US Common Core ELA
— A boy terrified of heights must overcome his fear when his cat gets trapped on a crumbling 20th-floor balcony that locks behind him.
— A car journey through a mountain valley becomes a meditation on the overwhelming beauty of landscape and the intrusion of human presence.
— A young woman preparing for her wedding remembers her father's death when she was eight and realizes she must let go without forgetting as she asks her mother to walk...
— A mirror poem captures the dual nature of listening to music—the same notes can bring magnificence or screeching, beauty or pain, depending on perspective.
— A princess locked in a tower escapes during an attack on her castle, meets a girl living behind a waterfall, and finds a new home after losing everything.
— A dog named Hua Hua remembers playing in the park with Sarah before her illness, now keeping watch as she lies in bed, no longer able to go outside.
— After cruelly rejecting her younger brother's attempts to draw in her sketchbook, a girl learns he's been in a car accident and rushes to the hospital with her sketchbook.
— Three surfers perform a silent New Year's dawn ritual at a California beach while a crowd watches, then celebration breaks out after they ride three perfect waves.
— A girl discovers that paradise isn't just a California beach but something she carries with her, from hotel rooms to airplane windows to her New York apartment.
— A child kneels by the Mississippi River, praying and remembering walks with her mother, feeling freedom in the water's flow and memories on its surface.