Stone Soup Magazine

Story·Emma Dudley, age 13 — A boy living in a North Carolina trailer park befriends a wealthy newcomer who moves into his childhood home, forcing him to confront his past and find belonging.

Poetry·Eden Amital, age 13 — Gulls fly between mountain peaks while the immobile rocks' shadows dance below, exploring the contrast between movement and stillness in a landscape.

Story·Amanda Valdovinos, age 13 — A girl walks through her empty childhood home one last time before moving, finding comfort in her old cat who shares her reluctance to leave.

Poetry·Devorah Malka Reisner, age 12 — A new student sits alone watching unfamiliar faces until a red-haired girl's kind note transforms isolation into the beginning of friendship.

Story·Emily Schneider, age 13 — A girl in California gazes into a snow globe's winter scene, imagining the Christmas town inside before returning to the blazing heat outside.

Poetry·Dylan Sherman, age 10 — White becomes a meditation on beauty and renewal through images of doves, snow, sails, and roses emerging from ashes.

Story·Adam Jacobs, age 13 — A boy learns his father must move to California for work, runs away in anger and confusion, then returns home ready to face the separation.

Story·Erik Dinardo — In the antebellum South, an enslaved girl named Hope learns her mother will be sold, prompting escape plans, while the master's daughter Abigail faces a moral choice.

Story·Hugh Cole, age 12 — A girl in coastal Maine discovers a ferret she names Rumor at an abandoned lighthouse and saves it from a hawk, forming a brief connection before it disappears.

Story·Brittany Jullie, age 11 — An aspiring writer struggling with bills and rejection letters finally receives her first acceptance, learning the value of patience her grandmother taught her.