freedom

Poetry·Griffin Byrne, age 8 — A child addresses a chickadee through lyrical verse, tracing its movement from dawn song through sunset, celebrating the bird's freedom and its lingering presence in memory.

Poetry·Deeba Kord, age 10 — A child runs barefoot along a muddy riverbank to a flower meadow, picks blooms, wades in the water, then wakes from what might be a dream.

Poetry·Jem Burch, age 13 — From an airplane window, the world transforms into miniature islands and tinfoil seas, rising through clouds into pure sunlight, chasing sunset into stars.

Story·Hannah Ferreira, age 11 — A girl escapes her stifling bedroom on a summer night to lie in the grass under moonlight, until her mother gently brings her back inside.

Story·Noelia M. Colón, age 13 — A girl inherits a magic fiddle from a mysterious man in the woods, and when she plays it by candlelight, shadows come alive and dance on moonbeams.

Story·Rachel Schneck, age 10 — A wild African horse is captured, shipped to America, and passed between owners until she escapes during a film shoot and returns to freedom on the African plains.

Story·Rosalie Schulick, age 13 — A six-year-old girl hatches a duckling from an abandoned egg, raises it as her best friend, then learns to let it return to its wild family at the pond.

Story·Christina Kells, age 12 — A twelve-year-old enslaved girl learns to read in secret, escapes to Massachusetts via the Underground Railroad, and becomes a teacher, reuniting with her childhood friend years later.

Story·Emma A. Lunbeck, age 12 — A city girl discovers freedom and friendship with wild-haired Robbie during a brief stay in the country, then must leave him behind.

Story·Emily Villano, age 7 — A wild white mare evades capture through generations, teaching her foal survival before accepting her own mortality in the crystal mountains.