ACARA Years 3-6

Poetry·Lucy Hoak, age 13 — A child builds an elaborate fairy house with writing materials for messages, abandons belief when no note appears, missing signs that fairies visited but cannot write.

Story·Evelyn Chen, age 10 — In ancient Rome, a rebellious girl secretly learns to read from a neighbor boy who must move away, leaving her with letters that sustain their friendship and her forbidden education.

Poetry·Isabelle Zeaske, age 10 — A spring walk reveals birch shadows, a fern sprout, and a plastic bag caught in a pine tree, its snap drowned by a chickadee's song.

Poetry·Theo Taplitz, age 10 — A boat journey brings memories of a grandfather as dolphins appear, blending present observation with past experiences on the water.

Poetry·Isabelle Zeaske, age 10 — A spring walk reveals birch shadows, a fern sprout, and a plastic bag caught in a pine tree, its snap drowned out by a distant chickadee's song.

Story·Kyle Trefny, age 11 — A boy joins his marine biologist father on a rescue mission to free a bottlenose dolphin trapped in fishing nets fourteen miles off the California coast.

Story·Marina Stevenson, age 12 — A girl visits her grandmother with Alzheimer's at a retirement home, grapples with a missing wedding ring, and finds peace when her grandmother hears angels singing.

Story·Kaley Birchfield, age 11 — A volunteer at a goat farm becomes attached to a sickly newborn goat she names Barney, nurses him to health, then must find him a loving home when he's sold.

Story·Marika Massey-Bierman, age 13 — A girl torn between joining the spring musical with friends or trying track discovers new friendship when she chooses the unfamiliar path.

Story·Sonia Suben, age 10 — After his parents' divorce, Jasper struggles to adjust to life with his mother until he finds solace at a dock by the sea and learns a hard truth from his...