letting go

Story·Silva Baiton, age 13 — After her parents' death, a girl living with her grandmother discovers she can honor memories without being trapped by them when she transforms her mother's journals into a scrapbook.

Story·Catherine Pugh, age 12 — A girl loses her handwritten novel when it blows off a San Francisco cable car and disappears down a storm drain marked 'Flows to Bay.'

Story·Serena Alagappan, age 12 — A family's failed miniature golf outing becomes an unplanned beach walk, leading to a realization about the perfection found in spontaneous moments versus carefully planned ones.

Story·Hannah Culver, age 12 — A girl terrified of dogs after being bitten rescues an injured stray, only to discover he belongs to someone else, leading to an unexpected friendship.

Story·Emily Grant, age 11 — A girl discovers a magical black horse that transforms into a ghost, learning his true name is Leeto before he gallops away to freedom.

Poetry·Hayden Brame, age 13 — A child who once wished on stars for fun now wishes for more time with someone dying, then takes back the wish to end their suffering.

Story·Schuyler Mitchell, age 12 — A farm girl secretly nurses an injured wild foal back to health, then releases him to freedom when discovery threatens.

Story·Ryan Kearns, age 12 — A family takes their cancer-stricken dog Maddy to her beloved beach one last time, where she briefly finds the strength to play before being put to sleep the next day.

Story·Anonymous, Illustrated by Madeleine Gates — A seven-year-old moves from California to Chicago, struggles with homesickness and lost friendships, then finds connection through soccer and a new friend named Jonathan.

Story·Jordan Dunaway-Barlow, age 13 — During a thunderstorm, a Native American girl rescues a cardinal trapped in a flooding snake hole, names him Fire, and reluctantly releases him at dawn.