Stone Soup Magazine

Story·Ella Martinez Nocito, age 12 — A girl receives a cedar bracelet and a story about courage from her cousin before moving across the country, finding strength to face change.

Artwork·Alicia Xin

Story·Oliver Giller, age 10 — A boy who counts his 2,476 hairs discovers one is missing and hires a suspicious detective who charges $100 to solve the case.

Artwork·Parinita Chandrashekar

Poetry·William Chui, age 12 — A boy catalogs the sensory details of his family's playroom — chessmen, Legos, piano, moths on windows — revealing it as his sanctuary from the outside world.

Story·Vandana Ravi, age 12 — A girl's morning bike ride to school becomes a meditation on class differences and gratitude, finding beauty in her modest neighborhood despite glimpses of wealth.

Artwork·Delaney Slote

Artwork·Anya Geist

Artwork·Alexa Zhang

Story·Emma McKinny, age 13 — A girl attends her father's opening night performance in an opera about the atomic bomb, where the show's depiction of nuclear devastation awakens her anger about historical injustice.