loss and grief

Story·Francisca Thomas, age 13 — A scarlet macaw recounts his life with a Cuban immigrant family in Florida, their separation during Hurricane Andrew, and their eventual reunion when he saves his young owner from an...

Story·Joshua Maclean, age 13 — A son remembers his father's devotion through baseball games, lucky charms, and math lessons, then chronicles his battle with ALS and the lasting impact of his loss.

Story·Cameron Mckeich, age 11 — A boy returns to his late grandfather's wilderness farm for the first time since his death, finding solace when sunlight breaks through storm clouds onto a magnolia tree.

Story·Felicity Slater, age 12 — A bored city girl visiting suburban relatives discovers every house has a blonde girl shooting baskets, then becomes trapped in the conformist nightmare herself.

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...

Poetry·Mark Roberts, age 10 — A boy remembers his grandmother through the landscape she loved — hot air balloons, hilltop trees, vineyards — and the moment of scattering her ashes.

Story·Arielle Gorin, age 13 — A Jewish boy flees to Switzerland with an aging WWI veteran during the Nazi occupation, learning to see beyond hero worship to understand human complexity.

Story·Alexandra Orczyk, age 12 — A girl loses her childhood best friend when their families take opposite sides during the American Revolution's Stamp Act crisis, their final parting at a harbor as he sails away.

Story·Devon Davila, age 12 — A girl named Yellow Rose navigates grief, loneliness, and her father's new girlfriend until a chance encounter with a neighbor opens a door to friendship.

Story·Joshua Bernheisel, age 10 — After his mother's death, a boy who once hated writing discovers fiction and publishes a book dedicated to her memory, finding friendship with his former bully.