ACARA Years 3-6

Story·Brittany Newell, age 10 — A girl finds escape and identity through playing her dusty family piano, culminating in a Christmas Eve performance where she becomes one with the instrument.

Story·Josh Miller, age 10 — A skilled hunter rejected by her village for not conforming to gender roles discovers a cloud city where women hunt and men weave, then returns home to acceptance.

Story·Laura Booth, age 11 — A girl ice-skating encounters a mysterious stag who leads her and her pony on a dangerous journey through frozen streams to discover a secret clearing that becomes hers.

Story·Joshua Mandell, age 10 — Three boys run away to sea after Tom fights with his parents, survive a shipwreck on separate islands, and reunite through ingenuity and courage before being rescued.

Story·Amy Xu, age 11 — An eleven-year-old recounts getting lost in a NYC subway station at age four, then discovers her grandmother remembers the incident differently, questioning memory itself.

Poetry·Colin Johnson, age 11 — A golden trout waits beneath tourmaline water for flies to land, then strikes with predatory precision before settling into warm mud to sleep.

Story·Emma King, age 11 — A girl travels from New York to South Africa, experiencing the ocean's power and beauty, finding a magical shell that her young cousin takes, teaching her about letting go.

Story·Rosalie Stoner, age 11 — During the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, a young girl saves a lost child while fleeing through the chaos of Pompeii's destruction.

Story·Elizabeth Halcomb, age 12 — A twelve-year-old girl resents her parents' decision to adopt a Romanian orphan until the younger girl offers her dead sister's ring, asking if Kate can take her place.

Story·Canyon Woodward, age 12 — An American family in Peru misjudges a tourist with many suitcases, later discovering she brings clothes for local children and supports Quechua weavers through fair trade.