participants to write a poem inspired by a song. She uses the lyrics of a song to discuss the chaos of the year. One of our frequent contributors, Liam Hancock, writes “A Plea from the Red Zone.” Read about his experience with the wildfires in California and what he wants others to know. Arshia, 10, writes a poem called “Thank You Doctors” as a tribute to the frontline health care workers who are working tirelessly during the pandemic. Are you a fan of Hamilton? Olivia, 11, wrote a poem inspired by the King’s song from the popular musical. Read updates from the latest meetings of our book club, including an announcement of the next book we’ll be discussing. “Today” by Grace, 11, is a hopeful poem that demonstrates how every day during the pandemic can feel completely different. A call for reviewers! We have three books to send to young reviewers who will commit to reading the book and writing a review for the website. (You can look at other book reviews on the website here.) All three books are middle-grade realistic fiction, but for different age levels. We’re looking for a reviewer age 11 or younger for the book that’s similar to the Ramona Quimby series, but whose narrator is a young Black girl named Ryan Hart. For the next book, which is a book about disability and brotherhood that’s been translated into English from Dutch, we’re looking for a reviewer between the ages of 11 to 13. Then, our last book has some serious themes, so we’re looking for a review age 12 or older. It has a mystery, an eccentric grandma, and gymnastics. Get in touch with Sarah@stonesoup.com if you’re interested in reviewing any of those books. Three Days till EOC By Abhimanyu Sukhdial, 12  Winner of our 2019 Book Contest Cover art: Stars, photograph by Grace Williams, 12 “Choose well. Your choice is brief and yet endless.” —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe * * * Giant waves, riding on the backs of punishing 150 mph tailwinds, crashed on the empty beaches of Soledad and came roaring onshore. The few cafés and shops along the sandy shore collapsed like a child’s house of cards and were mercilessly swallowed by the hungry, monstrous seas. The residents ran amok—their hearts raced fast and almost leapt out of their bodies. The ground shook hard from the screams and yells coming out of their mouths. The endless onslaught of rain flooded the already eroding hillside and threatened to destroy the homes on the hilltop. The massive seawall originally built 50 years ago was holding up—for now. It was the year 2100 and water, the thing that matters to all life, was wiping out life itself. A world so wondrous—with sea creatures, land animals, and humans of all colors, religions, and differences—was being annihilated, and it was soul-crushing to see. A year ago, the last surviving 1,000 humans were gathered and put on electric cargo ships to make the journey here to this hill. Many didn’t understand why it needed to end like this, even though the warning signs had been there for more than 100 years and alarm bells had been ringing for almost 50 years. But the

“‘Josh, there’s a big fire going off a little ways from here!’ said Eric in a panicking voice.” By José Chardiet, 13 (New Haven, CT), published in Stone Soup July/August 2007 Illustrating When the World Becomes a Flame by Connor Pickens, 13 (Shakopee, MI) A note from William Dear Friends, I cannot see the fires approaching Santa Cruz from my house, but for days the sky has been filled with smoke and a light rain of ashes has been falling. At this point we are all fine. I am going to keep the newsletter short today. Stone Soup news: In early September, the heretofore Friday Writing Workshop is shifting to 9 a.m. PDT on Saturdays. The Wednesday Book Club meets one more time this week and then will meet once per month thereafter, also on a Saturday. Time and registration information will be provided in next week’s newsletter. As school starts up again, we are also changing the schedule for the Flash Contests and the Creativity Prompts. The Flash Contest will now be monthly. Starting in September, the Flash Contest will be announced the first week of the month. The creativity prompts will shift from daily to weekly. I’d like to give a special thanks to Jane Levi, who took on the burden of the Stone Soup COVID-19 response. Jane has published 108 creativity prompts and managed twenty flash contests. Thank you, Jane. Thanks also to Sarah, to the several students who helped write prompts, and to Anya Geist, also a student, who is interning with Stone Soup this summer and is also helping process the many blog posts you have been sending in. Please read the poem and listen to the music composed and performed by Fern Hadley, one of the winners of the Flash Contest #20. The music and poem are posted in the Flash Contest section below. Until next week, Winners from Weekly Flash Contest #20 Weekly Flash Contest #20: Write a poem inspired by a song The week commencing August 10 (Daily Creativity Prompt #101) was our twentieth week of Flash Contests. The prompt asked our entrants to write a poem inspired by a song they’ve been listening to a lot. The entries we received included poetry set to the tune of a certain song; poetry inspired by a theme of a song; and poetry inspired by classical music, contemporary music, musicals, and even our entrants’ own musical compositions. We greatly enjoyed reading the many entries we received. Well done to everyone who submitted to this prompt. Congratulations to our winners and honorable mentions, listed below. You can read the winning entries for this week (and previous weeks) at the Stone Soup website. Winners “Satisfied” by Savannah Black, 9 (Yuba City, CA) “First Flight” by Fern Hadley, 12 (Cary, NC) “Requiem” by Joyce Hong, 10 (Oakville, ON) “Mendelssohn’s Voices” by Eric Liang, 13 (Sherborn, MA) “Last Night” by Daniel Wei, 13 (Weddington, NC) Honorable Mentions “The Lovely Birds” by Nova Macknik-Conde, 8 (Brooklyn, NY) “Christmas Carols” by Ashvant Daniel, 11 (Portland, OR) “Mad World 2020” by Emma Hoff, 8 (Bronx, NY) “The King of the Snow” by Kyler Min, 9 (Vienna, VA) “Dance Monkey” by Sophie Yu, 12 (Houston, TX) Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! Lyla, 10, writes a short, heartbreaking poem entitled “Gone.” Check out the update from our Writing Workshop from last Friday, where we focused on character sketches. Remember, for the last two weeks of August we are taking a break from the workshop, but we will resume in September. In “The Dust Cloud,” Arshia, 10, writes about her feelings about online school and her fears about the virus. Prisha, 7, asks in the first line of her poem, “What if there was a healing virus?” Read the rest of her lyrical poem on the blog. Have you thought about where you want to vacation when the pandemic is over? Chloe, 12, imagines trips to Spain and Japan in her blog post. Hazel writes a powerful poem related to Black Lives Matter called “Hundreds at Least.” Take a minute to read it and take it in. With her poem, Alisa, 12, appeals to the coronavirus itself in a plea to stop attacking us. Fern, 12, wrote a beautiful song called “First Flight.” We’ve published a video of Fern performing it, plus the sheet music and lyrics if you’d like to cover it yourself. From the Stone Soup blog November 2018 My Soccer Game Went Up in Smoke by Lukas Cooke As many people know, the state of California has burned with some 7,600 fires this year [2018]. Many of these were large and leveled entire towns, leaving thousands of people homeless. California’s recent largest-recorded fire ever was the Mendocino Fire. The fires have cost about 2.975 billion dollars in rebuilding and fire-suppression costs. I live in California. Yesterday morning, I woke up to a blanket of smoke covering the landscape outside my window. Later, when I went outside, I could hardly breathe through the fumes, which made my throat burn. I was supposed to have a soccer game at noon. It was canceled due to the air quality. My school was scheduled to have a volleyball game against a school in Paradise, a town razed by flames just a week ago. That was canceled. I began to wonder why there were so many fires. I didn’t have to look far for the answer. Climate change, or global warming, has become a growing concern for the world these past couple of decades. Severe weather patterns, large fires, flooding, erosion, and droughts are only some of the disasters that are becoming more and more common . . . /More Georgia Marshall, 11Marblehead, MA From the Stone Soup blog May 2020 We are Strong by Georgia Marshall, 11 (Marblehead, MA) Fires burning across the globe Porcelain crashing True loves forced to see each other, only through windows. And when the sky is falling Through a cracked glass mirror, We have only a ray of hope Shining through the storm. We can find a way