Stone Soup Magazine

Poetry·Colin Johnson, age 11 — Christmas morning unfolds through sensory details as two brothers wait impatiently for parents to wake, then discover surf-themed presents under the glowing tree.

Story·Ben Mast, age 12 — A peasant girl follows a mysterious blue dragon into its burrow and discovers it's actually an evil magician who killed her family and seeks to end her bloodline.

Story·Annakai Hayakawa Geshlider, age 9 — A girl secretly cares for neglected horses in Toronto until one morning they leap the fence and she rides with them toward the sunrise.

Story·Gus Ruchman, age 12 — After a tsunami kills his family, an eleven-year-old Muslim boy survives with a Hindu man who teaches him that faith transcends religious boundaries before dying in his arms.

Poetry·Sandra Detweiler, age 13 — A lyrical meditation on climbing above fog to find mountain peaks rising like islands from a sea of clouds below.

Story·Brigid Armbrust, age 13 — Emma struggles with moving to Maine until a wise classmate teaches her that home isn't a place but something you carry with you, transforming dirt into meaning.

Book Review·Melanie Conklin, Reviewed By Samantha Abrishami — Counting Thyme, by Melanie Conklin; G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers: New York, 2016; $16.99 When I’m picking out books to read, I usually try to avoid the sad...

Story·Stiles Fraser White, age 12 — A new student at school faces the reigning chess champion, with social acceptance hanging in the balance of their match.

Book Review·Victoria Jamieson, Reviewed By Claire Cleary — Roller Girl, by Victoria Jamieson; Dial Books for Young Readers: New York, 2015; $20.99 Tougher. Stronger. Fearless. These are the words the protagonist of Roller Girl is driven by as...

Story·Brigit Pierce and Sam Hinton and Hannah Feren — In a dystopian dome where citizens' memories are erased through food, Drew discovers her grandmother has vanished and uses her voice-mimicking talent to expose the truth.