The Little Princess Acrylic painting by Rebecca Wu, 9 (Medina, WA) Published in Stone Soup June 2020, illustrating Part Three of Elana: A Novella by Hannah Nami Gajcowski, 9 (Bellevue, WA) A note from William New June issue: don’t miss the latest issue—which includes the final of the three parts of Elana, the novella that won third place in last year’s book contest. This final instalment of Hannah Nami Gajcowski’s novel is highlighted below. Congratulations, Hannah! I have been enjoying reading your work. Black Lives Matter. As readers, writers, artists, as citizens of the world, we cannot ignore what is happening in the United States right now. Many of us are at home self-isolating, and for this, and reasons that are obvious looking at news videos, are not directly taking part in demonstrations even though our hearts are with the demonstrators. For students all the way up to middle school age, we recommend that you look at the website for Illustoria. Illustoria and Stone Soup share common goals with respect to creative young people. They have good projects this week to help you safely participate in social action. The post that I include a link to here is a letter-writing campaign. Real letters. Real stamps. Real mail. It seems old fashioned. It is. And yet, over time, letter-writing campaigns have proven effective forms political protest. Summer school programs. Our Society of Young Inklings and Stone Soup summer writing workshops are now full with waitlists—except for the newest class that we opened for our own Stone Soup’s Laura Moran. Laura’s class has space for more students. It a class that is very different from what creative writing classes for young writers are usually about. So! If you want a challenge, if you want to be stretched as a writer in ways you may not have previously been stretched, sign up for her class. As with the other workshops, the cost is $200. Laura is a cultural anthropologist. In this class you will write about your COVID-19 experiences using the techniques that social scientists use when doing field research. This is an unusual, innovative class. Laura is a wonderful teacher. You cannot go wrong taking Laura’s class. Registration is through the Society of Young Inklings. Friday Writing Workshop. The Friday writing workshop is open to young writers ages 8 through 14. The new time is 9 a.m. PDT. It will run at this time on Fridays through July and it will then shift to Saturday for the duration of the 2020/21 school year. The work these students are producing is extraordinary. This workshop is free—it is a service provided by Stone Soup. We are posting written work by the students on our blog, which we encourage you to read (see link below). We are also working on posting stories read aloud by the class on our YouTube channel. In the meantime, please trust me. This is a class not to be missed. It is made up of a very strong group of young writers. I am usually the instructor, although sometimes we have guest instructors drawn from the students in the group. Get your Zoom invitation by signing up for the Daily Creativity Prompts—link at the bottom of the page. Saturday writing project. With so much terrible happening around us, I suggest this weekend that we all take a few moments to explore a completely different mental space. I want you to go outside—wear a mask if going anyplace public—and sit where there is a spot of nature. Whether that is in your yard, a park, or even some weeds growing through a crack in the sidewalk, I want you to sit, be quiet with yourself, and see what you see. A line of ants. A bee. A hover fly. A cloud passing over casting its shadow. Focus. Pull your mind away from the pandemic, from political and social unrest, from the fact that school just ended (or is just about to), and focus on what you are seeing. I don’t mean stare. I mean look and open your mind and imagination to the world around you. And write what comes to you in that time. As always, if you like what you write, then please submit it to Stone Soup so Emma, when she returns from maternity leave, will be able to consider it for publication. Until next week, Winners from Weekly Flash Contest #8 Weekly Flash Contest #9: Write a mystery story. The week commencing May 25 (Daily Creativity prompt #46) was our ninth week of flash contests, with another record number of entries. It was also the second contest based on Stone Soup contributor and reader Anya Geist’s writing prompt, which meant that we got to work with her again to judge the contest. Anya’s prompt inspired a really terrific batch of entries, and all the judges were impressed with the diverse ways in which the entrants approached the idea of writing “a mystery.” Thank you, Anya, for wise judging and for setting a great writing challenge! Congratulations to our winners and honorable mentions, listed below. You can read the winning entries for this week (and previous weeks) at the Stone Soup website. Don’t miss out on these posts: the writing is really great!Winners Isabel Bashaw, 10, Enumclaw, WA Nick Buckley, 12, Needham, MA Liam Hancock, 12, Danville, CA Enni Harlan, 13, Los Angeles, CA Michelle Su, 13, Sudbury, MA Honorable Mention Amelia Barth, 10, Elgin, IL Amelia Pozzo, 11, Arnold, MO Mihika Sakharpe, 11, Frisco, TX Sophia Stravitsch, 10, Katy, TX Michela You, 11, Lexington, MA Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! We published another cartoon by Natya, 12, about how things have changed because of COVID-19. In this case, Natya illustrates how graduation ceremonies have changed. Kat, 10, wrote a song called “I’m Fine,” which we’ve posted to the blog and our Soundcloud page. Take a listen and let us know in the comment sections what feelings the songs evokes for you. With his poem about the pandemic called
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Flash Contest #9: Mystery Stories. Our Winners and Their Work!
Weekly Flash Contest #9: Write a mystery story. Think about the arc of your story, and plan out the actions and motives of the characters. Does the reader know something the characters don’t, or is the reader in the dark until the end? Think about how the mystery might unfold for the different characters and for your readers. Anya Geist, 13Worcester, MA The week commencing May 25th (Daily Creativity prompt #46) was our ninth week of flash contests, with another record number of entries. It was also the second contest based on Stone Soup contributor and reader Anya Geist’s writing prompt, which meant that we got to work with her again to judge the contest. Anya’s prompt inspired a really terrific batch of entries, and all the judges were impressed with the diverse ways in which the entrants approached the idea of writing “a mystery”. Thank you, Anya, for wise judging and for setting a great writing challenge! We are delighted to announce this week’s 5 Winners, whose work is published below, and 5 Honorable Mentions. It was a real pleasure to read so much great work. Congratulations, everyone! Winners (work published on this page) Isabel Bashaw, 10, Enumclaw, WA Nick Buckley, 12, Needham, MA Liam Hancock, 12, Danville, CA Enni Harlan, 13, Los Angeles, CA Michelle Su, 13, Sudbury, MA Honorable Mention “The Stolen Emerald” by Amelia Barth, 10, Elgin, IL “Summer Sleuths” by Amelia Pozzo, 11, Arnold, MO “The Checkered Deerstalker” by Mihika Sakharpe, 11, Frisco, TX “The Missing Jewels” by Sophia Stravitsch, 10, Katy, TX “Rattlesnake” by Michela You, 11, Lexington, MA Isabel Bashaw, 10Enumclaw, WA The Mystery of the Missing Junk Food Isabel Bashaw, 10 RING-A-LING-LING!!!! It was chaotic as the kids rushed into school, the jocks shoving the nerds, and the nerds stumbling out of the way, trying to find all of their belongings. I was hiding behind a tree, hoping no one would see me. I mean, what kid wouldn’t try to ditch what was sure to be another boring day at Rocky Ledge Middle School? Unfortunately, Vice Principal Lakewood knew my tricks. She spied me from the school steps, marched over, grabbed me by my arm, and, not bothering to say a word, dragged me into the building. Minutes later, as my teacher droned on about decimals during math class, I passed a note to my friend Holly I heard our math teacher has not washed in a month. I mean, who would not know, she smells worse than an old pig that just ate a dead rat. Signed, Ralphie. P.S. Pass it on. Holly grinned in her mischievous way, and passed the note to Liam, who tried to stifle a snort as he passed it onto Mike, and then, to my horror, Tattle Tale Rachel snatched it mid-pass between Mike and Emily! She read the note and then leapt to her feet, a pouting look crossing her face as she quickly walked up to Mrs. White. Showing her the note, Rachel said snottily, ¨I caught it just as Emily was going to read it.¨ She looked at me smugly, as if she was going to win a medal for catching a trashy note. I saw Mrs. White´s eyes looking up from the note, and throwing it in the trash can by her desk, already overflowing with my notes, she glowered at me and walked slowly to my desk. ¨That’s it!¨ she exclaimed. ¨I have had enough of your rotten notes! Detention, Mr. Ralphie, for three hours after school. You will make this classroom sparkle! If you object, the whole school will sparkle and shine because you will clean all of it!¨ Before I knew it, she walked back to her desk and started to talk about mathie stuff again. I sat there, my eyes blank, probably looking stupid as I stared at the teacher. ¨Bad move, Ralphie,” I thought. Later in the cafeteria I chewed my bologna sandwich as kids watched me, whispering and giggling. “Sorry about detention,¨ Holly said sympathetically through a mouthful of snickerdoodle cookies (which her mother packs her for dessert every day!). I nodded as a thank you, and then continued eating, my thoughts filled with dread for the coming afternoon. My dread, like my note, was interrupted by Rachel. “Hey Holly! I’ll trade you my tofu sandwich for that snickerdoodle cookie!¨ shouted Rachel. Rachel was never going to get that cookie if she didn’t start packing better food to trade. But everyone knew that that would never happen. Her mother didn’t let her eat any junk food at all. I kinda felt bad for her, except for the fact that she got me into trouble and now I have detention. Okay, I didn’t feel that bad for her. After lunch, as I moved from class to class, my stomach churned with anxiety. Surprisingly, this was the first time I had ever gone to detention. I’m not afraid of what normal people would be afraid of, like having to come home to angry parents, or having to call my Mom on the phone from the principal’s office to explain why I’d miss soccer practice. No, I was worried about. . . Okay, I’ll admit it. I’ve always been terribly afraid of the dark. And since it’s November, it gets dark really fast. Our school is already a bit creepy in the daylight. RING-A-LING-LING!!! It was finally the end of the day, and normally I’d be running out of school as fast as I could. Before the bell stopped ringing, all the kids grabbed their backpacks and rushed out of school. I slowly started towards the janitor’s closet, right in the corner of the cafeteria. After checking in with Mr. Lucas, I grabbed the mop, dusting rags and disinfectant. I got right to work, cleaning the classroom while Mrs. White watched me from her desk silently, occasionally flipping the pages of a magazine. Finally I finished, and in record time! It looked like I’d get out of
A Day at School, a poem by Liam Lipe-Smith, 8
Liam Lipe-Smith, 8Rochester, NY A Day at School Liam Lipe-Smith, 8 School is out All about this nation But it’s not vacation It’s home-learning education. Home we are stuck, With much work to do From feeding the dog, To scooping some poo. Reading and writing, Language and math, It all must get done, To Avoid Mommy’s wrath. But you know what they say About work without play So we get fun in the sun, When our work is all done.
