growing up
— A New York City boy gets permission to go outside alone for the first time, gets lost, and must find his way home using the subway.
— A nine-year-old transforms the mundane task of folding laundry into an existential meditation on life's overwhelming choices and uncertain futures.
— A girl struggles for three years to answer her teacher's question about her future dreams, only finding an answer after the teacher's death.
— A physically timid girl who has failed at every sport finally learns to ride a bike, discovering freedom and confidence in the process.
— A girl reflects on moving to a new house five years ago, making peace with everything except the mismatched fence her friend calls hideous.
— After Earth's population flees to Mars, an eight-year-old boy is accidentally left behind. Eight years later, on his sixteenth birthday, he discovers another forgotten teenager.
— A 13-year-old observes graduation season from a Manhattan hotel, watching anxious parents at breakfast and contemplating the hidden world awaiting both graduates and herself.
— A girl faces sexist taunts when joining the Boys' Chess Club but wins over her teammates by reframing their shared experiences of exclusion and leading them to victory.
— After falling during pointe hops at Russian ballet camp, a shy dancer gains strength and confidence through a roommate's patient coaching and encouragement.
— A girl grows from child to grandmother, repeatedly passing an old woman who rakes leaves through the seasons, only recognizing her absence when it's too late.