freedom
— A mute girl who finds solace in nature discovers she can communicate telepathically with a mountain cat, then runs away when her divorcing parents abandon her.
— A child addresses a chickadee through lyrical verse, tracing its movement from dawn song through sunset, celebrating the bird's freedom and its lingering presence in memory.
— A girl adopts a mysterious horse from a shadowy seller at a carnival, only to discover he's a stolen Chincoteague pony who must be returned to his island home.
— Through letters to her absent mother, a French orphan girl chronicles her journey to America on an immigrant ship, through Ellis Island, and discovers an unexpected family connection.
— A wild African horse is captured, shipped to America, and passed between owners until she escapes during a film shoot and returns to freedom on the African plains.
— A twelve-year-old enslaved girl learns to read in secret, escapes to Massachusetts via the Underground Railroad, and becomes a teacher, reuniting with her childhood friend years later.
— A wild white mare evades capture through generations, teaching her foal survival before accepting her own mortality in the crystal mountains.
— A girl in a wheelchair faces her fear during her first therapeutic horseback riding lesson, finding hope for both physical recovery and independence.
— A girl roller-skating to a reservoir meets Ally, who teaches her to catch frogs and watch for foxes while sharing a philosophy of doing whatever feels right.
— Two sisters defy their mother's rules about a tire swing, then spend an afternoon picking berries at a neighbor's farm, savoring summer's simple freedoms.