Stone Soup Magazine

Story·Molly Dektar, age 13 — A girl receives a mysterious package containing both an elf hat that once excluded her and her childhood Hanukkah hat, forcing her to reconsider identity and belonging.

Story·Felix Zhang, age 13 — A father's harsh parenting drives his son away, and only as the son lies dying from an attack in India do they finally exchange the words 'good night' they never...

Story·Malin Moeller — A boy in an orphanage experiences vivid dreams of a jungle that begin bleeding into reality, leading him to discover his connection to an enslaved ancestor.

Poetry·Jean Hope Sack, age 12 — A girl climbs an ancient Sequoia on her family's tree farm, watches an osprey soar past, and records the moment in her tree-kept poetry book.

Story·Mariel Dempster — A girl sent to an Italian convent school to stop her from painting secretly learns from an old man in the town plaza and ultimately convinces her mother to let...

Poetry·Maya Koretzky, age 12 — A speaker encounters an ancient, painted figure by firelight, and together they lie beneath stars, bridging time through shared wonder.

Story·Steven Lu, age 12 — A boy watches from his hillside home as flood waters from Deer Mountain devastate his village below, imagining the mountain as an angry deity.

Story·Katherine Roth, age 13 — A mother discovers her childhood photo album with her daughter, triggering memories of her last night with best friends before they were separated by different high schools.

Book Review·Wade Hudson, Reviewed by Celia Arguilez Smith — Powerful Words by Wade Hudson; Scholastic Inc.: New York, 2004; $19.95 This is a collection of poetry, rap, historical speeches, stories and biographies on the struggles and triumphs of African...

Story·Sophia Stid, age 11 — A girl escapes to a secret clearing in the woods where she experiences brief moments of becoming the creatures around her—squirrel, robin, blade of grass.