finding home

Story·Nicky Cannon, age 12 — A boy races from car to ocean, feeling invincible in the waves until his mother calls him back to ordinary life at nightfall.

Poetry·Zoe Phillips, age 11 — A child walks through absolute darkness and snow until spotting a cottage light that transforms the cold journey into a homecoming.

Story·Noa Wang, age 11 — A girl gets lost in the forest at dusk and follows a mysterious great horned owl through the darkness back to her parents' campsite.

Poetry·Kayla Walsh, age 13 — A young writer celebrates the simple pleasures of a family camp by a lake—sailboats, loons, hammocks, and the feeling of being protected from the world.

Story·Mary Woods, age 12 — A scrappy urban fox survives by scavenging until a train accident lands him in an animal shelter, where he's healed and released into a forest home.

Story·Olivia Smit, age 12 — A captive cheetah dreams of freedom while watching his brothers die from starvation, until a woman rescues him and returns him to the African savannah.

Story·Emma T. Capps, age 13 — A daughter watches her baker father struggle with a crossword clue about happiness while he tells the story of meeting her mother at a farmers' market, ending with their reconciliation.

Story·Erin Wiens St. John, age 13 — A young scientist explores a forbidden island where explorers have vanished for centuries, discovering an underground sanctuary where animals and a mysterious woman shelter from nightly supernatural storms.

Story·Lebo Molefe, age 13 — A rainbow-colored parrot is captured from the rainforest and transported through illegal wildlife trade, eventually finding a home with a lonely girl named Anne.

Story·Rachel Keirstead, age 12 — A girl devastated by moving from Ohio to New Jersey finds hope when she discovers an outdoor club at her new school and makes a friend who shares her love...