US Common Core ELA
— A poem about the sudden, irresistible pull of nature that draws you outside to turn cartwheels under the moon and watch the world spin.
— A lake speaks through a young swimmer, revealing both its natural beauty—kingfishers, trout, pines—and the damage humans have inflicted upon it.
— A teenage surfer faces the same deadly waves that killed his father at the Mavericks competition, then risks everything to save his friend from drowning.
— A crow flies free from troubles, basking in sun, her firm voice neither screaming nor complacent, taking only what's unwanted like vultures do.
— A young poet climbs a mountain path, sensing ancestral footsteps and wanting to merge with the landscape's accumulated stories and secrets.
— During an asteroid attack on her French village, a farm girl and her new classmate Clara rescue a young boy and flee to the mountains, where Evangeline reunites with her...
— A digger at a World War III archaeological site discovers a general's journal that reveals how soldiers were lost in a catastrophic storm, changing his family's fortunes.
— A girl grows from child to grandmother, repeatedly passing an old woman who rakes leaves through the seasons, only recognizing her absence when it's too late.
— A boy recounts the discovery and surgical removal of a skull tumor when he was a baby, emphasizing his family's faith and the lasting impact on his life.
— After her best friend moves to Switzerland, an eight-year-old girl struggles with loneliness at school and finds solace in their Skype conversations, though nothing feels the same.