Welcome to the Stone Soup Honor Roll! We receive hundreds of submissions every month by kids from around the world. Unfortunately, we can’t publish all the great work we receive. So we created the Stone Soup Honor Roll. We commend all of these talented writers and artists and encourage them to keep creating. – The Editors Scroll down to see all the names (alphabetical by section), including book reviewers and artists. ART Emily Collins, 12 Oliver DeFrancesco, 8 Gretel Osha Proudman, 10 PERSONAL NARRATIVES Hannah Slater, 9 Franklin Sun, 9 PLAYS Ethan Hu, 10 POETRY Gabriel Byrne, 11 Benjamin Kwack, 9 Beatrice Milasan, 13 Adalyn N. Wagner, 12 Anabelle Wilson, 13 STORIES River Bachand-Price, 10 Wyatt Edwards, 11 Shaarda Krishna, 11 Leo Sagan, 13 Solveig Sissenich, 11 Savarna Yang, 13
January 2022
Highlights from Stonesoup.com
From the Stone Soup Blog An excerpt from How Nationality Affects the Eyes Sue Park, 12Incheon, South Korea I stood in the middle of the hallway, frightened. I took a deep, slow breath as I took a giant step through the whooshing crowd of children. I quickly scanned the group of kids next to me; they looked like 3rd-graders that were enjoying the trip. I was blankly staring at them for a while when I heard someone calling me. My homeroom teacher motioned me to come, then smiled at me. At first, I thought she was waving at the playful boy behind me, but as I stuttered, she came up to me and told me that it was my turn for the interview. At that moment, I screamed, inwardly, “I don’t want to do this!” As my teacher carefully held my wrist and took me to the man from North Korea, I did not practice my script but rather practiced the karate skills that I had learned in kindergarten, fearing sudden violence. When I finally reached the door to the interview room, which looked like a torture chamber, my teacher nudged me calmly. At that moment, my teacher appeared to be a frightful green monster pushing me to the town of hell. Recognizing my fate, I trudged to the chair and quietly sat on the corner of it, ready to leave at any moment. Surprisingly, the man didn’t look any different from a normal South Korean man. He had a warm smile and he did not wear the military clothes that I had pictured in my head. As I quickly scanned him and looked into his plain black eyes, there was an awkward silence. And it felt like a millennium. When I couldn’t stand the silence much longer, I blurted out my first question: “What is the main obstacle you have faced in South Korea?” and as he answered accordingly, my stomach rumbled with guilt and fear. The man calmly listed out the prejudices and perceptions South Koreans had of him, and how difficult it was for him to find a job due to the people neglecting him after listening to his North Korean accent. As he listed out these examples, my guilt increased more and more due to the fact that I could relate to all of them. As if he noticed my pain, he asked, “Is something wrong?” and I replied, “No, I’m fine!” But, I knew this was a lie. * * * You can read the rest of Sue’s personal narrative on our website: https:// stonesoup.com/stone-soup-blog/. About the Stone Soup Blog We publish original work—writing, art, book reviews, multimedia projects, and more—by young people on the Stone Soup Blog. You can read more posts by young bloggers, and find out more about submitting a blog post, here: https://stonesoup.com/stone-soup-blog/.
Spring Will Not Die
By a group of Syrian refugees in Reyhanli, Turkey with the support of Karam House—Afnan, 15; Ahmad, 16; Fatima, 18; Hayam, 16; Mohammed A., 16; Mohammed, 16; Mustafa, 16; Nour Al Huda, 16; Rasha, 16; and Sedra, 15 Translated from Arabic. Characters The King: A dictator; angry, cold, insensitive. Thaer: The revolutionary; a young, driven, impatient dreamer of freedom. Passionate with his people, tough with his enemies. Khaled: A young man; hesitant but quietly driven. Maria: A very strong young woman who impacts the people around her in a powerful way. Lara: Hesitant, always afraid. Rama: Adamant, insists on her way; strong and passionate. Lana: A young woman who loves modern conveniences and the advantages of modern life. She has drive and passion but is soft. Fatima: Always hides her feelings. The revolution engaged her after she realized its essence, then embraced its meaning. Introduction Welcome to all our guests. Revolutions, and especially the revolutions in the Arab lands today, aren’t simple events that can be conveyed in a play of less than half an hour. The reality is the blood of the people. It’s not easy to fully portray their pain and suffering. This play may not be one-hundred percent accurate or an exact mirror of reality, but it seeks to present the way in which the demonstrations the youth brought to the streets were driven by their passion for freedom. Thank you for attending. Scene One A procession through the kingdom as the KING and his entourage pass through. Sitting on his throne, he exudes power. Next to him are his courtiers. The poor people in tattered clothes walk by, cursing the procession. The Fall of Democracy THAER (quiet and afraid) Oh, people, we need to start the movement now. Enough of silence and fear. We’re fed up. We should no longer tolerate this oppression. Don’t you see our ruler’s transgressions? MARIA (in a very soft voice) What are you doing, Thaer? Do you want to get us all killed? The King has forbidden us to even think about democracy. Stop it. You don’t know what will happen to us. FATIMA You may tempt fate and survive, but what about the millions of people who will be implicated and caught up in what you do? And if you’re killed, what about all those who see you as their hero—what about them? Do you know what will happen? LANA (fearful) Stop it! This only creates fear, and if someone hears this talk, it will be the end of us. Scene Two An alley in the kingdom. From afar, someone speaks. A suspicious gathering. In a secret location, young people come together and then disperse. THAER Friends, enough of fear. Let’s prepare to claim our rights. LARA You’re going to get us killed! KHALED Let’s talk about something we can actually accomplish, something realistic. THAER My loved ones, my friends, my family— what’s wrong with you? You hear and see, and don’t speak out. Is it worth it for you to lose the dignity which you only claim to have? Or your honor and pride, which you are burying with your own hands? Your conscience is drugged while you sleep. Answer me, for the sake of the life you dream of. Do you want to applaud empty idols and worship gangsters and obey ignorant thugs? Don’t you believe in yourselves? I swear to God, who is generous of spirit and who makes all things right, that you will be shunned by His mercy. I want you as I knew you—free and with self-respect. Revolutionary. Don’t be like animals, without a sense of purpose and destiny. Silence. Scene Three The King’s minions are collecting taxes by force from the poor merchants. RAMA With all this oppression and aggression, I’m beginning to understand Thaer’s words. KHALED Me too. I can’t tolerate this stealing from the people while the rich are in their palaces, surrounded by flatterers and covered in gold. FATIMA We need to work together, hand in hand, and not let each other down. We need to regain balance in our country. This is our mission. LANA I completely agree with you. MARIA I’m with you too, and I will stay with you until my last breath. And this will be the pin of the grenade—we will rekindle the conscience of the people. THAER What about you, Lara? LARA (waiting for everyone, speaking hesitantly) I’ll be with you. RAMA (stepping forward and speaking) Tomorrow will be our first outcry against their arrogance. Scene Four In front of the King’s palace. Everyone is approaching the throne and glancing at each other. THAER Who are we and who are you? We are the hidden voice of justice, and you are the voice of oppression. We are the driving force, and you are steering us without knowing where you’re going. We are the light, and you are extinguishing us. Let’s all repeat: this kingdom is ours; it does not belong to the King’s minions. We are the owners of the kingdom, not you. More and more people pick up the chant. While the crowd is shouting, the throne begins to quake and the KING orders his minions to attack. LARA is killed, and everyone withdraws from the square where they were assembling. The curtain closes. Scene Five The curtain opens on the same hiding place. There are new members of the group, but all are downcast over LARA’s death. RAMA (standing in the center, cries out) What’s wrong with this ruler? Does he want to kill us simply for asking for our basic rights? What would he do if we went even further—to demand his removal? THAER (after thinking) I think this is our new mission. Everyone prepare to instruct the people to demand their rights. The curtain closes. The curtain opens on the square. RAMA starts by claiming power for the people and an end to the tyranny and oppression of the oppressor. Everyone begins to chant, and then spears start
