Stone Soup Magazine
— A girl searches desperately for her beloved lesson horse Judah after he's retired without warning, finally finding him at a distant stable.
— Bailey competes against her rival Rhonda in a state track championship, then gives Rhonda the $1000 prize money after learning her brother needs life-saving surgery.
— In a drought-stricken African village where everything is brown, a girl searching for mythical blue wishing stones accidentally throws one into the muddy river, transforming it to crystal clear water.
— Willow, by Tonya Cherie Hegamin; Candlewick Press: Somerville, Massachusetts, 2014; $16.99 The first thing I noticed about this book was the fact that Willow is both the main character’s name...
— A seven-year-old in Shanghai receives a pet rabbit as a gift, but after two weeks of joy, the rabbit dies the night before the family must travel.
— Babe Didrikson Zaharias: The Making of a Champion, by Russell Freedman; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers: Boston, 2014; $10.99 Russell Freedman’s biography, Babe Didrikson Zaharias: The Making of...
— A girl swings on a rope swing, crashing through bushes and spinning wildly, finding joy despite scratches and the threatening branch above.
— A boy contrasts the metaphorical fog of human deceit with the real fog of his countryside home, finding paradise in nature's simple peace.
— A swimmer's race unfolds from nervous anticipation through the explosive start, underwater glide, flip turn, and triumphant finish in lane seven.
— A lonely ranch girl discovers a stray silver cat in the barn, secretly feeds it, and eventually adopts it when the cat needs help giving birth to kittens.