US Common Core ELA

Story·Connor Nackley, age 12 — A young snowboarder conquers his most feared slope on the last run of the season, jumping a mogul and experiencing freedom before tearfully saying goodbye until next year.

Story·Jessye Holmgren-Sidell, age 13 — During the Irish Potato Famine, a girl on a coffin ship to America remembers losing her family to starvation and the promise she couldn't keep to her dying sister.

Story·Andrew Lee, age 13 — After his older brother leaves for college, a boy finds solace in their old fort and rescues a fallen fledgling, seeing his own loss reflected in the abandoned bird.

Poetry·Isabel Sutter, age 12 — A girl hangs laundry on a summer day, watching a monarch butterfly and mourning dove while sunlight transforms ordinary towels into an artist's palette.

Story·Richard Wang, age 13 — A newspaper delivery boy wrestles with his conscience on a brutally cold morning, ultimately choosing duty over comfort after reading about Andrew Carnegie.

Story·Jonathan Morris, age 13 — An eight-year-old boy breaks through his grandfather's emotional walls by building a model pirate ship together, transforming their relationship through shared imagination and craftsmanship.

Poetry·Isaac Kamgar, age 11 — A skier experiences the sensory rush of flying downhill, tasting the sky's blueness while steel edges carve through snow.

Story·Sanjana Saxena, age 11 — A girl moves from Chicago to India during monsoon season, experiences two different schools, then relocates to California, carrying memories of both homes.

Poetry·Alec Zollman, age 13 — A cyclist pushes through burning thighs and approaching storms, hill by hill, until reaching the lake's perfect relief.

Story·Christopher Fifty and Indra Boving, age 11 — A flock of geese migrating south encounters a storm at sea, observing a skipjack crew struggling below before pushing through to reach land.