emotional depth
— An 11-year-old recalls visiting her mother's cousin Marie on an Irish farm, witnessing her sudden illness, and learning of her death two weeks later on St. Patrick's Day.
— A young bat falls from the sky during a storm, is rescued by a muskrat, steals her family pearl, then saves her from a hunter when guilt overwhelms him.
— A popular middle schooler rejects her childhood friend at lunch, then finds her grandmother's photo and realizes she's betrayed her values for social status.
— A young snowboarder conquers his most feared slope on the last run of the season, jumping a mogul and experiencing freedom before tearfully saying goodbye until next year.
— During the Irish Potato Famine, a girl on a coffin ship to America remembers losing her family to starvation and the promise she couldn't keep to her dying sister.
— After his older brother leaves for college, a boy finds solace in their old fort and rescues a fallen fledgling, seeing his own loss reflected in the abandoned bird.
— A newspaper delivery boy wrestles with his conscience on a brutally cold morning, ultimately choosing duty over comfort after reading about Andrew Carnegie.
— A Muslim girl struggles with shyness and prejudice at her new Brooklyn school until she stands up to bullies and finds an unexpected friend in a Jewish classmate.
— During community service punishment, Bailey watches ducks struggle free from thorns and finds hope for her parents battling her father's cancer.
— Three friends spend a summer day cloud-watching, playing word games, climbing rocks, and spinning down hills until they're dizzy and mud-covered.