courage

Story·Ryan Kinnavy, age 11 — A young baseball pitcher finds a mysterious sphere that allows him to travel back in time and prevent a fatal car accident that would have killed his best friend.

Story·Rebecca Schneider, age 12 — A homesick boy dreads going to sleep-away camp but discovers acceptance and friendship through a baseball game where his teammates encourage rather than mock him.

Poetry·Marley Powell, age 12 — A girl watches her cat grooming and wonders what cats understand about human conflicts, terrorism, and whether they might govern the world better than humans do.

Story·Ingrid Johnson, age 12 — A boy befriends the new girl in kindergarten over a shared pear, abandons her when teased, then seeks redemption years later by offering her another pear.

Story·Emily E. Hogstad, age 12 — During a Nazi raid in occupied Denmark, a Danish girl hides her Jewish friend Leah in a closet, saved when a German soldier secretly pockets Leah's dropped Star of David...

Story·Danny Musher, age 13 — A young enslaved man flees through dark woods pursued by slave-catchers, finds what seems to be a safe house on the Underground Railroad, but is captured when the hiding place...

Story·Reid Plumley, age 13 — A mountaineer separated from his team in a whiteout falls into a crevasse, is rescued by a yeti, and makes a harrowing solo descent to reach base camp.

Story·Jeanne Mack, age 12 — A Korean boy moves to America to join his father but cannot speak English aloud until a chess game with his tutor breaks through his fear.

Story·Nora Rothman, age 11 — In 1850, a sixteen-year-old girl who dreams of more than housework meets a stranger who takes her poetry to a printing press, changing her life forever.

Story·Matthew Taylor, age 13 — A thirteen-year-old mountain biker crashes on Mammoth's Kamikaze downhill course, loses his memory temporarily, then reflects on why he continues despite the risks.