belonging

Story·Charlie Kubica, age 11 — A Polish boy moves to Miami with his father and grandmother, facing language barriers and bullying before finding community with other immigrant students in ESL class.

Story·Alejandro Lugo Saavedra, age 13 — A boy named Gabriel dreams of his Arizona childhood, navigates Pennsylvania middle school, then learns his family must move to Florida.

Story·Marlena Rohde, age 12 — Two sisters discover magical golden seaweed that cures illness, but when a greedy friend threatens them for it, they escape to join an underwater community of glowing creatures.

Story·Thomas Faulhaber, age 13 — In a world where middlenames determine destiny, a boy named Robin Burke struggles with his musical heritage until riots against the naming system expose its fundamental flaw.

Story·Rhianna Searle, age 12 — After Trump's 2016 election, two sixth-grade best friends—one Democrat, one Republican—struggle when politics threatens their friendship, until a handmade bracelet offers reconciliation.

Story·Sonja ten Grotenhuis, age 10 — A girl who can't ride a bike faces humiliation at bike camp until she meets Rosie, another struggling rider who offers genuine friendship.

Story·Samantha Abrishani, age 12 — A girl discovers mysterious footprints leading into the ocean, searches for her missing brother, and befriends the reclusive neighbor who reveals she once cared for a dolphin-boy.

Poetry·Stewart Hoelscher — A child's meditation on the moon's solitude and steadfast companionship with Earth, emphasizing its loneliness through repetition.

Story·Lia Clark, age 13 — In 1953, an eight-year-old Black girl secretly befriends a white girl through a hole in the fence dividing their neighborhoods, until Brown v. Board changes everything.

Poetry·Gilbert Huang, age 9 — A boy's stream of anxious questions about loneliness, belonging, and fear spirals into a plea for connection and normalcy.