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Story·Marika Massey-Bierman, age 13 — A girl torn between joining the spring musical with friends or trying track discovers new friendship when she chooses the unfamiliar path.

Poetry·Ella Biehn, age 12 — A child recalls dancing in autumn leaves before moving south, where a photograph preserves what geography has taken away.

Poetry·Aiwen L. Desai, age 12 — A wolf's howl, an elephant's wail, a polar bear's lament become nature's collective plea for humans to stop destroying and start creating a world where all creatures can thrive.

Poetry·Brooke Gillman, age 13 — A young writer climbs her favorite oak tree overlooking dark water, finding solitude and inspiration in the worn branches where she writes.

Story·Emma Caroline Duncan, age 11 — A mute girl in southern Africa discovers the feared Jago bird that terrorizes her village is protecting its silent chicks, finding her own voice through their connection.

Poetry·Tess Nealon Raskin, age 9 — A child dives into a warm pond where rainbow trout circle and bite toes, experiencing the underwater world as a distant, heavenly place.

Poetry·Sonja Minge, age 11 — A young camper observes the sensory details of an autumn night outdoors, from the Milky Way to marshmallows roasting to northern lights glowing over the forest.

Poetry·Samantha Ji Ping Wainapel, age 13 — A young writer rediscovers the exhilaration of flight, watching the world shrink below while yearning to experience the sky without the plane's protection.

Poetry·Hannah Dastgheib, age 11 — A child falls into autumn leaves and experiences a sensory rush of memories, scents, and sounds that blur into a single moment of seasonal joy.

Story·Ella McAuliffe, age 13 — A young naturalist's journey from protecting bird nests at four to confronting caged owls in Myanmar, learning hard lessons about nature's cruelty and human intervention.