effective dialogue

Poetry·Ella Rogers, age 10 — A salmon's perspective during its final leap upstream, narrowly escaping a grizzly bear's jaws before reaching calmer waters.

Story·Alison Lanza, age 12 — Three sisters reluctantly move to a new house, discover a magical sphere that grants three wishes, and use them to find their lost dog and build a treehouse.

Story·Lydia Solodiuk, age 13 — A deaf girl who resents her church organist for being able to hear discovers an unexpected friendship when asked to turn pages during a memorial service performance.

Story·Claire Hekkala, age 12 — A bored boy on a wildlife reserve trip follows his tennis ball off the safe path and encounters a wild wolf, sharing a moment of connection before his parents call...

Story·Maya Martin, age 12 — A girl reluctantly visits her Japanese American great-grandmother and learns about her imprisonment in internment camps during World War II, discovering untold history.

Story·Meilan Steimle, age 12 — A girl with overly intellectual parents seeks sisterhood on a school trip to Yosemite, but finds bickering cabinmates, indifferent leaders, and a bed-wetting incident instead.

Story·Rachel Keirstead, age 13 — After losing her arm in a car accident, Kate struggles with depression until a voice teacher helps her discover singing as a new way to make music.

Story·Peter O'Shea, age 12 — A boy who hates animals after being bitten volunteers at a shelter and discovers the same German shepherd who bit him seven years ago, leading to forgiveness and adoption.

Story·Emma Callet, age 12 — A girl's racehorse Royal Blue faces his rival King of the Wind in the Kentucky Derby, with tensions rising when the rival's exercise rider becomes the jockey.

Story·Marie-Rose Sheinerman, age 12 — An eleven-year-old returns from Russia to New York and is detained at customs, intensifying her desperate longing to reunite with her parents and her city.