authentic voice

Poetry·Peter Shuster-Raizberg, age 7 — A young poet's repetitive meditation on the strangeness and nothingness of cactuses, built through simple observations and circular phrasing.

Poetry·Peter Shuster-Raizberg, age 7 — A child's urgent poem captures the terror and escape from an erupting volcano, circling back to the image of the volcano at the center of everything.

Story·Fiona Clare Altschuler, age 11 — A boy with prophetic visions flees with his uncle to escape his mother's murderous revenge, but a wolf attack forces a reckoning with forgiveness.

Poetry·Peter Shuster-Raizberg, age 7 — A young poet observes the ocean's mysteries—fish, sharks, treasure—while lamenting that its population is disappearing.

Poetry·Peter Shuster-Raizberg, age 7 — A seven-year-old celebrates love, water, teamwork, and endless fun in a brief, exuberant poem that reads like a joyful chant.

Personal Narrative·Sonia Teodorescu, age 13 — A girl labeled 'alien' by her friend for her waterproof hair and quirks observes the equally strange behaviors of everyone around her at what seems to be a summer camp.

Story·Charlotte Moore, age 12 — A lonely girl exploring a castle during a field trip gets trapped in a closet and meets Jane, a mysterious servant girl who wants to be best friends forever.

Poetry·Rainer Pasca, age 14 — A child imagines living inside a snow globe where friends appear during a blizzard, counting snowflakes and jumping like glitter in the swirling water.

Poetry·Rainer Pasca, age 14 — A sensory-rich prose poem captures the disorienting joy of falling into snow, where time slows and the world transforms into crystal whispers and flying lights.

Poetry·Avery DiBella, age 10 — Snow falls like a skydiver, melts like ice cream, disappears like a sad song, but promises to return in winter.