Stone Soup Magazine

Story·Arden Bastia, age 13 — A girl named Adrin strikes a dangerous bargain with Beta, a wolf who killed her father, agreeing to retrieve a magical owl diadem within eight days or forfeit her life.

Poetry·Sarah Wood, age 12 — A poem captures the last night before a friend moves to Ireland, from joyful evening to tearful goodbye as she disappears in the rain.

Story·Natalie Bettendorf, age 13 — A family's annual August trip to Mission Beach in San Diego brings together two close families for a day of racing to the ocean, splashing, and summer traditions.

Book Review·Andrew Clements, Reviewed by Madeline Hastie — We the Children (Benjamin Pratt and the Keepers of the School), by Andrew Clements; Atheneum Books for Young Readers: New York, 2011; $6.99 Atheneum Books, the publishing company, knew what...

Story·Emma Callet, age 12 — A girl's racehorse Royal Blue faces his rival King of the Wind in the Kentucky Derby, with tensions rising when the rival's exercise rider becomes the jockey.

Poetry·Ruhi Sah, age 11 — A pomegranate transforms from fruit to jewel case as the speaker cuts it open, revealing seeds like drops of blood that taste of heavenliness.

Story·Marie-Rose Sheinerman, age 12 — An eleven-year-old returns from Russia to New York and is detained at customs, intensifying her desperate longing to reunite with her parents and her city.

Poetry·Tanay Kumta, age 12 — A student escapes a bad school day through a nighttime walk, finding solace in crickets, crunching leaves, and cool air that transforms frustration into peace.

Story·Ocyin Davis, age 11 — A student's daily bus ride past horses in a field becomes a meditation on breaking free from routine and discovering the wild possibility within oneself.

Book Review·Sarah Ockler, Reviewed by Anna Vinitsky — Fixing Delilah, by Sarah Ockler; Little, Brown and Company: New York, 2010; $16.99 Sarah Ockler’s Fixing Delilah follows Delilah Hannaford (a sixteen-year-old girl) as she discovers her family’s secrets and...