finding home

Story·Tiffanie Goh, age 11 — A mute girl who finds solace in nature discovers she can communicate telepathically with a mountain cat, then runs away when her divorcing parents abandon her.

Story·Audrey Nelson, age 13 — A basketball player reflects on how the game remains constant from third grade through high school, despite physical changes and growing skill.

Poetry·Christiana Joiner, age 11 — A girl flees anger and homework to climb her beloved tree, where rough bark and height transform fury into tears and finally clarity.

Poetry·Nargi Golashi, age 13 — A young poet finds comfort in mathematical and scientific laws as unchanging truths that connect her to the universe and eternity.

Story·Stella Keaveny Haapala, age 12 — After her mother's death, a girl trapped in a cramped NYC apartment with her distant father dreams of their old farm until a vision helps her begin to let go.

Story·Alexandra Orczyk, age 12 — Through letters to her absent mother, a French orphan girl chronicles her journey to America on an immigrant ship, through Ellis Island, and discovers an unexpected family connection.

Poetry·Celie Kreilkamp, age 12 — Rain transforms a city into a sanctuary, wrapping it in gray blankets of mist while thunder and lightning create a world apart from complications.

Story·Olivia Cohen — A lonely Indian boy finds friendship and belonging when a girl from his school discovers him at his secret pond refuge in Minnesota.

Poetry·Celie Kreilkamp, age 12 — Rain transforms a small city into a sanctuary, wrapping it in gray blankets of mist while revealing simple beauties in puddles and lightning.

Story·Brooke Hemingway, age 13 — A lonely Indian boy finds friendship and belonging when a girl from his school discovers him at his secret pond refuge, and they dance together in the frozen forest.