animals
— A boy watches sunset from the ocean shore, sees dolphins leaping, rides waves on a boogie board, and promises to return tomorrow.
— Two seventh-graders investigate dead fish at a marsh, uncovering a plot to destroy the wetland for a mall, and catch the criminals in a nighttime stakeout.
— A girl goes cross-country skiing with her grandfather in winter woods, gets separated from him, hears a pack of coyotes, and feels a deep connection to the forest.
— A wooden treasure box carved from Australian jarrah wood tells its centuries-long journey from forest to sailing ship ballast to African railroad ties, now holding memories.
— A boy finds a freezing kitten in the snow and fights to save her, discovering his mother's hidden past with pets and her fear of losing them again.
— An Alaskan trapper obsessed with killing a lynx that's been raiding his traps discovers she has a kitten and chooses compassion over profit.
— A boy discovers a hidden world beneath his grandparents' farm where woodpecker-rabbit hybrids attack him with hot embers and ice until his grandfather rescues him.
— A Nevada girl becomes obsessed with capturing a wild palomino mustang, but when her father catches the mare for her birthday, she realizes the horse's spirit belongs to the mountains.
— A girl watches her cat grooming and wonders what cats understand about human conflicts, terrorism, and whether they might govern the world better than humans do.
— A mountaineer separated from his team in a whiteout falls into a crevasse, is rescued by a yeti, and makes a harrowing solo descent to reach base camp.