identity
— A boy's stream of anxious questions about loneliness, belonging, and fear spirals into a plea for connection and normalcy.
— A mirror poem captures the dual nature of listening to music—the same notes can bring magnificence or screeching, beauty or pain, depending on perspective.
— A girl reflects on eating chicken in China and at home, connecting the meals to her birth year of the rooster and what traditions mean across cultures.
— A basketball player reflects on how the game remains constant from third grade through high school, despite physical changes and growing skill.
— A child traces identity from birth through curiosity and danger to the sadness of moving away, wondering if they'll return to have fun again.
— A bilingual American girl in Mexico refuses to speak English with friends for years, splitting herself in two until a Tae Kwon Do class forces her to confront her divided...
— Through letters to her absent mother, a French orphan girl chronicles her journey to America on an immigrant ship, through Ellis Island, and discovers an unexpected family connection.
— A sixth-grader watches her imaginative pioneer game fall apart when popular kids mock it, realizing she and her friends are growing up and leaving childhood behind.
— 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.
— 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.