family bonds

Story·Katrina Sondermann, age 12 — A daughter and father bond over an Avalanche-Blues playoff game in enemy territory, their first real connection after twelve years of distance.

Story·Tania Karas, age 12 — A girl watches her cousin Rebecca cling to hope that her divorced father will return, even after he attempts to kidnap her and robs a bank.

Poetry·Mark Roberts, age 11 — An 11-year-old holds his baby brother for the first time, contemplating the transfer of childhood wonder from one generation to the next.

Story·Erica Boyce, age 13 — A girl raised by lions in Africa encounters humans who might be her birth parents and must choose between two families.

Story·Hilary Miller, age 13 — A Thai girl defies her overprotective mother to save their home by selling the family's beloved mango tree to pay off the mortgage.

Story·Lucy Lumsdaine, age 13 — After her mother's death, a girl obsessively fills her life with activities until a poetry assignment about sadness breaks through her denial.

Story·Teresa Cotsirilos, age 13 — A second-grader leaves school early for a phone call from her father's childhood nurse in Greece, navigating language barriers and discovering her connection to a namesake grandmother.

Story·Rachel Marris Reeves, age 12 — In 3014, thirteen-year-old Cassie's birthday is forgotten when her busy parents leave for work trips, but she finds strength in a message from her great-grandmother.

Story·Justine Koo Drennan, age 12 — A Chinese mother faces an impossible choice when officials demand she give up one of her two children under the one-child law, ultimately deciding to leave China.

Story·Mara Elizabeth Lasky, age 13 — After her house burns down, Angela returns to sift through the ashes, finds her parents' charred wedding photo, and finally allows herself to grieve before reconciling with her mother.