authentic voice
— A nervous ballerina at Nationals finds calm and rediscovers her love of dance when moonlight creates a private spotlight outside the auditorium.
— Kate struggles with jealousy when her friend Madison excels at everything, leading to a painful confrontation and eventual reconciliation about their differences.
— A boy waits in line at a shaved ice stand, observing others' pleasure before experiencing his own first taste of Gushing Grape.
— A 12-year-old searches frantically for her free-roaming cat Comet, posts flyers around the neighborhood, and finally reunites with him after a neighbor rescues him from a rooftop light well.
— A girl diving into a pool transforms through daydreams into a bird, fish, and otter before a bump returns her to reality at the diving board.
— A twelve-year-old slips outside at night to lie in wet grass, listening to her watch tick and feeling the wind carry away time's demands.
— A girl arrives home from school to an empty house and contemplates how the world continues moving while she stands still in her quiet kitchen.
— A boy who can speak to animals flees with his wolf-dog when a monster called an Alarcon hunts him for his powers, ultimately escaping when a condor saves them from...
— During WWI's Christmas truce of 1914, a young soldier gives his aunt's ugly sweater to a sick German soldier who returns it decades later on a lonely Christmas Eve.
— A shy girl befriends the barefoot new student who claims to be a princess, then betrays her under peer pressure, only to discover the true meaning of friendship after Irah...