hope

Story·Erik Dinardo, age 13 — A grieving man revisits places he shared with a lost child, finding each location abandoned or changed, until a ray of light breaks through.

Story·William Gwaltney, age 12 — On Christmas Eve, a boy helps his father and veterinarian deliver a calf too large to be born naturally, saving its life through emergency surgery in a blizzard.

Story·Emma Dudley, age 12 — A star basketball player tears her knee in the championship game, faces losing her scholarship dreams, then finds purpose coaching young players while beginning her recovery.

Story·Jonathan Morris, age 12 — An elf boy searches for rare ashberries to save a dragonfire victim, remembering how the same berries failed to save his father years before.

Story·Eleanor Holton, age 10 — During Ireland's potato famine, a boy struggles to support his family after his sister Molly dies of tuberculosis, eventually escaping to America.

Story·Elise Watt, age 13 — During community service punishment, Bailey watches ducks struggle free from thorns and finds hope for her parents battling her father's cancer.

Poetry·Wujun Ke — A poem traces the transition from pre-dawn silence through the first bird's call to full morning chorus as day breaks.

Poetry·Dylan Sherman, age 10 — White becomes a meditation on beauty and renewal through images of doves, snow, sails, and roses emerging from ashes.

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·Elise Allen, age 12 — Two friends share their last summer night together, walking under stars and seeing a shooting star before saying goodbye until next year.