ocean

Story·Colin Johnson, age 13 — A young surfer struggles with aggressive locals at Trestles surf break, learns the unspoken rules of lineup hierarchy, and finally earns respect by catching a twelve-foot wave.

Poetry·Rhiannon Grodnik, age 11 — A young observer watches the sunset over San Francisco Bay, experiencing a moment of profound solitude and connection to the infinite before the city lights disappear into darkness.

Poetry·Rhiannon Grodnik, age 11 — A young observer watches sunset over San Francisco Bay, experiencing a moment of cosmic solitude before the city lights pull her back to the present.

Story·Katharine Pong, age 12 — A girl runs eleven miles to the beach without planning, where observing oysters making pearls from irritating sand grains helps her reframe her frustrations with home life.

Poetry·Sophie Anne Ruehr, age 11 — A child navigates a Cape Cod beach as high tide transforms the landscape, jumping ice-covered islands while observing the retreating wildlife and encroaching sea.

Story·Emmy J. X. Wong, age 11 — A reluctant girl spends summer caring for her grandmother on Nantucket, discovering family heritage through lightship basket weaving and maritime stories, finding unexpected belonging.

Story·Emmy J. X. Wong, age 12 — A Newfoundland girl finds a mysterious bottle on the shore, launches it with a carved whale inside, and watches it travel the world collecting treasures from children in different countries.

Story·Emma Place, age 11 — A girl sailing with her family off the Maine coast slips into the water and rides a dolphin after a pod appears alongside their boat.

Poetry·Eddie Mansius, age 13 — A young surfer catches their first wave in Maui, experiencing the exhilaration of success after being tumbled by the ocean.

Story·Emmy J. X. Wong, age 12 — A Maine family transforms their seafood restaurant into a tropical paradise when a nor'easter threatens to cancel the parents' long-awaited twentieth anniversary honeymoon to the Bahamas.