belonging

Story·Sanjana Saxena, age 11 — A girl moves from Chicago to India during monsoon season, experiences two different schools, then relocates to California, carrying memories of both homes.

Story·Madison Kwasny, age 12 — A girl returns to an unchanged room filled with soap collections, antique brushes, and family memorabilia, finding comfort in its familiar details and lake views.

Story·Maureen Sullivan, age 12 — A girl reluctantly moves from Wisconsin to Ireland, loses her best friend's photo at the Cliffs of Moher, then discovers a hidden letter from a lonely local girl seeking friendship.

Story·Erin Cadora, age 11 — After her father's death, a girl moves repeatedly with her family until discovering abandoned baby mice in their new backyard gives her purpose and healing.

Story·Timmi Ruth Kline, age 11 — A young Egyptian girl yearns to help build Pharaoh Cheops' pyramid while managing household duties and missing her parents, who return unexpectedly at story's end.

Story·Zohra Maryam Chaudhry, age 10 — A Muslim girl struggles with shyness and prejudice at her new Brooklyn school until she stands up to bullies and finds an unexpected friend in a Jewish classmate.

Story·Dylan J. Sauder, age 13 — A boy hiding in an abandoned Paris theatre discovers ghostly musicians are his mother's orchestra, leading him to his grandfather, the famous conductor Alexandre Mierceles.

Poetry·Devorah Malka Reisner, age 12 — A new student sits alone watching unfamiliar faces until a red-haired girl's kind note transforms isolation into the beginning of friendship.

Story·Emma Dudley, age 13 — A boy living in a North Carolina trailer park befriends a wealthy newcomer who moves into his childhood home, forcing him to confront his past and find belonging.

Story·Amanda Valdovinos, age 13 — A girl walks through her empty childhood home one last time before moving, finding comfort in her old cat who shares her reluctance to leave.