emotional depth
— A small new kid at school finds belonging when his unlikely friend, a football player, invites him to join the game and helps him up after a hard tackle.
— An 11-year-old processes her parents' divorce through a poem that moves from suppressed tears to overwhelming grief, cataloging each source of pain.
— A girl sent to live with grandparents in Maine because her family has eight children finds a stray kitten on the beach and realizes she hasn't been abandoned after all.
— A girl brings home her first pet, a crested gecko, carefully observing its colors and movements as it adjusts to its new terrarium.
— A girl tries to save her family's ancient oak tree by climbing into its branches, but fails; later finds solace when a cat makes a home in the fallen logs.
— A prose poem explores the color black through a series of sensory images, from crows to horses, culminating in a meditation on loss and racial identity.
— A girl reluctantly visits her Japanese American great-grandmother and learns about her imprisonment in internment camps during World War II, discovering untold history.
— A ten-year-old mariachi violinist battles stage fright before performing a Spanish love song solo at the International Mariachi Conference in Tucson.
— A girl watches wild horses from behind a rock, naming each one and calling them her 'silent friends' who don't know she exists.
— 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.