authentic voice

Poetry·Analise Braddock, age 9 — A child's declaration of eternal play extends from day to night through cosmic destruction, flying cars, and the world's last light being blown out after a thousand years.

Story·Hannah Nami Gajcowski, age 9 — A young girl with magical powers must defeat an evil rock star who has enslaved Neptune's citizens with mind-controlling lightning, aided by new friends and a talking rat.

Poetry·Juliet Del Fabbro, age 11 — A young person resists the world's morning energy, finding comfort instead in rain sounds and the warm cave of bed on a Saturday.

Poetry·Juliet Del Fabbro, age 11 — A young person stands at the edge of a swimming hole, heart racing with summer adrenaline, before finally dropping into the dark blue water below.

Story·Anya Geist, age 13 — A nine-year-old Jewish boy is smuggled from Warsaw to Switzerland inside a curtain during WWII, separated from his family but eventually finding hope through a letter confirming their safety.

Story·Lena Donofrio, age 12 — A Vietnamese girl named Hoa, overwhelmed by her new American school, runs away to the fields where a mystical connection to nature helps her find peace with her new home.

Story·Bo-Violet Vig, age 13 — A girl wakes on her thirteenth birthday to find her family has forgotten, but they quickly orchestrate a do-over when they realize their mistake.

Poetry·Isabel Goodey, age 11 — A child's boredom becomes a moored boat rocking in a dreary bay, while stars twinkle merrily and gulls squawk terribly above.

Story·Hannah Nami Gajcowski, age 9 — A young furow girl named Elana discovers she's the Chosen One and embarks on a magical quest with a fairy named Henry to stop the evil rock star Casey Flumpton...

Poetry·Lydia Iliff, age 10 — A series of questions explores the nature of friendship, wondering about true motivations and what friends are supposed to be.