An update from our fifty-fourth Writing Workshop A summary of the workshop held on Saturday November 20th, plus some of the output published below This week, Liam led the writing workshop on the topic of Informal Writing. Liam went over the use of common vernacular in stories and gave us examples of why more informal language could be effective in writing stories. The class went through passages from Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Liam emphasized the freedom of informal writing, encouraging writers in the workshop to experiment with run-on sentences, incorrect grammar, and unusual formats like lists. The challenge: Write a short story, poem, play or other work of literature using an informal writing style. The participants: Liam, Ethan, Sierra, Rachael, Peri, Jonathan, Kate, Aditi, Tilly, Marissa, Kina, Elbert, Samantha, Nami, Sarah, Madeline, Grace, Iago Aditi Nair, 13, (Midlothian, VA) The “Friend” Aditi Nair, 13 I looked around as I spotted Kassie. Why didn’t she save me a seat? I thought. She always sits with her other friends, and most of them don’t like me. “Kassie! Where can I sit?” “Well, hello to you too. Just over there, by the teachers,” replied Kassie. She casually swung her arm to the seat she was saving, “This seat is taken, though.” I glared at her. There was noquestion that our friendship dynamic was well…chaotic, but even so, we were still friends. “I can’t sit near the teachers, Kass. I can’t, and I won’t.” “Well…too bad. You came too late, so yeah.” “But there is a seat, right there. Literally right there–” “Just go Lucy.” I stormed off, and back to the classroom. Throwing my stuff onto the empty desk, I looked around to see a girl in tears. I could’ve just stared at her or ignored her existence, but I didn’t. “Hey, you good,” I asked, as I reached into my backpack for food. Through tears and sniffles, she replied. “Been better.” “Clearly!” I laughed. As the lunch period came to an end, I forgot about Kassie and her friends… just kidding, I didn’t, but I tried. Peri Gordon, 11Sherman Oaks, CA Informal, Relaxed, and Unfortunate Peri Gordon, 12 Are you like everyone else? D’you think you can have everything? Ya can’t. D’you think you can work and play and be cool and popular and have it all and have it good? That’s what you think. Well you don’t know! This world’s a cray-cray place. I dunno how to navigate it, and you don’t either. Me and my dogs have been searching for the dude who stole our money for eight years now, and we’re still lost and sad and scared and y’know… As I walk in the rain with Heads and Tails, the dogs, I talk to them under my breath. “Today could be the day, y’know? Like, it’s my b-day and I think we’re pretty close, not like very close but like kinda close, to finding him. C’mon, I wanna get some food.” I tug my dogs’ leashes hard, ‘cause they’re distracted by some dude and his yummy-smelling fancy-pants pasta restaurant. “C’mon,” I say. “Y’know we can’t afford that. So stop listening to his blah-blah-blahing and let’s go get something cheaper. ” We cross the street and a car almost runs us over. We scramble onto the sidewalk in the nick of time. “Yikes!” I shout. “Arf!” I add so I show alarm in my dogs’ language too. We reach a soup place where I can finally talk to other humans. “What’s up?” I ask some dude. I’m always talking to strangers ‘cause everyone I see is a stranger, ‘cept my dogs. “I’m good,” he replies. I guess he talks to strangers too. “You?” “Meh,” I say. “You don’t wanna know.” He shrugs. “Guess I don’t.” The owner comes over. She eyes my torn-up, all-wet-from-the-rain jacket. “Don’t you have an umbrella? You’re drippin’ on the wood!” “Used to have one,” I say. “Lost it months ago. Can I still eat here?” “Fine. Come order, boy.” I get a cheap and pretty much inedible liquid-y thing that they claim is broth. My belly happy and my taste buds mad, I leave with the dogs. “Thanks for the soup,” I shout to whoever is listening.
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Saturday Newsletter: December 11, 2021
Beauty Among Ancient Walls | Peri Gordon, 11 (Sherman Oaks, CA) published in Stone Soup December 2021 A note from William Laura Moran, who runs the Stone Soup Refugee Project and wrote the beautiful letter below, had her first Skype session with the girls at the Angela Jolie primary school at the huge Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. Thanks to those of you who donated to this campaign and made this happen. More news on this forthcoming. I’d also like to thank all of you who have so far donated to our 2021 Annual drive. As you know, this year we are hoping to raise $50,000 for Stone Soup, which is a lot for us. In a sense, we are asking you to help provide us with the fishing pole we need to once again be self sufficient. To achieve this goal we have a donor who is matching your funds up to $25,000. We have also just signed up at Patreon! You will find two levels — one is a “buy us a coffee” amount, $3.85 a month— and the other is for $10 a month. Thank you. A note from Laura As the nights grow longer and the days grow colder, what better time to curl up with the December issue of Stone Soup. And what better place to begin than the beginning! Avital Sagan’s opening story, “The Lonely Radio,” is a punchy, fast-paced story that will catapult you smack into another world. It’s the world of Floracion-a world turned upside down in which an overlooked and bewildered radio must come to terms with its fate. This story is at once playful and dark. The radio is resilient as the story opens, finding hope, fulfillment, and connection in what’s described as a stagnant existence. Ultimately, the radio surrenders to a sense of helplessness it cannot overcome. It is, after all, a radio. And herein lies the rub… Can we live our potential without validation from others? Without even a sense of recognition? How can we fulfill our destiny without agency? Ultimately, this is a story of perspective. As our Stone Soup editor, Emma, reminds us in the Editor’s note, seeking alternative perspectives can increase our sense of understanding and empathy for others with whom we share the world and our lives. Awareness of perspective challenges us to realize that everyone, everything even, serves some purpose or role that exists outside of themselves (or itself!). This weekend I invite you to take this story, and others in the December issue, as a launching point to play with perspective. Take a photograph as though you were a giant and then an ant. Write a story, or even a section of dialogue, from the perspective of two different characters. Draw the same piece of scenery in the morning and then in the evening. You get the idea! As always, if you’re happy with what you’ve written or created, we would love for you to share and submit it to us via Submittable! Warmly, Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! Super reviewer April Yu is back with a glowing review of Stephanie Burgis’ brand new novel, The Raven Heir. Avital Sagan, 12 Ithaca, NY From Stone Soup December 2021 The Lonely Radio By Avital Sagan, 12 (Ithaca, NY) Radios have become old-fashioned. I know that through the snippets of conversation I hear as I sit on my table. Despite that, they’ve never done more than talk about replacing me. There’s a man who uses me the most often. He has an impressive mustache and is often referred to as “the Communicator” by the people who talk through me. I connect people who are far away. It may not be the most exciting job—I care very little about human politics—but it’s fulfilling to know what I’m doing is helping people. And when people aren’t using me, I can look out at the island of Floracion. My room is near the top of a skyscraper that towers over the rest of the city. There are impressively tall buildings and people constantly going about their business, but that’s not the best part. The best part is the flowers. Floracion is overrun with moonflowers, aptly called “gigantics,” white flowers that only bloom at night and sometimes grow over a dozen feet wide. People make room for them everywhere. On the sides of buildings, in storefronts, on roofs. Most people are awake during the night to see the flowers, and I can’t blame them. It’s spectacular. And the Communicator comes into my room every day. He, like me, has an important job. He has to stay awake during the day to communicate with nearby cities and countries. Like me, he’s made a sacrifice—for me, my mobility, for him, his sleep schedule— but we’re both improving Floracion. Together. 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.
The Raven Heir, Reviewed by April, 13
Once, the Raven Kingdom was a place of beauty. Starflowers bloomed along the soft grass shared by nature and humans alike, ruled by a kind person who valued everything under their regime. Like most good things, however, the peace was temporary. It was not long before war broke out over the throne and the land was fraught with terror, suffering, and the cries of victims who had nothing but dirt to their name. From that moment, the land broke the crown into three pieces and hid it away, waiting for the moment it would be returned to its rightful heir. It seems the time has come when triplets are born in the heart of a forest. The eldest is destined to become the newest heir to the throne. However, frightened for that child’s safety, their mother refuses to reveal who the eldest triplet is. Instead, she hides her children away, fervently hoping the truth will never be revealed. Despite everything, Cordelia, one of the triplets, feels a call in her bones to explore the forest. Not only can she shape-shift into different animals, but she also has a wild streak unfit for being cooped up in a house. When she finally decides to act on her desires, everything changes…and in a world torn apart by war, the only people she can trust are her family. But can Cordelia really trust them when her heart is so different? Most importantly, can she trust herself? The Raven Heir was a spellbinding book bursting with tension, passion, and classic internal conflict. I loved the forest setting, which was absolutely spectacularly described in a way that immersed me into the story. It almost gives Disney’s Brave vibes, but honestly, the concept is so unique, it’s almost unfair to draw comparisons. Through prose and flashbacks, it was clear how the land in the story was affected by the constant warring of the people. Ah, the plot! It was so well developed and very easy to follow. It’s suitable for exactly its age group—middle grade—with fantastical elements I would have loved at that age and still adore now. There were constant twists and turns that made sense when you got to them, but also managed to hurt your heart, especially at the end. Personally, it was a little difficult to connect to the characters—they were all quite boxed in by one or two main personality traits for much of the book. However, the twists at the end definitely amped up the quality of character-building, providing much more insight into how they truly operated. The Raven Heir truly doesn’t disappoint in its execution toward the end. At once lovely, tense, and bittersweet, The Raven Heir is the perfect type of book for anyone of any age. From the bottom of my heart, I recommend this novel to reluctant readers and total bookworms alike! http:// The Raven Heir by Stephanie Burgis. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2021. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
