holidays

Personal Narrative·Yanling Lin — A Halloween night becomes a meditation on moral choices when the narrator faces unattended candy bowls with 'Please Take 1' signs and witnesses another child take everything.

Story·Celia Chen — A little fir tree wishes for grandeur, gets cut down to become a Christmas tree, then longs for his simple forest life when discarded after the holiday.

Personal Narrative·Melia Zhou, age 8 — A family's Fourth of July celebration with sparklers and fireworks is interrupted by sudden heavy rain, sending them running inside to warmth.

Poetry·Analise Braddock, age 9 — A young poet connects the mathematical concept of parallel lines to the endless nature of Christmas traditions and Santa's eternal journey.

Poetry·Sabrina Guo, age 13 — A meditation on cultural superstitions connects Greek pomegranate-smashing with Chinese number symbolism, finding meaning in how misfortune creates possibility for renewal.

Poetry·Gianna Guerrero, age 7 — A child's poem captures Santa's journey through sound and motion — wind blowing, sleds trailing, rooftops clicking, presents clattering down chimneys.

Poetry·Vidhat Kartik, age 9 — A young poet cycles through the seasons with rhyming couplets, capturing each season's distinctive markers from falling leaves to fireworks to hibernating bears.

Story·Jem Burch, age 13 — A reluctant teenager dragged to a Ghanaian village for Christmas discovers friendship and joy through a local tradition of chasing chickens.

Poetry·Sabrina Guo, age 11 — A money tree in the living room becomes a meditation on luck, family traditions, and whether fortune is given or made.

Story·Jem Burch, age 13 — A family drives through Los Angeles on the Fourth of July, discovering multiple firework shows from the freeway and finally seeing the entire city lit up with distant explosions.