family bonds

Story·Isabel Sutter, age 12 — Two sisters race across neighboring lawns, the older rediscovering the pure joy of running barefoot through grass on a summer day.

Story·Akash Viswanath Mehta, age 10 — A 10-year-old chronicles his parents' divorce with remarkable emotional intelligence, tracing the journey from loss through fights over custody to unexpected gains including a stepfather and baby brother.

Poetry·Anna Lueck, age 12 — A granddaughter recalls tea and conversation with her grandmother, then confronts the shock of learning her grandmother had lost her will to live.

Story·Elise Watt, age 13 — During community service punishment, Bailey watches ducks struggle free from thorns and finds hope for her parents battling her father's cancer.

Story·Lena Greenberg, age 11 — Two sisters who once shared an imaginary world called the Blueberry Family drift apart after moving to Connecticut, until a forgotten lunch brings understanding.

Story·Emmy J. X. Wong, age 12 — A Maine family transforms their seafood restaurant into a tropical paradise when a nor'easter threatens to cancel the parents' long-awaited twentieth anniversary honeymoon to the Bahamas.

Story·Mary Woods, age 11 — A sparrow clan leader, haunted by his mate's death, flees when his son faces the same predator—but the son survives to lead the clan home while the father finds healing...

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.

Story·Mac Vogelsang, age 12 — After his grandfather's death, a boy inherits a lucky penny passed down through generations, only to have bullies steal and throw it in a lake.

Story·Lizzy Teerlink, age 13 — A young boy in 1950s Chicago waits for Christmas morning when a reindeer mysteriously enters his bedroom, leaving him with a magical encounter he'll never forget.