dramatic tension

Personal Narrative·Micki Mermelstein — A girl with a fear of heights jumps off a cliff at her cousins' urging, nearly drowns in panic underwater, then immediately agrees to do it again for a video.

Story·Lina Yoon — A girl ventures into a frozen forest, falls through river ice where her brother died, and barely survives the journey home through determination and remembered warnings.

Story·Emma Chen Rolufs — A chicken named Rico dreams of becoming a Skyclash champion despite everyone's doubts, trains secretly for months, and defeats the school bully Tony in the championship match.

Story·Cecilia Hodgman — When her best friend Xavier disappears, teenage reporter Katie discovers his mother is a former spy and their chemistry teacher is the criminal who kidnapped him for revenge.

Story·Hadley Taylor — A curious girl defies warnings about a grumpy man's forbidden book collection, only to be seized by magical vines that emerge from an enchanted volume.

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·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.

Story·Anonymous — A hungry five-year-old boy unknowingly reports his parents for treason to a dystopian government in exchange for candy, not understanding what he's done.

Story·Liam Hancock, age 11 — A teenage surfer faces the same deadly waves that killed his father at the Mavericks competition, then risks everything to save his friend from drowning.

Story·Julia Hershon, age 11 — During an asteroid attack on her French village, a farm girl and her new classmate Clara rescue a young boy and flee to the mountains, where Evangeline reunites with her...