Stone Soup Magazine

Book Review·Jacqueline Kelly, Reviewed by June Hill — The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly; Henry Holt and Company: New York, 2009; $17.99 Calpurnia Tate is the kind of eleven-year-old who is always asking questions—questions about nature...

Poetry·Jem Burch, age 13 — From an airplane window, the world transforms into miniature islands and tinfoil seas, rising through clouds into pure sunlight, chasing sunset into stars.

Story·Alexandra Orczyk, age 12 — Through letters to her absent mother, a French orphan girl chronicles her journey to America on an immigrant ship, through Ellis Island, and discovers an unexpected family connection.

Story·Maeve Brett-Vasko, age 12 — A young soldier who can see death timelines on people's palms sacrifices himself to save his best friend during a fortress battle, transferring his gift to her.

Book Review·Tim Crothers, Reviewed by Meg Isohata — The Queen of Katwe, by Tim Crothers; Simon & Schuster: New York, 2016; $16.00 The Queen of Katwe is a true story about an amazing Ugandan girl named Phiona Mutesi....

Poetry·Jude Stumpf, age 8 — A child connects Van Gogh's Starry Night to moments with parents—dad at the museum, mom watching them draw—finding calm in the painting above their bed.

Poetry·Abigail Rose Cargo, age 13 — A boat being pulled from water becomes a meditation on the narrow margins between opposing forces—connection and separation, life and death.

Story·Olivia Cohen — A lonely Indian boy finds friendship and belonging when a girl from his school discovers him at his secret pond refuge in Minnesota.

Story·Hannah Ferreira, age 11 — A girl escapes her stifling bedroom on a summer night to lie in the grass under moonlight, until her mother gently brings her back inside.

Story·Emma Harwell, age 12 — A girl resentful of caring for her sister with cerebral palsy realizes during a Thanksgiving church service that her sister has never complained despite having far less.