US Common Core ELA

Poetry·Celie Kreilkamp, age 12 — Rain transforms a city into a sanctuary, wrapping it in gray blankets of mist while thunder and lightning create a world apart from complications.

Story·Olivia Cohen — A lonely Indian boy finds friendship and belonging when a girl from his school discovers him at his secret pond refuge in Minnesota.

Story·Ruby DeFrank, age 10 — A young pitcher struggles through a tough inning, then later coaches his younger brother through batting practice, passing on his coach's wisdom about perseverance.

Poetry·Celie Kreilkamp, age 12 — Rain transforms a small city into a sanctuary, wrapping it in gray blankets of mist while revealing simple beauties in puddles and lightning.

Story·Brooke Hemingway, age 13 — A lonely Indian boy finds friendship and belonging when a girl from his school discovers him at his secret pond refuge, and they dance together in the frozen forest.

Story·Meg Pheifer, age 11 — A Mexican-American girl's nursing school dreams seem crushed by poverty until her cantankerous neighbor unexpectedly offers to pay her college tuition.

Story·Luke Zellman — A five-year-old girl contemplates the nature of waiting after missing a horseback ride, discovering through conversation with her father that waiting gives life meaning.

Story·Meg Simpson, age 10 — A twelve-year-old faces peer pressure when her best friend Lauren shoplifts and tries to involve her, leading to difficult choices about friendship and integrity.

Story·Francie Neukorn, age 13 — A sixth-grader watches her imaginative pioneer game fall apart when popular kids mock it, realizing she and her friends are growing up and leaving childhood behind.

Story·Jon Breed, age 13 — During a military coup in Sierra Leone, a fifth-grader shelters with his embassy family, finding and symbolically discarding a bullet that represents the violence surrounding them.