dramatic tension

Story·Anna Shepherd, age 11 — During a tense car ride to visit relatives, two sisters play Twenty Questions, but when Jenny thinks she's solved Ula's puzzle, her sister refuses to confirm the answer.

Story·Eva Juette, age 11 — In Nazi-occupied Denmark, two girls hide their Jewish friend and her mother in a closet during a terrifying search, transforming a childhood game into survival.

Story·Madesyn Fogg, age 10 — After losing their father and fortune, Elizabeth and her mother survive a deadly storm that destroys their cliff-side house, only to recover their wealth through a rediscovered bank account number.

Story·Allie Aguila, age 13 — A man seeking escape from anxiety tries experimental goggles that restore childlike imagination, but stays too long and encounters darkness that threatens to consume him.

Story·Kate Choi, age 11 — Seventh graders torment a new student who attends class via video call, only to discover she has a disability when she finally arrives in person.

Story·Una Dorr, age 11 — A boy terrified of heights must overcome his fear when his cat gets trapped on a crumbling 20th-floor balcony that locks behind him.

Story·Sage Young, age 12 — A house cat gets locked outside during a snowstorm, survives a night in an alley and a raccoon encounter, then finds her way home to her worried human.

Story·Maeve Brett-Vasko, age 12 — A young soldier who can see death timelines on people's palms sacrifices himself to save his best friend during a fortress battle, transferring his gift to her.

Story·Jon Breed, age 13 — During a military coup in Sierra Leone, a fifth-grader shelters with his embassy family, finding and symbolically discarding a bullet that represents the violence surrounding them.

Story·Jane Westrick, age 12 — A young climber encounters a cougar on a mountain ledge and saves herself by singing the same lullaby she once used to tame her childhood cat.