finding home
— A girl brings home her first pet, a crested gecko, carefully observing its colors and movements as it adjusts to its new terrarium.
— A girl meets a shelter cat whose piteous call and pale green eyes transfix her, leading to adoption and the naming of Stella.
— A girl watches wild horses from behind a rock, naming each one and calling them her 'silent friends' who don't know she exists.
— Three sisters reluctantly move to a new house, discover a magical sphere that grants three wishes, and use them to find their lost dog and build a treehouse.
— A Sri Lankan tea plucker works through pain and betrayal to earn enough money to buy her orphaned brother a birthday cake, discovering true friendship along the way.
— Sisters embark on an Easter morning scavenger hunt after the younger one pranks the older with a wind-up rabbit, celebrating spring's arrival together.
— A girl with overly intellectual parents seeks sisterhood on a school trip to Yosemite, but finds bickering cabinmates, indifferent leaders, and a bed-wetting incident instead.
— A boy finds solace at a secluded spot by a reservoir, where memories of catching frogs with his brother merge with present sensory details of water, weather, and wildlife.
— A family's annual August trip to Mission Beach in San Diego brings together two close families for a day of racing to the ocean, splashing, and summer traditions.
— An eleven-year-old returns from Russia to New York and is detained at customs, intensifying her desperate longing to reunite with her parents and her city.