finding home

Story·Simon Reis, age 12 — A young racehorse named Judy Garland faces her fears on a muddy track, gets injured in fog, but places second through determination and discovers meaning beyond victory.

Poetry·Natalie Lam, age 12 — Rain transforms from mist to downpour, its gray fingers reaching through fog and pine trees, as the speaker celebrates the wet beauty of their Pacific Northwest home.

Story·Cameron Mckeich, age 11 — A boy returns to his late grandfather's wilderness farm for the first time since his death, finding solace when sunlight breaks through storm clouds onto a magnolia tree.

Story·Anna Hagen, age 11 — A girl who was found on a beach as a baby discovers through a magical conch shell that she was rescued by whales after her parents' ship capsized.

Story·Katey Storey, age 13 — A girl recalls summers at her family's Maine house, exploring tide pools and climbing Cannon Rock, where she collected sea glass and dreamed of becoming a marine biologist.

Story·Jessica Libor, age 13 — A girl falls from a tree house in 1949 and awakens from a seventeen-year coma to find her family aged, her best friend married to her brother, and the boy...

Story·Sarah Bryden, age 12 — A girl resents moving to a run-down house with her divorced mother until she discovers her mom crying over photos of her father, realizing they share the same grief.

Story·Stella Keaveny Haapala, age 12 — A foster child traveling to a new placement bonds with her driver when their car breaks down, discovering he and his adoptive parents will be her new family.

Story·Anna Harrington, age 11 — A girl whose mother died when she was six moves constantly with her father until Miami promises permanence—but that promise breaks too, teaching her home is wherever loved ones are.

Poetry·Marley Powell, age 12 — A catalog of sounds in the aftermath of loss — from helicopters to stomach gurgles to silence — anchored by an empty iguana cage.