March/April 2011

Story·Lebo Molefe, age 13 — A rainbow-colored parrot is captured from the rainforest and transported through illegal wildlife trade, eventually finding a home with a lonely girl named Anne.

Poetry·Nicky Cannon, age 12 — A roller skater crashes into a puddle but celebrates the joy of the ride despite the muddy, bruised ending.

Story·Rachel Keirstead, age 12 — A girl devastated by moving from Ohio to New Jersey finds hope when she discovers an outdoor club at her new school and makes a friend who shares her love...

Poetry·Caroline Lunt, age 12 — A child climbs to a tree house and observes the small details of nature—an ant carrying a leaf, a bird taking flight—before settling down to read.

Story·Angela Chang, age 9 — A girl watches from her backyard as a male blue jay sings to attract a mate, then observes the pair fly away together into the sky.

Book Review·Laura Resau, Reviewed by Jamila dePeiza-Kern — Star in the Forest, by Laura Resau; Delacourte Books for Young Readers: New York, 2010; $14.99 Deported. On her eleventh birthday Zitlally Mora’s father was arrested for speeding. Now he...

Story·Catherine Pugh, age 13 — After a botched surgery leaves her unable to walk, a former track star undergoes a second operation and fights through recovery to run again.

Poetry·Sophia Lipkin, age 9 — A young rider recalls beloved horses and the exhilarating moment of her first successful jump, feeling her heart soar as Violet leaps into the bright blue sky.

Story·Benet Dawn Stoen, age 11 — A girl moves to the South Pole with her scientist parents, befriends a local boy who runs away after a painful memory surfaces, then nearly dies of hypothermia while searching...

Book Review·Ann Rinaldi, Reviewed by Grace Russell — My Vicksburg, by Ann Rinaldi; Harcourt Children’s Books: New York, 2009; $16 Fourteen-year-old Claire Louise Corbet has always lived a life of medicine because her brother and papa are both...