city

Story·Mae Hardman-Hill, age 10 — When Leo announces he's moving to New York City, his best friend Anabeth gives him a drawing of them biking by Seneca Lake, which he keeps for nine years.

Poetry·Anna Elizabeth Blech, age 12 — A gondola ride on a New York lake at dusk becomes a meditation on the city's transformation as day turns to night, ending with the gondolier's Italian song.

Poetry·Malini Gandhi, age 13 — A seven-year-old in New Delhi sees street children from her car window and understands for the first time what her mother meant about children dying in the world.

Story·Danny Singer, age 12 — A six-year-old's dinner at Atlantic Grill for his father's 41st birthday becomes unforgettable when the family encounters Giants player Tiki Barber, leading to a cherished autographed photo.

Story·Olivia Calamia, age 12 — A 12-year-old encounters hundreds of college students dressed as Santa flooding the NYC subway during an annual flash mob tradition, much to her embarrassment and her family's delight.

Story·Catherine Pugh, age 12 — A girl loses her handwritten novel when it blows off a San Francisco cable car and disappears down a storm drain marked 'Flows to Bay.'

Story·Mary Woods, age 12 — A scrappy urban fox survives by scavenging until a train accident lands him in an animal shelter, where he's healed and released into a forest home.

Story·Charlotte Merrick, age 12 — A lonely commuter observes fleeting human connections on the M31 bus, finding meaning in strangers' brief interactions while questioning their own isolation.

Story·Marie-Rose Sheinerman, age 12 — An eleven-year-old returns from Russia to New York and is detained at customs, intensifying her desperate longing to reunite with her parents and her city.

Poetry·Jeremy Long, age 13 — A homeless speaker finds beauty in rain-soaked streets while others hurry inside, seeing Picasso in puddles and mythological figures in storm clouds.