change

Poetry·Peter Shuster-Raizberg, age 7 — A child's urgent poem captures the terror and escape from an erupting volcano, circling back to the image of the volcano at the center of everything.

Poetry·Amity Doyle, age 11 — A year cycles through in verse, each month captured in its own stanza with sensory details of weather, nature, and seasonal rituals.

Poetry·Avery DiBella, age 10 — Snow falls like a skydiver, melts like ice cream, disappears like a sad song, but promises to return in winter.

Poetry·Alisa Zou, age 12 — A young girl on a plane to America watches China disappear behind her, tears streaming as she realizes how far she is from home.

Personal Narrative·Raya Ilieva, age 10 — During California's 2020 wildfires, a girl wakes to an apocalyptic orange sky and wonders when the world will return to normal.

Poetry·Emma Catherine Hoff, age 8 — A child shares an apricot with a bird that grows arms, carries her away, then transforms into a beaked human named Carry in a world where apricots hang above.

Poetry·Olivia Wang, age 10 — A sonnet celebrating nature's cycles through sensory images of water, wildlife, and seasonal changes, from sunset to sunrise, rain to bloom.

Story·Raya Ilieva, age 10 — Two best friends in a small Florida town face their first real conflict when Oscar starts hanging out with the popular boys instead of taking their daily walks together.

Story·Zahra Batteh, age 10 — A spoiled rich man loses everything when his parents die, struggles to find work, and eventually creates a program to help homeless people become rideshare drivers.

Poetry·Alyssa Wu, age 13 — Spring rain nurtures seeds into buds, then plum blossoms that sway with silent beauty in the wind.