atmospheric setting

Poetry·Jean Hope Sack, age 12 — A girl climbs an ancient Sequoia on her family's tree farm, watches an osprey soar past, and records the moment in her tree-kept poetry book.

Story·Katie Sinclair, age 13 — Two friends visit an aquarium and walk the pier, where floating red roses on gray ocean water prompt reflection on breaking patterns.

Story·Laura Booth, age 11 — A girl ice-skating encounters a mysterious stag who leads her and her pony on a dangerous journey through frozen streams to discover a secret clearing that becomes hers.

Story·Veronica Engler, age 13 — A girl visiting an island for the first time encounters the legendary Storm Dancer during a fierce storm and learns to dance with the ocean's rhythm.

Story·Rosalie Stoner, age 11 — During the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, a young girl saves a lost child while fleeing through the chaos of Pompeii's destruction.

Story·Emma Kilgore Hine, age 13 — A girl crafts a tiny boat from bark and wildflowers beside a New Mexican mountain stream, then releases it to drift away like a fairy ship.

Story·Natalia M. Thompson, age 13 — In Tehran, a teenage girl joins her mother's secret political group that meets under the guise of Friday tea gatherings while the men are at prayer.

Story·Charlie Patten, age 13 — Three friends meet to swim at night but Martin has a premonition dream where a sea creature attacks his friends, waking just as they arrive for real.

Story·Rachel Stanley, age 13 — A young diver conquers her fear of the 10-meter platform, discovering the exhilaration of flight in the moment she lets herself fall.

Story·Ralphie Kabo, age 11 — Rabbit soldier Brumm rises through ranks to defend Fort Cuniculus against fox invaders, forging alliances with dingoes and kangaroos in an Australian bush war.