animals

Story·Emily deLisle, age 10 — An Egyptian servant girl who is secretly the goddess Isis helps a hippo mother killed by hunters become the goddess Tawret, reuniting her with her family in the afterlife.

Story·Ralphie Kabo, age 11 — Rabbit soldier Brumm rises through ranks to defend Fort Cuniculus against fox invaders, forging alliances with dingoes and kangaroos in an Australian bush war.

Story·Veronica Engler, age 13 — A dragon awaits knights coming to slay her, remembering her murdered family. When she recognizes her brother's killer, she chooses mercy over revenge before dying.

Story·Katherine Roth, age 13 — A girl looking after a neighbor's dog discovers the dog has escaped to find their missing cat, injured but alive in the woods after a snowstorm.

Story·Annakai Hayakawa Geshlider, age 9 — A girl secretly cares for neglected horses in Toronto until one morning they leap the fence and she rides with them toward the sunrise.

Poetry·Brooke Hemingway, age 13 — A wolf leads its pack into a moonlit clearing where the forest holds its breath and the world sparkles with otherworldly light.

Story·Will Stroud — A young hunter describes his first archery kill, from the three-hour wait in a tree stand to the moment the deer falls, rendered in precise sensory detail.

Story·Hannah Mark, age 13 — A city boy reluctantly spends summer on his grandfather's Montana farm, initially resenting the work but gradually discovering satisfaction in farm life and connection with nature.

Story·Brooke Hemingway, age 12 — After her beloved horse Dory dies, a grieving girl travels to Chincoteague Island where she finds a golden foal with eyes that remind her of her lost companion.

Story·Nina Oliva, age 12 — When villagers capture wolf pups for companionship, a girl who frees one is granted the power to speak to wolves and must negotiate peace between the species.