hope

Poetry·Adair Brooks — Winter sunlight streaming through bare branches becomes a lesson about finding warmth in cold seasons, rendered in both English and Japanese.

Story·Alex Iyker, age 11 — A seven-year-old girl searches for her missing grandfather in a blizzard, guided by her dog to a cave where he lies injured, and brings him home on Christmas Eve.

Poetry·Miyo Kurosaki, age 12 — Winter sunlight streaming through bare branches becomes a lesson about finding warmth in cold seasons, written in both English and Japanese.

Story·Vanessa Coakley, age 12 — A grandmother tells her granddaughter about getting lost in a blizzard while buying a Christmas gift, finding shelter in their own barn, and mysteriously recovering the lost watch.

Poetry·Sarah Dougherty, age 11 — A lightning bug carries the speaker's low spirit through gardens and town, returning it lit up and peaceful for a summer night's sleep.

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·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·Tania Karas, age 12 — A girl watches her cousin Rebecca cling to hope that her divorced father will return, even after he attempts to kidnap her and robs a bank.

Story·Rachel Hellwig, age 13 — An aspiring ballerina practices relentlessly for a Nutcracker audition but isn't chosen, only to be called in as an understudy when another dancer falls ill.

Story·Anna Hagen, age 12 — A black cat survives a hit-and-run, loses her leg, and finds purpose when adopted by a mother seeking comfort for her son with cancer.