UK KS2

Story·Alexander Freed, age 12 — A teenage boy struggles to get his four-year-old sister to bed during a foggy night, finally outsmarting her with a clever intercom trick after she hides.

Story·Sophia Catalan, age 11 — A girl races into the ocean on a hot day, gets tumbled by a surprise second wave, and makes her friend laugh with silly antics on the beach.

Story·Ariana González Silas, age 11 — Two sisters left home alone escalate from bickering to a kitchen accident that brings them together when the older sister rushes the younger to the hospital.

Poetry·Isaac Walsh, age 10 — A six-year-old loses his orange Croc over the Stone Arch Bridge and imagines it floating down the Mississippi to Louisiana, carrying its mystery.

Poetry·Vincenzo Ruggiero, age 13 — A boy describes his after-school routine with his dog Bella, from her greeting at the window to playing fetch, bath time, and bedtime.

Story·Isabel Folger, age 12 — A girl struggles with her family's move to Hawaii and her father's engagement, finding peace only when she discovers her mother's spirit remains with her.

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.

Story·Lauren Vanden Bosch, age 12 — A girl abandons her best friend when she moves away, then learns about friendship and priorities when she helps an injured competitor during a cross-country race.