friendship

Poetry·Lucy Watkins — Two figures with umbrellas sit together in a rainy night until one leaves, then returns, as the natural world responds to their movements.

Story·Aaron Bogner — An alien boy playing hide-and-seek accidentally gets sealed in a delivery box and shipped across his massive city before being discovered and returned home.

Personal Narrative·Lily Harlan — A fourth-grader recalls the day a tornado warning interrupted a phonics quiz, forcing students to shelter while wind rattled the shutters outside.

Story·Beatrice C. de Baca — A girl who lives in a pumpkin house sells pies to buy a silk dress for a quinceañera, disguises herself to attend, but finds acceptance when her friend defends her.

Poetry·Enni Harlan — A girl brings a curtain rod to school as a cane after injuring her foot, transforming recess into an imaginary voyage across seas, inspiring her friend to seek the same...

Poetry·Enni Harlan — A kindergartner with selective mutism finds her voice when seated next to a girl with a butterfly-decorated lunchbox, capturing the moment connection breaks through silence.

Story·Tatum Lovely, age 12 — A perfect little girl meets her imaginative neighbor who takes her on a magical journey through a silver door to a Second World of castles, lollipop gardens, and rainbow-chasing ships.

Story·Maayan Mardiks-Rappaport, age 10 — A child sits alone in a forest clearing, imagining mushrooms whispering comfort, then floats with a friend to an imaginary world of happiness surrounded by nature.

Story·Ellen Wu, age 7 — A child chasing fireflies discovers a magical tree hollow that transports her to space, where she collects gold to help her friend who fears darkness.

Personal Narrative·Ia Sofocleous, age 11 — On the last day of fourth grade, a girl says goodbye to her best friend who is moving to Israel, clinging to the promise they'll be pen pals.