US Common Core ELA
— A girl contemplates her love for New York City while recognizing her mother's longing for San Francisco, exploring different kinds of beauty and belonging.
— A seventh-grader befriends a new Muslim student and successfully advocates to the school board for her right to wear a hijab after their teacher bans it.
— A five-year-old's joy at her first ballet recital turns to tears when she's the only dancer without flowers, until her grandmother picks a makeshift bouquet from the grounds.
— A young ranch hand fired for accidentally burning a barn struggles to find work until one rancher gives him a second chance, leading to his vindication when the real arsonist...
— At dusk, a writer sits on a cold rock sketching the last light while frogs sing, watching her huge shadow wave across the page as darkness falls.
— 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.
— Two friends visit an aquarium and walk the pier, where floating red roses on gray ocean water prompt reflection on breaking patterns.
— 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.
— 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.
— 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.