US Common Core ELA
— A family drives through the night to grandparents' house after eviction, their old truck barely making it as a girl reflects on loss and uncertain futures.
— At a dreaded family cottage, a teenage astronomy enthusiast meets an eccentric boy in mismatched clothes on a rock under the blue moon, finding unexpected connection.
— A young musician struggles with a trombone, from its mysterious case through spit-clogged frustration to the moment when instrument and player finally connect.
— A girl arrives at summer camp hopeful but becomes the target of exclusion, watching the group turn on different girls throughout the month.
— A boy spends his summer earning money for a BMX bike, falling just short until his best friend arrives with the final dollar he needs.
— A twelve-year-old slave named Curtis escapes via the Underground Railroad with Harriet Tubman, reaching Canada where he reunites with his father and gains the surname Freedom.
— A boy who steals from his father's rent money jar learns the consequences when their landlord threatens eviction, prompting him to get his first job.
— A girl is swept out to sea at night, sinks to the ocean floor watching bubbles rise from her laughing mouth, then returns to shore with the tide.
— A boy finds his rival's lost championship kite before a competition and must decide whether to return it or keep it to ensure his own victory.
— A poem of lost childhood intimacy between cousins or friends, marked by shared memories of orchards, butterfly funerals, and the gulf that opens when one becomes a teenager.