Want to keep reading?

You've reached the end of your complimentary access. Subscribe for as little as $4/month.

Subscribe
Aready a Subscriber ? Sign In

Fighter Jet
“Fighter Jet” by Ethan Hu, 8 (San Diego, CA), published in Stone Soup December 2019


A note from Sarah Ainsworth

As some of you may know, I don’t work for Stone Soup full-time. Most of my time I spend as a graduate student in an archival studies program—in other words, I am training to be an archivist. I’ve written about archives before, if you’d like a brief overview on the subject.

As an aspiring archivist, I am partial to cool old stuff. One of my favorite tasks that I do for Stone Soup is looking back in the archives for anything that we might need—throwback posts for social media, images, people who we could interview for our former contributor series.

This week, though, I want to spotlight our anthologies. They’re packed with the very best stories from the 46 years of publishing Stone Soup. While there is no shortage of impressive work being published in the magazine now (check out “Sky Blue Hijab” below, which is phenomenal!), it is such a fascinating experience to read one “friendship” story from 1986 after a story from 2003 after a story from 2016. You learned last week that we just released our science fiction anthology, but we have so many others! Holiday, family, animal, and sports, just to name a few.

Speaking of our science fiction anthology, we’re currently collecting blurbs from middle-grade and young-adult authors for the back of the print copy, and we’re so heartened to learn that such talented people are impressed with the work of Stone Soup writers. Here’s a preview from a blurb we’ve received: “Hold on to your copy! When one of these young writers wins the Hugo this paperback will be quite the collector’s item.” We wholeheartedly agree!

Lots of things have changed since the 1970s, but have stories written by children stayed the same? If you read an anthology, please let us know what you think.


Current Contest: Personal Narrative

Are you ready to submit your entry?

Have you been using the amazing FREE series of tips for improving your writing, made specially for this contest? Even if you are not entering this contest, if you are a writer you should take a look at the fantastic materials developed by Young Inklings. The video series is focused on personal narrative, but a lot of the advice applies to any form of writing—and the tips for revision are great rules for life for any writer, at any age!

Remember: for this contest, we are looking for excellent, innovative, moving, playful personal essays or mini-memoirs. We want to hear about any of the biggest moments in your life—the scariest, the saddest, the happiest ones—as well as about some of the smallest—your walk to school or a regular Saturday at home with your brother. Make us laugh! Make us cry! Make us feel like we know you!

Read more on our contest page, and submit at the link here.


Highlights from the past week online

Don't miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com!

Do you like to eat pasta? Well, our new blogger Ezra became curious about his favorite food and decided to investigate! Check out “A Brief History of Pasta” to learn more!


Fighter Jet
Colored pencils

From Stone Soup, December 2019

 

Sky Blue Hijab

By Seoyon Kim, 10 (East Greenwich, RI)

Illustrated by Ethan Hu, 8 (San Diego, CA)

I twist the fake wedding ring on my finger nervously. It’s a cheap copper ring that I superglued a rhinestone to. Back and forth. Back and forth. It’s supposed to arouse sympathy if someone tries to kill me. It’ll convince them that I have someone back home I love and need to get back to, my colleagues had assured. Though it’s likely that I won’t be killed by an assassin. If I do get killed, it’s more likely to be by a bomb or a missile. I’m pretty sure my ring won’t convince anyone to refrain from blowing up everything in a five-mile radius.

Unless it’s a magical shield ring. You never know.

The countryside spreads outside the window. I peek outside, but the dizzying height quickly gets me sick, and I close the window blind. I don’t have time to get sick. Plus, the airline doesn’t seem to have any barf bags.

Syria. Syria. I have to get to Syria. To the war. To the story.../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.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.