Stone Soup Magazine

Story·Eleanor M. Polak, age 11 — After her parents' death, Sarah moves from her strict aunt's house to live with elderly strangers in the country, finding unexpected warmth and belonging.

Story·Ellanora Lerner, age 12 — A volunteer meal deliverer meets an elderly man who asks her to write about his deceased son so he'll be remembered, then receives the son's funeral tape after the father...

Book Review·Cynthia Kadohata, Reviewed by Kobe Simon — Half a World Away, by Cynthia Kadohata; Atheneum Books for Young Readers: New York, 2014; $16.99 Electricity: It creates lightning, turns on the TV, generates power. A microscopic current. Something...

Poetry·Hannah Mark, age 12 — A canoe journey down a river becomes a catalog of sensory impressions — from burbling water to wild mint to watchful eagles — preserved as memory.

Story·Katherine Tung, age 11 — A seven-year-old Taiwanese immigrant girl chases a boy who steals her five-dollar bill at the market, learning hard lessons about trust and resilience in her new country.

Story·Catherine Chung, age 10 — After her dog is killed in a storm, a girl runs to their secret creek hideout to grieve, where her mother finds and comforts her.

Story·Rachel Barglow, age 10 — Two friends race coconuts down a sandy hill during a beach campfire, forgetting to mark which coconut belongs to whom, leading to a playful argument.

Story·Isabel Stronski, age 12 — After her mother's death, a girl moves to a farm with her father and encounters an old woman who tends a single bean plant, her only inheritance from her late...

Poetry·Kira Householder, age 12 — A granddaughter listens intently as her grandfather talks about construction and business, finding beauty and hidden lessons in his philosophical approach to work.

Poetry·Celie Kreilkamp, age 11 — A girl chases chickens away from an outdoor dinner, then later visits them in their coop, stroking them as they settle for sleep.