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Poetry·Juliet B. Quaglia, age 10 — A child climbs a metaphorical ladder to sleep, ascending through expanding views from house to world, then drifting back down into dreams.

Story·Bethany Johnsen, age 13 — Two cousins play an elaborate game of orphan sisters surviving in the jungle, transforming a suburban yard into a world of tigers and adventure.

Story·Steven Lu, age 12 — A boy watches from his hillside home as flood waters from Deer Mountain devastate his village below, imagining the mountain as an angry deity.

Story·Sophia Stid, age 11 — A girl escapes to a secret clearing in the woods where she experiences brief moments of becoming the creatures around her—squirrel, robin, blade of grass.

Story·Maya Vilaplana, age 11 — A girl contemplates her love for New York City while recognizing her mother's longing for San Francisco, exploring different kinds of beauty and belonging.

Story·Brittany Newell, age 10 — A girl finds escape and identity through playing her dusty family piano, culminating in a Christmas Eve performance where she becomes one with the instrument.

Story·Joshua Mandell, age 10 — Three boys run away to sea after Tom fights with his parents, survive a shipwreck on separate islands, and reunite through ingenuity and courage before being rescued.

Story·Sarah Jick, age 13 — A teenager planning to run away at dawn is discovered by her little sister, whose innocent love makes her reconsider and decide to stay.

Story·Natalia M. Thompson, age 13 — In Tehran, a teenage girl joins her mother's secret political group that meets under the guise of Friday tea gatherings while the men are at prayer.

Poetry·Alyssum Quaglia, age 12 — A landlord tends his garden at dawn, moving through dewy grass to pull weeds and care for lettuce and strawberries in the quiet morning.