freedom

Story·Tatum Lovely — In 1826 New Mexico, ten-year-old Narna and her blind sister Lana escape their father's cruelty with their mother, finding refuge and community with relatives in a small adobe village.

Personal Narrative·Landen Cusick — A teenager finds peace paddleboarding on a lake, where swimming among fish and watching the sunset brings clarity about focusing on life's beauty rather than its troubles.

Poetry·Trevor M. Burns, age 10 — A young poet confronts political corruption through wordplay, contrasting kleptocracy with democracy while invoking patriotic imagery turned ironic.

Poetry·Connor Kiggins, age 12 — A 12-year-old rails against school as an 'American monarchy' where teachers are dukes, principals are kings, and students are powerless peasants denied basic freedoms.

Poetry·Woody Szydlik, age 12 — A meditation on escaping into TV shows versus facing the messy reality of life, ending with the speaker choosing to walk into 'fresh, impure air.'

Poetry·Brooke Callan, age 10 — A speaker trapped beneath a blue night sky refuses to wait for morning and instead chooses to bring in the sun themselves.

Story·Oren Milgrom-Dorfman, age 12 — A girl escapes her parents on a forest hike, then later that night returns to the woods alone to weep in a moonlit clearing.

Story·Lucia Osborn-Stocker, age 12 — A lonely guard dragon, hardened by years of servitude, finds unexpected companionship when a starving fox pup steals food and curls up beside him for warmth.

Poetry·Analise Braddock, age 9 — A young poet captures the Revolutionary War through fragmented images of muskets, roses, and soldiers' faces molded by fear and braveness.

Poetry·Avery Lakomy, age 12 — A young poet questions why we divide the world into regions when their eyes see only one unified place where all people belong together.