ocean

Poetry·Rebecca Mitkus Wishnie, age 10 — Night at a dock becomes a symphony of metallic clangs, wave sounds, and boat thuds, while stars spark like kindling in the black sky.

Poetry·Isaac Goodman, age 9 — A whale mourns his sister's death at human hands, his mournful song misunderstood as beautiful by those who hear it.

Story·Serena Alagappan, age 12 — A family's failed miniature golf outing becomes an unplanned beach walk, leading to a realization about the perfection found in spontaneous moments versus carefully planned ones.

Story·Simon Brake, age 13 — Two cousins fight to survive after a storm wrecks their uncle's tourist ship, leaving them adrift in a lifeboat that eventually sinks, forcing them to float until rescue arrives.

Story·Lucy Tantum, age 12 — A reluctant twelve-year-old discovers a beautiful conch shell at the beach with her younger sister, rekindling warm memories of childhood beach visits.

Story·Genevieve Anderle, age 13 — A family's annual Jersey Shore tradition of catching, killing, and cooking crabs becomes a multigenerational ritual of teasing, swimming, and feasting on homemade Italian gravy.

Poetry·Ella Csuros, age 8 — A bilingual poem where water becomes the island where grandmother lives, with bears, ocean lullabies, and uncle's fishing boat.

Story·Liana K. Gonsalves, age 13 — A girl invites her pen pal Isabella to her family's beach cottage for a weekend, but tension arises when her best friend calls, leading to a dangerous midnight rescue during...

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·Ella Staats, age 10 — A girl sent to live with grandparents in Maine because her family has eight children finds a stray kitten on the beach and realizes she hasn't been abandoned after all.