atmospheric setting

Story·MadeIon Case — A father and daughter paddle across a misty lake at dawn, observing wildlife until a beaver slaps its tail in warning before disappearing into its dam.

Story·Anna Hagen, age 12 — A black cat survives a hit-and-run, loses her leg, and finds purpose when adopted by a mother seeking comfort for her son with cancer.

Story·Heather Goff, age 9 — A father and daughter paddle across a foggy lake at dawn, observing wildlife until a beaver slaps its tail in warning before disappearing into its dam.

Story·Hilary Miller, age 13 — In a Bedouin camp, a girl resents her father's new wife until she learns the woman cannot have children and was married out of compassion, not replacement.

Story·Nina Prader, age 13 — Two sisters leave their island home after a baby's drowning, sent to live with their aunt on the mainland while their mother recovers from grief.

Story·Xian Chiang-Waren — After a baby's drowning death, thirteen-year-old Eve and her sister are sent from their Massachusetts island home to the mainland while their mother recovers from grief.

Story·Max Strebel, age 13 — Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge in fog, a driver glimpses a man who triggers a buried memory of his brother's fatal fall during the bridge's construction.

Story·Megan M. Gannett, age 13 — A shy, homeschooled boy moves to a new home and clashes with local children over a magnificent maple tree, eventually finding friendship through shared love of nature and horses.

Story·Hannah Berman — Buck the wolf leads his pack on a three-day hunt through Alaskan wilderness, tracking and ultimately killing a formidable old moose in a violent confrontation.

Story·Will Ilgen — A Union soldier at Gettysburg confronts the death of his best friend while wrestling with memories of his father and the meaning of war as 'a game of chess.'