loss

Story·Eve Driver, age 13 — During a thunderstorm, a thirteen-year-old searches for his younger brother who ran away after a cruel argument, finding him at the tree where their parents met.

Story·Ryan Kearns, age 12 — A family takes their cancer-stricken dog Maddy to her beloved beach one last time, where she briefly finds the strength to play before being put to sleep the next day.

Story·Emily Grant, age 12 — A golden stallion who killed a girl's father returns months later, saves her from a barn fire, and earns the family's forgiveness.

Story·Rachel Keirstead, age 13 — After her grandmother's death, Addie receives a mysterious locket and coded letter that reveal her grandmother's love story and a message about happiness.

Story·Ethan Levin, age 13 — Two astronauts on a routine mission are redirected to stop a massive meteorite heading for Earth, but fail, crash-landing on the devastated planet to become humanity's new beginning.

Story·Ella Jane Lombard, age 13 — In 1976 apartheid South Africa, a boy secretly joins student uprisings until police arrest his mother, forcing him to send his siblings to safety and flee to join guerrilla fighters.

Story·Victoria Boyden, age 12 — A sister recounts the day Arachne challenged Athena to a weaving contest and was transformed into a spider, then encounters her again years later.

Story·Kathryn Malnight, age 11 — A girl mourns her lost dog Dixon, taken from her family, holding onto hope that he lives somewhere and remembers being loved.

Poetry·Isabella Ainsworth, age 11 — An 11-year-old processes her parents' divorce through a poem that moves from suppressed tears to overwhelming grief, cataloging each source of pain.

Story·Namrata Ramya Balasingam, age 13 — A Sri Lankan tea plucker works through pain and betrayal to earn enough money to buy her orphaned brother a birthday cake, discovering true friendship along the way.