US Common Core ELA
— A granddaughter recalls tea and conversation with her grandmother, then confronts the shock of learning her grandmother had lost her will to live.
— A young surfer catches their first wave in Maui, experiencing the exhilaration of success after being tumbled by the ocean.
— A Muslim girl struggles with shyness and prejudice at her new Brooklyn school until she stands up to bullies and finds an unexpected friend in a Jewish classmate.
— A Maine family transforms their seafood restaurant into a tropical paradise when a nor'easter threatens to cancel the parents' long-awaited twentieth anniversary honeymoon to the Bahamas.
— A girl races to catch waves on the last days of summer, gets tumbled by a big swell, then eagerly paddles back out for more.
— During a freezing night soccer game, a player overcomes bitter cold and narrowly misses a goal, finding warmth in his teammates' support and love for the game.
— During community service punishment, Bailey watches ducks struggle free from thorns and finds hope for her parents battling her father's cancer.
— After her father's death, a girl moves repeatedly with her family until discovering abandoned baby mice in their new backyard gives her purpose and healing.
— A Newfoundland girl finds a mysterious bottle on the shore, launches it with a carved whale inside, and watches it travel the world collecting treasures from children in different countries.
— A gondola ride on a New York lake at dusk becomes a meditation on the city's transformation as day turns to night, ending with the gondolier's Italian song.