change

Story·Hannah Mayerfield, age 10 — A reincarnated blue jay, now human, returns to a fountain where they once drank as a bird, mourning lost flight until moonlight brings new hope.

Story·Ermeen Choudhury, age 12 — A girl forced to move from her beloved bedroom runs into the woods, where blue jays sing a song that helps her understand home is carried in memory.

Story·Emma Peterson, age 11 — A girl receives her art school acceptance letter and struggles with leaving her mother and younger sister, ultimately deciding to pursue her dream after her sister's encouragement.

Poetry·Alden Powers, age 12 — A speaker deliberately ignores the decay around them—dirty dishes, holes in walls, a broken fishbowl—because noticing would make it feel less like home.

Story·Sandra Detweiler, age 12 — Two sisters saying goodbye to their favorite cloud-watching spot before moving discover a bird-shaped cloud at their new home by the ocean.

Story·Rosalie Stoner, age 12 — A boy in 1903 Kitty Hawk befriends the Wright brothers, shares their struggles and setbacks, and becomes the first passenger to fly with them on December 17th.

Story·Brian Hoover, age 12 — A boy named Jake transforms into a werewolf under a blue moon in a clearing, surrounded by fleeing animals and supernatural lightning.

Story·Emina S. Sonnad, age 11 — A homesick Hawaiian girl meets an exuberant neighbor in an Oregon meadow who shows her a secret grove of cherry blossoms, where she glimpses their future friendship in a frozen...

Story·Caroline Lu, age 13 — After three years in Texas, a girl returns to North Carolina expecting everything unchanged, but discovers both she and her childhood friends have transformed while their bond endures.

Story·Aubrey Lawrence, age 12 — A girl remembers her terror at starting preschool as she prepares to leave for college, finding her mother crying on her bed in a reversal of their old roles.