death

Story·Philip Grayeski, age 11 — A boy bonds with his grandfather through fishing trips and flying lessons in the Red Comet plane, then inherits the aircraft after his grandfather's death from cancer.

Story·Maya Koretzky, age 12 — A boy trapped by his father's grief after his brother's drowning at sea finds freedom when an Angolan sailor arrives, offering passage to Zanzibar and a chance to reclaim the...

Story·Kyle Eichner, age 13 — A young wife in 1896 South Carolina cares for her husband dying of consumption, their memories of courtship interweaving with his final days and the birth of their daughter.

Story·Anastasia M. Apostoleris, age 12 — A ten-year-old boy experiences November 22, 1963, through the lens of his baby brother named after President Kennedy, capturing the moment childhood innocence meets national tragedy.

Story·Jessica Ro, age 11 — A girl who resents her difficult grandfather discovers her love for him only when he's hospitalized with a heart attack and gives her a locket containing a photo of them...

Story·Olivia Grugan, age 13 — A teenage girl recounts the day her family's beloved pond became the site of tragedy when a six-year-old Amish boy drowned during a gathering.

Poetry·Nicole Guenther, age 12 — A young poet confronts mortality by imagining flight beyond Earth's gravity, transforming the fear of nothingness into an invitation to soar through unnamed universes.

Story·Casey Tolan, age 11 — A young thief steals a sacred necklace to pay for his father's doctor, but when an innocent girl faces execution for his crime, he must choose between saving her life...

Story·Felix Zhang, age 13 — A father's harsh parenting drives his son away, and only as the son lies dying from an attack in India do they finally exchange the words 'good night' they never...

Story·Zaki Moustafa, age 13 — A fourteen-year-old Confederate soldier marches through dawn fog to ambush a Union camp, then confronts the horror of killing boys his own age.