friendship

Story·Gertrude Suokko, age 13 — After her parents die, Clara lives with her strict Aunt Helga until the arrival of the Hayward siblings brings friendship and the possibility of romance.

Story·Lauren Klepinger, age 11 — Kate struggles with jealousy when her friend Madison excels at everything, leading to a painful confrontation and eventual reconciliation about their differences.

Story·William Gwaltney, age 13 — During WWI's Christmas truce of 1914, a young soldier gives his aunt's ugly sweater to a sick German soldier who returns it decades later on a lonely Christmas Eve.

Story·Lena Greenberg, age 10 — A shy girl befriends the barefoot new student who claims to be a princess, then betrays her under peer pressure, only to discover the true meaning of friendship after Irah...

Story·Sanjana Saxena, age 11 — A girl moves from Chicago to India during monsoon season, experiences two different schools, then relocates to California, carrying memories of both homes.

Story·Cassie Armon, age 11 — An 11-year-old recalls visiting her mother's cousin Marie on an Irish farm, witnessing her sudden illness, and learning of her death two weeks later on St. Patrick's Day.

Story·Victoria Beccar Varela, age 10 — A lonely girl who plays harp privately joins a youth symphony at her mother's urging and meets a potential friend who offers to help her.

Story·Cara Kornhaus, age 13 — A young bat falls from the sky during a storm, is rescued by a muskrat, steals her family pearl, then saves her from a hunter when guilt overwhelms him.

Story·Sabrina Wong, age 10 — A popular middle schooler rejects her childhood friend at lunch, then finds her grandmother's photo and realizes she's betrayed her values for social status.

Story·Zohra Maryam Chaudhry, age 10 — A Muslim girl struggles with shyness and prejudice at her new Brooklyn school until she stands up to bullies and finds an unexpected friend in a Jewish classmate.