Stories
— A homesick boy dreads going to sleep-away camp but discovers acceptance and friendship through a baseball game where his teammates encourage rather than mock him.
— A boy befriends the new girl in kindergarten over a shared pear, abandons her when teased, then seeks redemption years later by offering her another pear.
— During a Nazi raid in occupied Denmark, a Danish girl hides her Jewish friend Leah in a closet, saved when a German soldier secretly pockets Leah's dropped Star of David...
— A girl struggles with jealousy when her best friend moves away and writes about a new friend, then receives an unexpected gift that teaches her about friendship's capacity to expand.
— A grandmother tells her granddaughter how, as a six-year-old lost in a blizzard, she was saved after kissing a mezuzah on a stranger's door—where her future husband found her.
— A mountaineer separated from his team in a whiteout falls into a crevasse, is rescued by a yeti, and makes a harrowing solo descent to reach base camp.
— A Korean boy moves to America to join his father but cannot speak English aloud until a chess game with his tutor breaks through his fear.
— A father and daughter paddle across a misty lake at dawn, observing wildlife until a beaver slaps its tail in warning before disappearing into its dam.
— A middle school percussionist falsely accused of vandalizing band instruments uses computer skills to uncover the real culprit and learns about empathy along the way.
— A black cat survives a hit-and-run, loses her leg, and finds purpose when adopted by a mother seeking comfort for her son with cancer.