loss

Personal Narrative·Lila Carpenter, age 11 — A girl struggles with anger and sadness as she helps her sister move into a college apartment in Bar Harbor, finding clarity by the ocean.

Story·Myiesha Jain, age 11 — A girl climbs a hill at sunset to throw a pebble into the sky for her dead mother, then returns to an empty house and her absent father's note.

Story·T. Max Crowe, age 12 — A lonely man in ancient Greece trades his dog to a god to resurrect his dead son, but Hades punishes him for breaking the laws of death.

Story·Fiona Clare Altschuler, age 11 — A boy with prophetic visions flees with his uncle to escape his mother's murderous revenge, but a wolf attack forces a reckoning with forgiveness.

Poetry·Peter Shuster-Raizberg, age 7 — A young poet observes the ocean's mysteries—fish, sharks, treasure—while lamenting that its population is disappearing.

Poetry·Ava Espinoza, age 12 — A word discovered in a box pursues the narrator, invading their mind and triggering painful memories whenever someone speaks it aloud.

Story·Chamonix Fernandes, age 11 — A World War II veteran visits his best friend's grave, triggering memories of the day Joseph died saving him in a jungle ambush.

Story·Charlotte Moore, age 12 — A lonely girl exploring a castle during a field trip gets trapped in a closet and meets Jane, a mysterious servant girl who wants to be best friends forever.

Story·Bea Hertzmark, age 10 — A girl writes to her absent friend Tom during a school day, memories of a lake and a letter breaking through her attempts to focus on lessons.

Story·Anya Geist, age 14 — A girl raised in the Land of the Clouds dreams of her forgotten parents on Earth, while learning about a prophecy and the dangerous Organization to Control Time.