family bonds
— A younger sister accompanies her family to drop her older sister off at college, grappling with change while finding comfort in a shared photograph from their childhood.
— An eleven-year-old meticulously plans to run away from her three younger brothers and endless family picnics, but when teenagers invade her hideout, she races home to find unexpected comfort.
— A twelve-year-old slave named Curtis escapes via the Underground Railroad with Harriet Tubman, reaching Canada where he reunites with his father and gains the surname Freedom.
— A boy who steals from his father's rent money jar learns the consequences when their landlord threatens eviction, prompting him to get his first job.
— A daughter celebrates her father through vivid portraits of his loud presence, humor, work ethic, and creative cooking experiments, declaring him the 'King of San Marino.'
— A girl shovels snow to earn money for Christmas presents, then must choose between a bracelet she wants and a gift for her sister.
— On Christmas Day, a girl discovers one of her ducks killed by a weasel, then incubates the duck's last egg to hatch a duckling she names CJ.
— A teenage boy struggles to get his four-year-old sister to bed during a foggy night, finally outsmarting her with a clever intercom trick after she hides.
— A Filipino girl accompanies her mother to clean a wealthy American family's mansion and discovers that despite their poverty, her family has something the rich family lacks.
— An owl hunts through moonlit woods to feed her soon-to-hatch eggs, fights off a raccoon predator, and returns to witness her chicks emerging into the world.