change

Story·Rachael Ding, age 13 — A girl grows from child to grandmother, repeatedly passing an old woman who rakes leaves through the seasons, only recognizing her absence when it's too late.

Story·Alexa Chiang, age 11 — After her best friend moves to Switzerland, an eight-year-old girl struggles with loneliness at school and finds solace in their Skype conversations, though nothing feels the same.

Poetry·Tara Prakash, age 12 — Time's passage traced through family moments — a brother's kite, grandfather's lined face, babies' bright eyes — questioning permanence while accepting change's necessity.

Story·Sascha Farmer, age 12 — After moving from a small Canadian coastal town to Houston, Gale struggles with homesickness, remembering her life among pine forests, gray jays, and ocean fishing.

Story·Ella Martinez Nocito, age 12 — A girl receives a cedar bracelet and a story about courage from her cousin before moving across the country, finding strength to face change.

Story·Alex Berman, age 13 — A whimsical origin story explains how the floating, two-eyed giiants of Chocolate Lemon island became the one-eyed cyclopes we know today.

Story·Daniel Shaw, age 11 — A boy reflects on the tree outside his old bedroom window—his silent companion through childhood frustrations—and its loss in a hurricane, while settling into a new room with a new...

Poetry·Rhône Galchen, age 11 — A solitary figure contemplates a metaphorical mountain that blocks their path, yearning for waves of change while trapped between states of black and white.

Story·Hudson Benites, age 11 — In a climate-ravaged future, an old person who preserved each season in jars watches a child accidentally break one, releasing spring back into the world.

Poetry·Layla Linnard, age 11 — A child reflects on life before a new baby arrived, using a mirror structure to express the loss of sleep, space, and being a family of three.