Newsletter

The meteorite kept hurtling towards Earth, and Cam watched as her vision darkened Illustrator Charlotte Myers Martin, 13, for Falling into Earth by Ethan Levin, 13. Published November/December 2011. A note from William Rubel A little business for our adult readers and then into the meat of today’s newsletter. Kids, skip these business paragraphs if you like. First, logging in. To be honest, we have had to commission an all new system for managing online access to Stonesoup.com. Our fulfillment house, ICN, has done a terrific job — but there are still a few rough edges. Our apologies. We have just posted login instructions. Basically, click on the login button in the menu bar and, if you can’t remember or make a mistake with your details choose “password reset” when the login screen appears. The rest is just a matter of following instructions. If you need help, call ICN: their phone number is on the login page. Their office hours are 7:30 am to 10:00 pm Monday – Friday Eastern Time (USA). Christmas orders. The last day to guarantee receipt of the 2017 Annual by Christmas (in the United States) is Tuesday, the 19th. We are shipping all orders priority mail. Orders have been going out every day since the beginning of the week. There are 105 books left. More are on order. I underestimated demand for our Stone Soup story book anthologies. We have sold out of all titles. If you ordered a title that is sold out you will be given one or more substitute titles that will arrive for Christmas. The back-ordered tittles will be shipped later this month when we get them from the printer. My apologies. Again. Everything is being shipped priority mail, and all packages will arrive by Christmas. Now, to the Saturday Newsletter! My daughter, as most of you know, is in sixth grade. This week, in her English class they are studying the “Immortal Jellyfish.” This is a tiny jellyfish that has the amazing ability to respond to stress by getting younger! In fact, it can go from adulthood back to being a baby. Many scientists are interested in this jellyfish because it seems to promise the possibility of immortality. Unless, of course (if one is a jellyfish), one gets eaten first! Stella’s teacher is asking his students to think about whether they think immortality would be a good thing for us humans. He is asking his students to make a list of pros and cons: would making humans immortal be a good or a bad idea?One obvious problem with immortality is that if nobody dies then we would definitely run out of food, clean water, and the resources we need to live. In fact, if humans never died and babies keep getting born and, in fact, if the immortal humans kept having children it’s pretty clear that we’d have a planet-wide disaster on our hands. Death is required for life. Science fiction writers are the people who start with the inspiration of something amazing like the immortal jellyfish and then try to imagine various “what-might-happens”. One solution to the problem of immortality would be for millions of immortals to rocket away from earth to explore the solar system and the galaxies. Another way would be for the immortals to kill one non-immortal every time an immortal was created. Horrible, Awful. Terrible! But it would work to keep the population of immortal humans from destroying the world. Science fiction is a fiction of possibilities and ideas. In the best science fiction, the author takes an idea from science, and then thinks, “well, if such and such came true, then what?”  The consequences of the “what-ifs” are often what science fiction books are about. Up to this point, Stone Soup has not published a lot of science fiction. We’d like that to change. I would like you all to start thinking about big issues and asking big questions and then make the shift to writing inquisitive fiction, which is what science fiction is. Over the holidays, choose a scientific ideas that interests you and play around with what-if scenarios. If you end up with a story you think Emma would be interested in for Stone Soup, then please submit it to the magazine. Until next week, William From Stone Soup September/October 2002 Characteristic Property By Rachel Marris Reeves, 12 Illustrated by Martin Taylor, 12   The space pods zoomed above Cassiopeia Jaiden Starwing as she stood on the moving sidewalk on her way home from Academy. Cassie ignored the zooming noise as everyone else did, but her mind did not focus on the obvious. Cassie always acted mellow—she was the youngest of seven children, and the only girl, and she was used to lying low while her brothers got into trouble. But today Cassie was bubbling inside. Tomorrow was her thirteenth birthday, but, like everyone on the planet Earth, she celebrated a day before with her family members. Today was her special day—her day to shine. Cassie grinned as the sidewalk approached her home. It was common knowledge throughout the galaxy that the people on Earth had some of the richest homes anywhere—Earth was a base station to the other planets and jobs there were well paying and important. Cassie’s home was no exception—it was a huge house, with floor upon floor of circular living space. Cassie’s father owned the fastest growing rocket ship company in the galaxy, and was always busy. Cassie’s mother used to work for the Intergalactal Peace Council and retired soon after her second son, Forrest, was born. Now Oriana Starwing was one of the most admired economics teachers on Earth, and was known as far away as Neptune. Cassie entered her home, expecting to be greeted by her family at the door, the way her brothers’ celebrations began, but things were not as she suspected. In fact, they were the opposite…/more

. . . the game continued, but Jessica seemed to treat Cathy differently Illustrator Christy Callahan, 13, for Twisted Friendships by Hana Bieliauskas, 13. Published May/June 2001 A note from William Rubel Monopoly! What adult doesn’t have memories of playing Monopoly with friends? Playing Monopoly with Herb Ritz, my best friend in junior high, remains one of the strongest memories from my early teens. When I was thirteen, the same age as Hanna when she created this magnificent drawing, Herb and I would sit on my bedroom floor for hours at a time playing the game. Looking at this drawing reminds me exactly where in my room we sat to play — a little to the side of an overstuffed armchair, near my dresser, with my bed behind me. My room had triangular-shaped leaded glass windows on two sides. I can vividly recall one game we played when the light coming in through the windows was particularly beautiful. It was a blue day in Los Angeles. Light filtered through the large Pittosporum tree and camellias that were outside my bedroom’s windows. Herb became a famous photographer, but unfortunately, he died young. Art is a magical thing. An evocative drawing, like Hana’s, takes you places. I hadn’t thought about those Monopoly games for a while. This picture reminds me how much I miss my friend. Over the upcoming holiday I am sure many of you will be playing board games with friends and family. I can think of no better inspiration for drawings of your own than this one by Hana. Note the incredible detail in every part of the drawing including the shadow of the chair projected on the carpet which makes clear that sun was streaming in through the window. If you make a drawing you love — please send it to Emma so she can consider it for Stone Soup. New Blog Posts New posts from our Stone Soup Bloggers have come in, and people are enjoying hearing their ideas on everything from nature to sport to sewing. Thank you, bloggers! Remember, if you want to blog for Stone Soup, go the Click here to Submit button and upload a proposal. You are not limited to fiction or poetry. Blogger Jessica Crocker has posted a Christmas felt Santa project. In Jessica’s own words, “These hand sewn ornaments are easy to make and make great gifts. I cut the shapes out free-hand for mine, but there are plenty of free templates on the internet if you prefer.” I have lots of red felt on hand. My daughter and I will be making this project to hang on our tree. Blogger Lucas Cooke has a thought-provoking essay “Books versus Video Games.” Read Lukas’ blog and join those (including me) who have already left comments to tell Lukas what you think of what he’s saying. California Fires If any of you experienced the fires up in Sonoma, Napa, and Lake Counties or are currently caught up in the fires burning from Ventura County to San Diego we hope you are all safe and well. Do please send us anything you have made (or are making) about these immense, life-changing, memory-searing events. We always want to share your photographs, drawings, stories, poems, and music, whatever they might express. Until next week, William The Annual has arrived and is about to start shipping The 2017 Annuals have arrived from the printer! They are 370 pages, are printed in full color, weigh over a pound, and are simply magnificent. We printed 600 copies and the pre-orders we’ve received mean they are going to disappear quickly when we start shipping on Tuesday. If you go to our website, stonesoup.com, and click on subscribe you (or your parents or grandparents) can order the print Annual, a digital subscription, or our best value, and I think the the best of both worlds, a digital subscription plus the print annual. You will be able to choose shipping options. Book reviews galore This is my daughter with the books we brought back from the St. Louis’ teacher’s convention. Thank you all of you who have told us you’d like to review books. I will start sending out review copies from this batch on Monday, and there will be more to come in the new year. Don’t miss the December issue We are thrilled to share the December 2017 issue – our first ever food issue! Log into your account now to read all the stories, poems and recipes published this month, and enjoy some stunning art from our contributors. Subscribers can also download a PDF copy to print at home or upload to an offline device; or download our app and sign in to read it there. If you need any help getting access to the full range of material in this month’s issue, contact our customer service center on +1 215-458-8555 or at stonesoup@icnfull.com. The lines are open 7:30 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. Monday to Friday, and email will be responded to within three days.     From Stone Soup September/October 2000 Enchantment of the Wolves By Leah Karker, 12 Illustrated by Ayla Reynolds, 12 The farm looked old and dull, but in my thoughts everything, even the quiet farm, was eerie. I had the dream again; the same dream I had every full moon, the only dream I ever had. The gentle eyes of my mother looked down at me. All I could see were the soft, green eyes. I could feel the warmth and fear of my mother, fear that was for me. “Terry!” called my father. “Breakfast!” He was actually my adoptive father. He found me in the woods and took care of me. He knew that adopting me would be a bad idea. He had no experience whatsoever with raising a child, and the only person who could help him would be his younger brother. He spent weeks searching for my family, but found no one. He could give me up to an orphanage or adopt me himself. I suppose he felt responsible

‘Lightbulb’ by Ula Pomian, 12, cover of the December 2017 issue. A note from William Rubel The December issue is out, and it is a remarkable issue. As you see from the cover, we are continuing to expand our use of photography. What an unusual image! Ula Pomian is using her camera to focus our attention closely on something we never give much though to—the inside of a light bulb. Inspired by Ula, why not use your camera to explore unexpected aspects of the world, to show others what visually interests you? Select the images you feel are most evocative and that most clearly say what you want to say and send them to us for consideration for an issue of Stone Soup. The December issue is our second themed issue. The theme is food. Here is what our editor, Emma, has to say about it: This is an ambitious and unusual issue for the magazine—the first half is made up of five stories, all touching on food in some way, though sometimes obliquely—and the second half is our first Stone Soup collection of recipes. But the division is not that neat. As I read for the issue, I found stories that seemed to beg for a recipe to go with them. And so two of the recipes (“Christmas Cookies” and “Disaster Raspberry Smoothie”) actually came from the fiction pile. Of the stories that come before the recipes, what unites them, in my mind, is their sense of morality. These are stories with lessons, both stated and unstated. What can you learn from them? As you will see, the recipe section is extensive. My colleague, Jane Levi, is the recipe editor. Jane lives in London. I was fortunate enough to be visiting her while her kitchen had become the Stone Soup Test Kitchen, and she was still testing recipes. All I can say is that each of the dishes I tasted was absolutely worth making (and eating!). A thousand thanks to those of you who sent in recipes: we will definitely be publishing more in the future, with an eye on an eventual Stone Soup Cookbook. And, a thousand thousand thanks, too, to Jane. Jane both tested the recipes—she made many of them multiple times—and also photographed them. Here is Jane’s note about the recipes from the December issue: For the last few weeks the Stone Soup test kitchen has been filled with delicious smells, from melting cheese and savoury tomato sauce, via sweet baking rich with fruit and chocolate, to refreshing smoothies and celebratory spiced punch. Every one of these smells and tastes evokes a memory or a feeling, and each one of the recipes in the Food Issue tells a story—of family, of inventiveness, of literary inspiration, of home, of friends, or what happened the last time our writers tasted or made this or that. We’ve loved reading the recipes’ stories as well as making—and eating—every one of them, and we hope you do, too. Write and let us know the new stories they inspire as they travel from our writers’ kitchens and into yours. Let the culinary adventures begin! After you have seen what is here in this issue I hope many of you will be inspired to send in more recipes, along with the wonderful stories that go with them and make us all want to taste and experience new things and familiar favorites alike. And if you try making any of the recipes in this month’s issue please visit the website and leave a comment or send us your photos. We’d all love to know what you think! Until Next Week William How to access the December issue To read the entire December 2017 issue you will need to log into your Stone Soup subscriber account. If you need any help with that, please contact our customer service center on on +1 215-458-8555 or at cafsubscribe@icnfull.com, and we’ll be able to help you get signed in or signed up. Subscribers can also download a PDF copy to print at home or upload to an offline device; or download our app and sign in to read their issues there. We know that there are ongoing problems with the formatting of the PDFs in our PDF archive, and this link to the new page with properly formatted PDF copies of the magazine will get you to the content in its proper form. Non subscribers can also read stories, poems, recipes and reviews, and enjoy some of the stunning art from our contributors at our website, but only a limited number. Remember, the December issue is also published, in full, in print, in the Stone Soup Annual, which you can find in our online store. Holiday gifts! The Stone Soup Annual, 370 full colour pages, containing every issue from 2017 in one volume, begins to ship to everyone who pre-ordered it this coming week. If you haven’t already, order your copies now! A digital subscription which includes the current issues of Stone Soup; over 5,000 fully-searchable pages of Stone Soup material from the past twenty years; blogs by Stone Soup writers—and more—is for sale as a stand-alone gift AND bundled with the 2017 Annual. There are two places to stock up on Stone Soup gifts. The Stone Soup Annual 2017 plus our collection of books, journals and art prints are available at our online store. The Stone Soup Annual 2017 and all subscription packages are available via the subscriptions tab on our website. From Stone Soup January/February 2009 Mirror, Mirror By Sabrina Wong, 10 Illustrated by Tiger Tam, 10 Ellie leaped from the incubator warmness of her covers to get ready for the day that lay ahead. The sun was rising and the day was still in its infancy, offering a new beginning, and new challenges. After spending some time in her closet looking for just the right combination of shirt, pants and boots, she stole one last glance at herself in her dresser mirror. “Yep, that’ll do,” she said, putting down the wand of her Sugar & Spice brand mascara. In the mirror, she saw a stylish girl staring back at her, with streaks