city

Poetry·Stella White, age 11 — A girl lies in her father's childhood bed in London, watching trains pass and imagining his life decades earlier in the same room.

Story·Greta Kvittem, age 12 — An 11-year-old girl attends her first professional ballet performance for her grandmother's birthday and discovers her calling to become a ballerina.

Story·Matteo Wong, age 12 — A boy who steals from his father's rent money jar learns the consequences when their landlord threatens eviction, prompting him to get his first job.

Story·Alahna Harrison, age 13 — A girl moves from Seattle to rural Idaho, finds a favorite spot under a tree to sketch the landscape, and appreciates the peace of country living.

Story·Elam Fifer-Whiting, age 13 — A boy's subway journey becomes a catalog of encounters — a homeless woman, street performers, a soul-reading stranger — each revealing the city's complex humanity.

Story·Shyla DeLand, age 12 — A distant father and daughter walk to see Spider-Man; he secretly helps a man afford tickets and saves her from a dog, but she only notices the shirtless hero.

Story·Samuel Campopiano, age 13 — A young pickpocket at the Eiffel Tower steals an old man's gold pocket watch, but returns it after hearing the man cry 'I lost my watch! I lost my father!'

Poetry·Charlotte Robertson, age 11 — A young poet maps her beloved seaside town through sensory details — from a whale door knocker to turquoise wharfs to sailboats floating like butterflies.

Story·Mathilde Fox-Smith, age 11 — A teenage graffiti artist creates stunning murals on abandoned buildings while evading police, forming an unlikely friendship with a politician's daughter who discovers his work.

Story·Lukas Bacho, age 12 — A businesswoman at San Francisco airport reluctantly agrees to deliver a mysterious package from a deaf stranger to his daughter in New York.