structural sophistication

Story·Madeleine S. Gregory, age 12 — A girl follows a fox through a magical spring into another world, where she's tricked into slavery before the fox helps her escape.

Story·Serena Alagappan, age 12 — A family's failed miniature golf outing becomes an unplanned beach walk, leading to a realization about the perfection found in spontaneous moments versus carefully planned ones.

Story·Mary Woods, age 12 — A scrappy urban fox survives by scavenging until a train accident lands him in an animal shelter, where he's healed and released into a forest home.

Story·Lulu Russell, age 11 — A sparrow flees a hunting hawk through forest branches in a desperate chase, then the perspective shifts to reveal the hawk's necessity of feeding its young.

Story·Virginia Mason, age 12 — Three friends seeking relief from drought discover a mysterious river where a glowing woman lures one of them away, then wake to find rain has finally come.

Story·Rachel Keirstead, age 12 — A girl devastated by moving from Ohio to New Jersey finds hope when she discovers an outdoor club at her new school and makes a friend who shares her love...

Story·Catherine Pugh, age 13 — After a botched surgery leaves her unable to walk, a former track star undergoes a second operation and fights through recovery to run again.

Story·Alex Carmona, age 12 — A wolf pup who lost her family in a blizzard encounters a grieving girl who lost her dog, and through their connection, the wolf brings her blind brother to the...

Story·Natalie Han, age 11 — An eleven-year-old reflects on how her relationship with her older brother has changed as they've grown up, remembering their imaginative games and missing their closeness.

Story·Erin Wiens St. John, age 13 — A young scientist explores a forbidden island where explorers have vanished for centuries, discovering an underground sanctuary where animals and a mysterious woman shelter from nightly supernatural storms.