We’re turning the corner into the glorious month of October, so you can expect your social media feeds to be full of quotes from Anne Shirley and you can stop feeling guilty about drinking pumpkin spice lattes when it’s still summer temperatures in September. You can also, I hope, revel in the long shadows of an autumn afternoon and the chill of a crisp morning.

Around the Web

Taste & See: The Glory & Struggle of a Beautiful Meal

Carly Marlys explores the longing for a place at the table. She mentions Hutchmoot: Homebound, which will be hosted online by The Rabbit Room next week—you can still sign up to attend!

• Iwas fourteen when I came to Hutchmoot for the first time. My mom knew it would open my eyes to a whole new world of art and storytelling, and she was right. I had never seen anything like it and I was overwhelmed by the poetry and artistry all around me. I soaked up the words of speakers I had looked up to for years, listened to authors read aloud from books I loved, and admired the wonderful culinary creations that were set out for everyone who attended—but I admired the feast from a distance. At almost every meal, there was nothing I could eat.
  In eighth grade, I started having allergic reactions to a list of foods that slowly chipped away at my ability to eat at restaurants and friends’ homes, and that was just the beginning. 
  Read more

How to Teach Your Kids Integrity

Kali Dawson digs into the challenge of teaching integrity.

• I was recently in a situation where I knew I needed to do the right thing, but I was fairly certain it would not work out in my favor. I was sure it might even come at a cost to me in the future. Regardless of what the outcome was going to be, I prayed earnestly about it and then did the right thing. It would have been easier for me to have taken the easy way out, but having a heavyweight crushing your conscience while you try to fall asleep at night often ends up being the harder way in the long run.
  Read more

Ask Auntie Leila: 10 Rules for Mothering a 13-year-old Boy

Leila shares her wisdom for parenting young teens.

• It’s been truly said that building character in an adolescent begins in early childhood, which is why I spend so much time talking about that phase, even though I get lots of emails like this one begging for help with older kids.
  Read more

Friends Forever by Shannon Hale

Janie at Redeemed Reader reviews Shannon Hale’s graphic memoir.

• Shannon Hale wraps up her “Friends” trilogy with a heartfelt graphic memoir of eighth grade anxiety.
  Read more

Around the Warren

Carry a Candle

Isabel Chenot considers how to carry the grief of the world.

• “I believe that the men of this age (and among them you Father, and myself) think too much about the state of nations and the situation of the world. Does not the author of The Imitation warn us against involving ourselves too much with such things? We are not kings, we are not senators. Let us beware lest, while we torture ourselves in vain about the state of Europe, we neglect either Verona or Oxford. In the poor man who knocks at my door, in my ailing mother, in the young man who seeks my advice, the Lord Himself is present: therefore let us wash His feet.”
  Lewis, C. S.. The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 2 (pp. 843-844). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
  Read more

Review: The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt

Théa Rosenburg reviews a novel by Tonke Dragt.

• While in the middle of the vigil required of all incoming knights, Tiuri hears a voice outside the church. He is forbidden to speak or to leave the church during the vigil, but the voice cries for help. What should a knight-to-be do: obey his king and remain seated, meditating upon his impending knighthood, or answer the cry for help?
  Read more

Something to Do with Your Kids

Are the leaves falling yet? If so, grab a few and use this how-to guide to draw zentangles on them!

Something to Watch

These optical illusion trick shots are pretty cool!

Thanks for reading. We’re on your side. 

–The Story Warren Team

• Author
• Recent Posts

Carolyn Clare Givens

Carolyn Clare Givens is displaced Northerner exploring the foreign ways of the South. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her two literary cats, Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. She's the author of The King's Messenger and Rosefire and in her free time helps run Bandersnatch Books.

You can find her at carolyncgivens.com or on Facebook or Instagram at @carolyncgivens.

Latest posts by Carolyn Clare Givens (see all)

• The Warren & The World Vol 10, Issue 3 - January 22, 2022
• The Warren & The World Vol 10, Issue 2 - January 15, 2022
• The Warren & The World Vol 10, Issue 1 - January 8, 2022