UK KS2

Story·Jessica Blanton, age 12 — A girl finds her late mother's locket in her backpack, triggering memories of her fourth birthday party and the day her mother died in a car accident.

Story·Julian March, age 12 — A boy showing off in an old boat gets swept downriver at night, then ingeniously lassos a giant snapping turtle to pull him to shore at dawn.

Story·Natalia M. Thompson, age 11 — A girl who stopped speaking Spanish to avoid classmates' mockery finds solace in the woods and resolves to reclaim her heritage language.

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.

Poetry·Brendan Cunningham, age 8 — A boy captures his father through three vivid scenes: carpenter at his desk, football coach on the field, and dad reading bedtime stories.

Poetry·Andrea Begin, age 12 — A speaker accidentally rips a map and imagines the torn paper could magically bring her closer to a distant friend she misses.

Story·Emma Loizeaux, age 11 — A girl recalls waking at 4:30 AM to climb Panther Mountain with her mother and grandparents, eating hard-boiled eggs while watching the sunrise from the summit.

Story·Philip Grayeski, age 11 — A boy bonds with his grandfather through fishing trips and flying lessons in the Red Comet plane, then inherits the aircraft after his grandfather's death from cancer.

Story·Audrey Crockett, age 12 — A girl finds her perfect horse at a failing stable, but when her superstitious mother refuses, she creates an elaborate scheme involving a fake dream to change her mind.

Poetry·Mark Roberts, age 11 — A morning forest walk becomes a meditation on interconnection as the speaker observes woodpeckers, geese, manzanita trees, and realizes 'I am the tree, soil and sun.'