US Common Core ELA

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.'

Story·Monica Del Toral, age 12 — During the Pearl Harbor attack, a young Japanese-American woman searches desperately for her brother among the wreckage while confronting sudden hostility from her neighbors.

Story·Andrew Lorraine, age 13 — A Black doctor arrives in 1960s rural Pennsylvania to take over a practice, faces racist vandalism and rejection, then gains acceptance after rescuing a white child from a well.

Story·Amy Cheetham, age 11 — A sensory tour through an idealized horse farm captures the sights, sounds, and smells of barn life from grain room to arena to pasture.

Story·Zack Bell, age 13 — A boy plays fetch with his golden retriever, gives her a reluctant bath, then they rest together watching clouds—a perfect day he'd relive forever.

Poetry·Max Mendelsohn, age 12 — A celebration of marbles through their sounds, colors, and textures, comparing them to children playing and stars lighting up the world.

Story·Elizabeth B. Smith, age 13 — A thirteen-year-old girl escapes the frustrations of seventh grade by galloping her horse Hobo, transforming their ride into a fantasy race at Churchill Downs.

Story·Maya Koretzky, age 12 — A boy trapped by his father's grief after his brother's drowning at sea finds freedom when an Angolan sailor arrives, offering passage to Zanzibar and a chance to reclaim the...

Story·Kyle Eichner, age 13 — A young wife in 1896 South Carolina cares for her husband dying of consumption, their memories of courtship interweaving with his final days and the birth of their daughter.