friendship

Story·Namrata Ramya Balasingam, age 13 — A Sri Lankan tea plucker works through pain and betrayal to earn enough money to buy her orphaned brother a birthday cake, discovering true friendship along the way.

Story·Lydia Solodiuk, age 13 — A deaf girl who resents her church organist for being able to hear discovers an unexpected friendship when asked to turn pages during a memorial service performance.

Story·Meilan Steimle, age 12 — A girl with overly intellectual parents seeks sisterhood on a school trip to Yosemite, but finds bickering cabinmates, indifferent leaders, and a bed-wetting incident instead.

Story·Natalie Bettendorf, age 13 — A family's annual August trip to Mission Beach in San Diego brings together two close families for a day of racing to the ocean, splashing, and summer traditions.

Story·Ruby Dietz, age 12 — A girl panics when her younger brother doesn't board the school bus, only to discover he had permission to go to a friend's house instead.

Story·Grace Manning, age 12 — During a sailing race with a $100 prize, a boy gives up certain victory to help his friend win the money for his dying father's medical care.

Poetry·Sarah Wood, age 12 — A poem captures the last night before a friend moves to Ireland, from joyful evening to tearful goodbye as she disappears in the rain.

Story·Naomi Vliet, age 11 — A wild mare protects her foal from mustangers, is rescued by police, and forms a bond with a girl who ultimately sets them free, only to have them return.

Story·Lily Strauss, age 10 — A Montana girl raises money to visit her beloved horse Missoula, who has been sent to Missouri to work as a therapy horse for children with disabilities.

Story·Miriam Henerson, age 12 — Three girls teach three boys to make an anniversary pie for Max's parents, leading to flour explosions, foam dart wars, and last-minute whipped cream rescues.