sensory richness
— A foggy bus ride home from a museum field trip becomes a meditation on the phrase 'swirling arabesques' and how certain words can feel alive.
— A young person resists the world's morning energy, finding comfort instead in rain sounds and the warm cave of bed on a Saturday.
— A Vietnamese girl named Hoa, overwhelmed by her new American school, runs away to the fields where a mystical connection to nature helps her find peace with her new home.
— After falling during pointe hops at Russian ballet camp, a shy dancer gains strength and confidence through a roommate's patient coaching and encouragement.
— 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.
— 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...
— After her best friend moves to Switzerland, an eight-year-old girl struggles with loneliness at school and finds solace in their Skype conversations, though nothing feels the same.
— A homeless orphan girl in Paris meets a mysterious old woman who turns out to be a pirate captain, and after stealing her ring, is invited to join the crew.
— After moving from a small Canadian coastal town to Houston, Gale struggles with homesickness, remembering her life among pine forests, gray jays, and ocean fishing.
— A boy catalogs the sensory details of his family's playroom — chessmen, Legos, piano, moths on windows — revealing it as his sanctuary from the outside world.