https://soundcloud.com/user-28081890/liliths-quest-by-sabrina-guo-13 Once upon a time, a young girl named Lilith lived in an igloo with her family, a pack of polar bears. She loved to wear her hair in braids and make her family icicle sculptures. She also loved to eavesdrop, and one morning, as she was hiding behind an igloo, she heard her pack leaders talking about the problems facing their pack. “There isn’t enough fish to feed all of us–” “Sooner or later–” “Climate change will be the end of us–” Crack. The ice under Lily’s feet creaked loudly. “Lily, come out,” The pack leader said, sighing and shaking his white fur, golden from the sun. The girl stepped out, cheeks flushed from cold and embarrassment. “This is none of your business,” he said, pointing back to Lily’s igloo. She nodded meekly and headed home. She’d noticed that there hadn’t been any storytelling meetings or feasts with fish, and that the bears weren’t coming out of their igloos as much recently. She’d assumed that everyone was busy. She wanted to help but she was so small. What change could she possibly accomplish? Maybe she could help her pack by asking for help. It was worth a shot. She bowed to the ground and sent a prayer to the arctic gods, wishing for her pack to be safe, as well as all other animals. Just then, Lily heard a buzzing near her ear. She opened her eyes to see a tiny fairy with blue wings coated in light frost. Her hair looked like small tendrils of dust. “I am Nina, the most powerful fairy in the arctic. How can I help you?” the fairy said. Lily said immediately, “I want to get rid of climate change!” Nina nodded, “You and everyone else. All the animals have petitioned to the arctic gods for their help. I have a list of their signatures, but I am missing one. I would get it myself but it’s not within my power to meddle in this. Humans have caused this issue; they must fix it.” Lily’s eyes filled with hope. “I can get it!” “It will be a tough journey. Many other animals have tried before. You’ll have to travel far over dangerous waters.” “I’ll be okay!” Lily’s voice wavered but ended on a strong note. She would do anything for her family and the other animals. “Okay. I need you to get the signature of Anika, an arctic fox. She’s always busy with her children and doesn’t interact much with the community, Also, because she doesn’t understand the science behind climate change, she’s not aware it’s a pressing issue. She lives at the very tip of that glacier,” Nina said and waved her wand. A magnified image of the glacier appeared between them. Lily started to worry, “How will I get there?” “In a boat,” the fairy said. A whirl of shimmering colors appeared and suddenly, a sailboat was docked at the water’s edge. Lilly inhaled sharply. “Okay, I’ll leave now.” Nina said, “The ice slab with the other signatures is in the boat.” Lily nodded and ran to the boat. Luckily she knew some tricks about sailing. She sailed for days through rough waters and winter storms. She passed icicle caves and glaciers, wolves and seals. She sailed as fast as she could to keep the precious ice slab from melting. Finally Lily arrived at the glacier. She looked around, hoping a white fox could somehow stand out among the endless snow. Instead, she saw snowy owls searching for prey. She needed to hurry. She knew her pack must be worried about her. Then she saw fox footprints leading into a den. She slowly adventured in, hearing shouts and playful growls. “Excuse me?” she whispered. She could hear fur rustling against fur. Two gleaming blue eyes appeared from the dark, and a white fox approached her, snarling. Lily stepped back. “Are you Anika?” Lily asked. “What do you want?” A husky voice asked curtly. Suddenly, the sound of a stampede rung out, little paws running full speed. Lily knew that sound anywhere–the little cubs from the pack used to do during playtime. Lily stepped out of the den, out of the way. A blur of white fur poured out of the darkness of the den. Ten little foxes tackled each other. The mother followed, scolding her children for rushing out so fast. “Could I please have your signature for–” Lily began. “Max! Don’t hurt your brothers,” Anika interrupted. Lily cleared her throat. “As I was saying, I need your signature–” The mother rushed over to her children and separated them. “If you could come back tomorrow so I can sign the… uh… taxes, that’d be great—“ Lily spoke quickly, “I need your signature on the climate change petition. The ice is melting all around us, and it needs to stop or else I don’t know how we’ll survive!” The fox blinked, then completely ignored her, but concern flashed over her face as her cubs started to venture into the water. “Hey!” She scolded, as they giggle and retreated back. “Anika. All I need is a signature. Please, “ Lily begged. “I know there was a community meeting about it where everyone signed a petition, but I was too busy to go. Is climate change that bad?” the fox finally answered casually. “Yes! All the animals need your signature, “ Lily exclaimed. Anika paused then said, “Come back tomorrow.” “No! This is urgent!” Lily broke off an icicle from the den’s roof. “Here.” Anika grumbled under her breath, but hastily picked up the icicle in her mouth, and signed the ice slab that held the other signatures. The tip of the icicle scraped against the ice. “Thank you so much, Anika!’ Lily clapped her hands. She watched as the fox ran after her children, and then she hurried back to her boat, giddy and excited to share this great news with her pack.
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Saturday Newsletter: August 17, 2019
“Lilly knew it promised to be an amazing read.” Illustrator Tina Splann, 11 (Providence Village, TX) for “Words,” by Elia Smith, 10 (Santa Monica, CA). Published September/October 2014. A note from Jane Levi We know that our Stone Soup readers and authors are kids who love words! Every kind of word lover is represented in the world of Stone Soup: engaged readers, thoughtful reviewers, poets and storytellers, topical writers, and entertaining speakers and dramatists. This week’s writing selections from the current issue and the archive are focused on the power of words, in all their forms. From the July/August issue we are highlighting this week a review of The Book Thief, contributed to by Ananda Bhaduri (see below). Besides giving us an excellent example of a book review that makes you want to read the book for yourself, Ananda also got me thinking about the power of words. They can be used to manipulate and persuade as well as transmit information and develop learning. I’m sure you can think of examples in your own lives when particular words have had an impact larger than themselves. This book is a great reminder that the more we know about words (and the more words we know!), the better we can understand the truth of what others might be saying to us. In Elia Smith’s story “Words,” from the Stone Soup archives, a girl’s love of words helps her to engage with and enjoy a nursing home volunteering project. But words don’t just help to move the action forward. They provide the expression of the characters’ personalities, and they skillfully move us through the arc of the story. The hero, Lilly, is a girl of whom one might say, “She’s swallowed a dictionary,” which means that the story is richly peppered with splendiferous words. But one of my favorite things about the story is the way that in the end (and in contrast to the rest of the story) Lilly’s real feelings are best expressed in just a few, very simple words. It’s a lovely piece of writing that skillfully highlights the importance to writers of choosing just the right words to express emotion as well as meaning, and how to place them for maximum effect. There are so many ways to express a love of words, and the power of words, and so many ways to use those words to express ourselves and to enrich our experience of the world. When you have something you are proud of—a poem, a play, a story, a reading, a blog post idea—share it with us. We always want to know how you are playing with words. Until next time, Contest, partnership & project news We’re in the final days of our current contest: finish writing that book! Keep working on your entries for our summer contest: book-length writing in all forms and genres by kids aged 14 and under. The extended deadline for entries is Aug. 21, so you still have a few days left to work on perfecting your book, whether it is a novel, a collection of poetry or short stories, a memoir, or other prose. There will be three placed winners, and we will publish all three winning books in various forms. Visit our contest page and Submittable entry page for full details. Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! Do you know about light pollution? This week on the blog Thee Sim Ling, 12, gives us an overview of the phenomenon and what you can do about it. Continuing our interviews with former contributors, this week we talked with Grace McNamee, whose story “Pennsylvania” was originally published in Stone Soup in summer 2007 and was the featured story in our July 13 Newsletter. Grace now works as an assistant editor at Bloomsbury Publishing. Check out her answers here. Looking forward to next week on the blog We promised to publish the commended and winning stories in our recent Podcast contest on the website, and we’re excited to say that they will start appearing on the Blog next week. Check in through the week using this link to read all five brand-new stories on the theme of climate change. From Stone Soup July/August 2019 The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Reviewed by Ananda Bhaduri, 13 (Guwahati, India) A snow-clad cemetery in Germany a few months before World War II. A girl cannot believe her brother has just died, as she and her mother witness the burial. A black book drops to the snow without the owner’s knowledge. The girl picks it up and clings to it. Her debut in the career of book thievery. Some hours later, the girl and her mother go their separate ways. The girl goes to her new parents. She does not know where her mother is going. Liesel Meminger (the aforementioned girl) is adopted by Hans and Rosa Hubermann of 33 Himmel Street. The Hubermanns are not rich. They decide to raise Liesel because they are getting an allowance for it. Despite this, Liesel could not have a better father than Hans Hubermann. Hans comes to Liesel’s room after her frequent nightmares and comforts her, or sometimes plays the accordion for her. The same cannot be said of Rosa. Though she loves Liesel, she is constantly addressing her as “pig,” often accompanied by a beating. Liesel soon adapts to life in Himmel Street, befriending Rudy Steiner, one of her neighbors. Liesel and Rudy play football with the other kids, go to school together, and also go on thieving adventures. (Their loot mostly consists of food and an occasional book.) It is Hans who discovers Liesel’s first stolen book. (She was lucky it wasn’t Rosa!) Liesel never learned how to read, and Hans has little education. Yet, they manage to finish the book, with Liesel learning how to read in the process. Perhaps these reading sessions develop a love for reading in Liesel. And perhaps this is the reason Liesel feels a compulsion to steal books. The narrator of The Book Thief is Death. What does Death have to do with a girl stealing books, you
Former Contributor Interview: Grace McNamee
Editor’s Note: our Former Contributors Interview Project showcases former contributors of Stone Soup and the wonderful things they’ve gone on to do. Grace McNamee’s story “Pennsylvania” was published in the July/August 2007 issue of Stone Soup, and was the featured story in our Saturday Newsletter on Saturday July 13, 2019. SS: What are you doing now? GM: During the day, I’m an assistant editor at Bloomsbury Publishing. I acquire and edit a combination of literary fiction and nonfiction and also help with the list for the editorial director for fiction. It’s an amazing job. I love working closely with authors, reading books before they’re published, and being aware of upcoming trends in books. I’m also continuing to publish, recently essays in Electric Literature and Vol. 1 Brooklyn and a short story in Joyland Magazine. SS: What did Stone Soup mean to you? GM: Stone Soup was the first time someone, other than my parents, took my writing as seriously as I did. It was the encouragement I craved, and it provided me with the confidence to keep working on my fiction. I loved seeing my writing in print, and with such beautiful illustrations, and to this day, I continue to be so proud of that story and of my first ever publication. SS: Do you have any advice for the current readers, writers, and artists who contribute to Stone Soup? Keep writing! Keep reading! Keep submitting! Are you a former Stone Soup writer or artist and interested in being interviewed? We’d love to hear from you! Please reach out to sarah@stonesoup.com for more information.
