Stone Soup Magazine
— The Lucy Variations, by Sara Zarr; Little, Brown Books for Young Readers: New York, 2013; $18 An inspiring tale of a young musician finding her place in this crazy world,...
— Two sisters left home alone escalate from bickering to a kitchen accident that brings them together when the older sister rushes the younger to the hospital.
— A six-year-old loses his orange Croc over the Stone Arch Bridge and imagines it floating down the Mississippi to Louisiana, carrying its mystery.
— A poem traces the cycle of grief from fresh loss through fading memory to sudden, sharp remembrance that brings the pain flooding back.
— A boy describes his after-school routine with his dog Bella, from her greeting at the window to playing fetch, bath time, and bedtime.
— In ancient Rome, a rebellious girl secretly learns to read from a neighbor boy who must move away, leaving her with letters that sustain their friendship and her forbidden education.
— A boy stands at the edge of a cliff, gathering courage to jump into the river below, then leaps and experiences the exhilarating plunge into cool water.
— Below, by Meg McKinlay, Candlewick Press: Massachusetts, 2013; $15.99 Anyone would think that if you drowned a town with five thousand swimming pools of water, it would be done and...
— A girl struggles with her family's move to Hawaii and her father's engagement, finding peace only when she discovers her mother's spirit remains with her.
— A child builds an elaborate fairy house with writing materials for messages, abandons belief when no note appears, missing signs that fairies visited but cannot write.