growing up
— Three friends spend a summer day cloud-watching, playing word games, climbing rocks, and spinning down hills until they're dizzy and mud-covered.
— Walking a valley trail after elementary school graduation, a girl finds a broken eggshell and realizes the hawks circling her are searching for it.
— Two sisters who once shared an imaginary world called the Blueberry Family drift apart after moving to Connecticut, until a forgotten lunch brings understanding.
— After her father's death, a girl moves repeatedly with her family until discovering abandoned baby mice in their new backyard gives her purpose and healing.
— A boy learns his father must move to California for work, runs away in anger and confusion, then returns home ready to face the separation.
— A lonely boy struggling with growing up finds an abandoned dog on the street and secretly brings him home, only to discover his parents had planned to get him a...
— A plant watches a baby being celebrated for growing, then remembers its own unwitnessed growth from seed to tree, reaching skyward with equal pride.
— A fifth-grader reflects on the finality of elementary school's last day, from yearbook signings to the bell's final ring that marks the end of childhood routines.
— An eleven-year-old reflects on how her relationship with her older brother has changed as they've grown up, remembering their imaginative games and missing their closeness.
— A spoiled girl working at her uncle's horse ranch to earn money for a laptop discovers an abandoned horse and unexpectedly bonds with him, changing her attitude.