growing up
— A six-year-old dreams of creating an immortality potion, achieves it as an adult through a meteor fragment, becomes wealthy, then loses everything and returns to normal life.
— A 12-year-old's anxious inner monologue cycles through worries about jokes, death, regrets, and daily stresses in short, punchy lines.
— A girl befriends a blind harmonica player outside a store, giving him her candy money daily until one day he vanishes, leaving her changed.
— A reluctant teenager dragged to a Ghanaian village for Christmas discovers friendship and joy through a local tradition of chasing chickens.
— An eight-year-old boy faces his fear when his father dares him to go outside during Hurricane Matthew, discovering both the storm's power and his father's protective nature.
— A basketball player reflects on how the game remains constant from third grade through high school, despite physical changes and growing skill.
— A boy spends a final day at the beach with his best friend who is moving to Israel, remembering their years of friendship and facing the pain of goodbye.
— A young pitcher struggles through a tough inning, then later coaches his younger brother through batting practice, passing on his coach's wisdom about perseverance.
— A twelve-year-old faces peer pressure when her best friend Lauren shoplifts and tries to involve her, leading to difficult choices about friendship and integrity.
— A sixth-grader watches her imaginative pioneer game fall apart when popular kids mock it, realizing she and her friends are growing up and leaving childhood behind.