Stories

Story·Sharon Wang, age 13 — Two childhood best friends drift apart after a betrayed secret, then reunite years later on a rainy night at a football game, realizing their pride broke them apart.

Story·Delia Rainey, age 10 — A girl sent to shovel snow becomes the Snow Queen in her winter palace, watching ice ballerinas fall from the sky until her father joins her imagination.

Story·Megan Kirby, age 12 — A girl forms a bond with a wild black stallion named Draco, but realizes she must set him free when captivity breaks his spirit.

Story·Kevin Zhou, age 13 — A Cuban immigrant dominates the Little League World Series with perfect games until guilt over lying about his age forces him to confess, sacrificing his baseball dreams.

Story·Kyle Eichner, age 12 — A lonely girl who volunteers at an animal shelter discovers that music calms an aggressive dog no one else can handle, leading to friendship and her first pet.

Story·Betty Julia Rosen, age 12 — A young violist struggles with harsh criticism and self-doubt before finding confidence through an orchestra audition, culminating in both musical success and a first date.

Story·Natalie Wittenbrook, age 11 — A twelve-year-old girl whose father hunts wolves for pelts rescues an orphaned wolf pup and, with help from the Animal Society, eventually convinces her father to stop commercial hunting.

Story·Lauren Boersma, age 11 — During the 1953 Netherlands flood, twelve-year-old Sieke is separated from her family and spends a terrifying night caring for a lost little girl before both are reunited with their families.

Story·Will Ilgen — A Union soldier at Gettysburg confronts the death of his best friend while wrestling with memories of his father and the meaning of war as 'a game of chess.'

Story·Sharon Wang, age 13 — A Chinese-American girl visits her father's rural hometown and meets Qing, a cotton farmer whose dangerous work with American pesticides reveals the harsh realities behind cheap clothing.