Stone Soup Magazine

Story·Kaylyn Kavi, age 12 — Two sisters visiting India reluctantly ride a rickety Ferris wheel at a deserted amusement park, transforming boredom into terror then exhilaration as they rock the unsafe cart.

Story·Eleanor Holton, age 10 — During Ireland's potato famine, a boy struggles to support his family after his sister Molly dies of tuberculosis, eventually escaping to America.

Story·Aja Corliss, age 12 — A nervous ballerina at Nationals finds calm and rediscovers her love of dance when moonlight creates a private spotlight outside the auditorium.

Story·Lauren Klepinger, age 11 — Kate struggles with jealousy when her friend Madison excels at everything, leading to a painful confrontation and eventual reconciliation about their differences.

Story·Annakai Hayakawa Geshlider, age 12 — A 12-year-old searches frantically for her free-roaming cat Comet, posts flyers around the neighborhood, and finally reunites with him after a neighbor rescues him from a rooftop light well.

Story·Hannah V. Read, age 9 — A girl diving into a pool transforms through daydreams into a bird, fish, and otter before a bump returns her to reality at the diving board.

Story·Alexandria Lenzi, age 13 — In drought-stricken Africa, a girl's beloved zebra friend is sacrificed to save her dying mother, then the rains finally come.

Poetry·Rhiannon Grodnik, age 12 — A twelve-year-old slips outside at night to lie in wet grass, listening to her watch tick and feeling the wind carry away time's demands.

Story·William Gwaltney, age 13 — During WWI's Christmas truce of 1914, a young soldier gives his aunt's ugly sweater to a sick German soldier who returns it decades later on a lonely Christmas Eve.

Book Review·Kerry Madden, Reviewed by Anna West Ellis — Louisiana’s Song, by Kerry Madden; Viking Children’s Books: New York, 2007; $16.99 “We just keep walking but going nowhere.” This statement, spoken by Livy Two, the main character in Louisiana’s...