US Common Core ELA

Poetry·Jordan Sung — A surreal journey through a dreamscape where light whispers, fireflies form paths, and a door handle transforms into an octopus, culminating in 'blue fear.'

Poetry·Jordan Sung — Light streams through canyon rocks and trees, transforming water into emerald and creating a dance of shadows and illumination in a moss-carpeted grotto.

Story·Marlene Dukes — A lonely girl's accidental cross-country journey in a malfunctioning self-driving car becomes an adventure in independence and connection with an unlikely companion.

Poetry·Ivy Yang — A child from Mars describes their home on the Red Planet, revealing complex feelings about Earth through contrasts of color, freedom, and beauty.

Personal Narrative·Aila Monacelli Schrider — A student walks from school to the subway, observing New York City's sensory overload with fresh eyes and genuine affection for urban chaos.

Poetry·Binja — A refugee youth in Uganda questions the meaning of friendship while expressing gratitude for friends who accept without judgment.

Story·Alice Pak — In war-torn Avdiivka, two best friends navigate the chaos of Russian-Ukrainian conflict as buildings collapse, threatening letters arrive, and families prepare to flee their homeland.

Poetry·Grace Zhuang — A young poet captures summer through garden growth, beach days, and songs, ending with a wistful plea for the season to remain.

Story·Allison Hansford — A lyrical catalog of a garden's inhabitants — leaves, trees, bushes, flowers, birds, and bugs — celebrates nature's overwhelming abundance and mystery.

Poetry·Ava Luangkesorn — A catalog poem assigns each punctuation mark a corresponding flower based on visual or metaphorical connections between their forms and functions.