growing up
— A tall, insecure fifteen-year-old faces pressure to cheat on a state test from a classmate, but finds courage through her childhood teddy bear to do the right thing.
— A six-year-old girl hatches a duckling from an abandoned egg, raises it as her best friend, then learns to let it return to its wild family at the pond.
— A nervous 13-year-old rappels down a 200-foot cliff, transforming from panic to exhilaration as he discovers the beauty of the panoramic view and his own courage.
— Two childhood friends bond over horses, drift apart when one gets her own horse and wins competitions, then reconcile years later when one finds their shared toy horse while moving.
— A girl on the social outskirts is chosen as the healer's apprentice, severing ties with family and friends to begin her new life in the forest.
— On planet Matia 3, where girls are expected to raise families, Retsina attempts her fourth and final chance to become a Space Cadet, competing against boys in a grueling test.
— A girl sneaks out at dawn to visit her secret berry patch, where she reflects on how she's grown since moving from Florida, like berries ripening from green to black.
— A girl who dreads summer camp discovers a magical clearing with purple flowers and a marble statue, finding friendship and self-discovery at Camp Renaissance.
— A thirteen-year-old takes her first job picking strawberries, discovering the harsh realities of farm labor alongside workers from many cultures, especially the industrious Mennonites.
— A girl falls from a tree house in 1949 and awakens from a seventeen-year coma to find her family aged, her best friend married to her brother, and the boy...