US Common Core ELA
— A student's daily bus ride past horses in a field becomes a meditation on breaking free from routine and discovering the wild possibility within oneself.
— A girl panics when her younger brother doesn't board the school bus, only to discover he had permission to go to a friend's house instead.
— A girl races along the beach following a dolphin, sprinting through sand and tide pools to keep up with the graceful creature before having to leave for the airport.
— Three friends exploring an abandoned house discover photographs in the basement showing children who look exactly like them, wearing the same old clothes they've been trying on.
— Jake dreads sharing summer camp with his autistic brother Chris, but when a bully targets Chris, Jake discovers his brother's resilience during a chess tournament showdown.
— A wild mare protects her foal from mustangers, is rescued by police, and forms a bond with a girl who ultimately sets them free, only to have them return.
— A quiet moment between a girl and her aging, sick dog captures the tenderness of caring for a beloved pet nearing the end.
— A young boy searches a war-torn battlefield for his father after his mother's death, crossing a freezing river to finally find him through their matching blue eyes.
— A winter morning arrives through skeletal trees, a crow's shriek, silver air, and frost-cocooned grass until the last leaf falls on white ground.
— A girl afraid of dogs since childhood overcomes her fear to rescue a stray on Christmas Eve, convincing her family to adopt him as their annual charity project.