Stone Soup Magazine

Book Review·Polly Carlson-Voiles, Reviewed by Sarah Haynes — Summer of the Wolves, by Polly Carlson-Voiles; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers: New York, 2012; $15.99 Polly Carlson-Voiles’s Summer of the Wolves is a wonderful book about a...

Story·Alexander Freed, age 12 — A teenage boy struggles to get his four-year-old sister to bed during a foggy night, finally outsmarting her with a clever intercom trick after she hides.

Story·Jaida Johnson, age 12 — Two friends climb an abandoned water tower at night, where one confronts his fear of heights while discovering his fearless friend has her own hidden fear.

Story·Sophia Catalan, age 11 — A girl races into the ocean on a hot day, gets tumbled by a surprise second wave, and makes her friend laugh with silly antics on the beach.

Story·Sammy Westfall, age 13 — A Filipino girl accompanies her mother to clean a wealthy American family's mansion and discovers that despite their poverty, her family has something the rich family lacks.

Story·Natalia F. Lanzoni, age 13 — A competitive swimmer struggles with body image after overhearing teammates discuss restrictive eating, until a teammate's collapse at a meet forces her to reconsider her choices.

Book Review·Teresa Flavin, Reviewed by Jessica Bernt — The Blackhope Enigma, by Teresa Flavin; Templar Publishing: United Kingdom, 2011; $12.70 What? When? Why? These were the thoughts running through my head as I flipped through The Blackhope Enigma....

Story·Jenna Fields, age 12 — An owl hunts through moonlit woods to feed her soon-to-hatch eggs, fights off a raccoon predator, and returns to witness her chicks emerging into the world.

Story·Ariana González Silas, age 11 — 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.

Poetry·Isaac Walsh, age 10 — 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.