Town of Bright Holidays (iPhone 8) by Anna Leventopoulos, 11 (Menlo Park, CA), published in Stone Soup January 2022 A note from Sarah Happy weekend! In this newsletter, I want to talk about the brilliant story “Best Friends Forever” by Charlotte Moore from the January 2022 issue of Stone Soup (perfectly paired with the cozy-yet-ominous art piece “Town of Bright Holidays” by Anna Leventopoulos, pictured above). What I like so much about Charlotte’s story is the mixing of genres. Part realistic fiction story on friendship, part ghost story thriller–all of it extremely compelling. My project for you this weekend is to attempt your own genre mash-up story. Maybe you have two very different genres in mind–if so, go ahead and write! But if you need help coming up with the ingredients, I suggest brainstorming a variety of genres, writing them all down, and picking two at random. Once you have your genres, you can come up with a way to combine them into one cohesive story. How might you transition between the two? You can separate the stories into two distinct halves for each genre and create a middle act that transitions from one to the other. Or, you can switch back and forth between them throughout the story. What Charlotte does so well in “Best Friends Forever” is to make the back-and-forth between the genres so seamless that many readers may not even notice any kind of switch at all. I hope this weekend project sparks some creative work. As always, if you’re happy with anything you’ve created, submit it to Stone Soup! All the best, Charlotte Moore, 12 Brooklyn, NY From Stone Soup January 2022 Best Friends Forever By Charlotte Moore, 12 (Brooklyn, NY) The castle loomed large and ominous above me. I heard the tour guide blabber on about some people who had died inside the castle, probably trying to make it appear scarier than it was—something about ghosts and people hearing screams when no one was there. I wasn’t scared; I just didn’t want to be there. All I wanted to do was go home and be with my cat, the only being I felt I could trust. A feeling of loneliness washed over me as I watched the girls in the class huddling up and whispering about how creepy the castle was. The way the girls all had their secrets reminded me of my old best friend, Olivia. We used to be like that, always sharing inside jokes. When we were in fifth grade we began drifting apart, but honestly, she started drifting away. Every time I wanted to hang out with her, she would push me aside. She stopped inviting me over, stopped calling me, and before I knew it, we weren’t even eating lunch together. After that, I felt completely alone. By then everyone else had already formed cliques. The tour guide showed us through the door. As soon as we walked in, I noticed how dim the castle was. Engraved details covered the walls. I watched a mouse scurry from one hole in the wall to another. There were so many different passageways. The group paused to look at a painting of another one of those old rich guys from the 1800s. “Arthur Livingstone.” He was the master of the castle, and he had been the seventh-most wealthy man in America at the time, the tour guide explained. I didn’t care. Continue reading here… Stone Soup is published by Children’s Art Foundation-Stone Soup Inc., a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization registered in the United States of America, EIN: 23-7317498. Stone Soup’s advisors: Abby Austin, Mike Axelrod, Annabelle Baird, Jem Burch, Evelyn Chen, Juliet Fraser, Zoe Hall, Montanna Harling, Alicia & Joe Havilland, Lara Katz, Rebecca Kilroy, Christine Leishman, Julie Minnis, Jessica Opolko, Tara Prakash, Denise Prata, Logan Roberts, Emily Tarco, Rebecca Ramos Velasquez, Susan Wilky.
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
The Mysterious Benedict Society, Reviewed by Nora, 13
Would you say you are a gifted child? Your gift does not have to be in school, you could be a gifted soccer player, a gifted dancer, or even a gifted Rubik’s Cube solver. Reynie Muldoon is a very gifted child, though on the surface he seems perfectly average. He has average hair, average clothes, and average skin. But his mind is far above average, and he loves to read and solve puzzles. If Reynie had an average family, his life might have been much different than it turned out to be. But Reynie is an orphan, with a private tutor named Miss Perumal. If he was not at the orphanage, Reynie might have been able to attend a prestigious school, earn college credits, and go to a renowned college. But then, if he had grown up in an average family, he never would have become part of the Mysterious Benedict Society. The whole tale begins when an advertisement appears in the paper. It is directed to gifted children looking for special opportunities, and it gives directions for how to take a specific test. If the child passes the test, they will get special opportunities. Miss Perumal encourages Reynie to take the test, and he agrees. After the test, he is the only child who passes in his group, and he is told that he must go on to phase two of the test. The exact same thing happens after phase two. He is the only one in his group that passes, and he must go on to phase three. Just before phase three, he meets the three other children who managed to pass the test: Sticky Washington, Kate Wetheral, and Constance Contraire. Sticky seems to be the brightest boy Reynie has ever met, with a perfect memory of everything he ever read or saw. Kate may not have astounding academic abilities, but she was once in the circus, and she is an old hand at walking on her hands, balancing across a tightrope, and all other types of acrobatics. Then there’s Constance, a grumpy poet who seems as though she will be the weak link in their group—until she turns out to be the most key player. Each of the children are somewhat peculiar in their own way, but Reynie likes all of them, and he feels that—given the chance—the four of them could be quite good friends. It turns out that they will be given that chance, though not in the way that they expected. Because the man behind the tests and the advertisement in the paper, a man named Mr. Benedict, has a very important mission that must be done quickly. And it just so happens that Reynie, Sticky, Constance, and Kate are the only people able to complete the mission. So, the children form their secret agent group, The Mysterious Benedict Society, and the mission begins. They must communicate with Mr. Benedict in the dead of night, using morse code, flashlights, and riddles. But as they get closer and closer to answers, they begin to wonder if they are too late to stop what must come? The Mysterious Benedict Society is gripping from cover to cover. The mystery unfolds slowly, but not so slowly that the book is boring. The characters come to life upon the pages, and their relationships are both well thought out and often hilarious (especially in the case of a certain Miss Contraire). I loved this book from the moment I picked it up, and I have since returned to it many times. It’s one of those books that is wonderful the first time you read it, but even better the second, third, and fourth times because you notice things that you missed the first time. I would recommend The Mysterious Benedict Society to almost anyone. Some people think the beginning is boring, but I would encourage you to read through, because it just gets better. The characters, plot, and theme are so rich and well thought out that it makes the story one to come back to time and time again. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2008. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
Dear Corona, an open letter from Tatum, 12
Tatum Lovely, 12 (Pipersville, PA) Dear Corona Tatum Lovely, 12 Dear Corona, I sit alone in my room, drawing flowers. I don’t know why. Maybe I’m trying to get inspiration for poetry. Oh look, they’re chrysanthemums. Do you know what chrysanthemums represent? Death. Yeah, death. I guess you can relate to that. You bring death! What was it… five million people? That you’ve given a bouquet of chrysanthemums? Huh. Amaryllises represent pride. Are you proud of what you’ve done? I mean, it’s pretty impressive. You’ve brought pain, fear, and isolation to billions. You wipe us out, you make us cry, you put limitations on all we like to be and do. You’ve made yourself an enemy of… the world. You bring what all people deeply dread the most: loss of loved ones, or, themselves. You are a blanket that has been tossed carelessly over our little planet. I think a black blanket. A dark, thick, black blanket. You’ve added grief and gloom to perfectly fine days. But now, after all that despicable talk, I will draw you white roses for unity. You might lock us up in our own houses. You might take from us the most precious thing: life. And you might have forced us into a sense of revulsion for masks, making us feel like medical patients. And for shots, though they protect us. And for zoom calls, and kisses through a camera. And for social activities that now we see how much we taken for granted. But still, I draw you white roses for unity. Because though it is true your wicked ways have cost us, you have brought us closer together. We’ve spent more time with our immediate families than ever. Even the world is closer than ever because we’re all fighting the same battle, all together like the selfsame species we are. You certainly did not physically unite us, but hopefully you have in heart, mind, and spirit. Sincerely, Tatum Lovely
