loss and grief
— A Mexican-American girl learns to celebrate rather than mourn her grandmother's death during Día de los Muertos, finding her spirit in a monarch butterfly.
— A girl whose family is fragmenting befriends her silent cousin by creating a mechanical dancing bird that mirrors the shorebirds they both love.
— Eight-year-old Yuki experiences the upheaval of Japanese-American internment, losing herself in despair until a letter from her librarian and an unexpected kindness help her find hope again.
— After her grandfather shares memories of her late grandmother during a rainstorm, a girl discovers the meaning of finding sunshine even on cloudy days when he passes away two days...
— At summer camp, a girl lies about her grandmother's earrings to avoid teasing, loses them, and discovers her new friend stole them out of misguided kindness.
— In 1960 China during the Great Leap Forward famine, a hungry boy eats his entire lunch bread on the way to school, remembering his family's lost wealth.
— After losing their mother in a car accident that leaves five-year-old Marcella unconscious, siblings Ellie and Luke wait anxiously in the hospital until Ellie's handmade poster helps welcome Marcella back...
— Five years after her twin sister Grace falls to her death from their treehouse, twelve-year-old Chloë returns to find Grace's spirit waiting to play pirates one last time.
— A girl searches desperately for her beloved lesson horse Judah after he's retired without warning, finally finding him at a distant stable.
— A seven-year-old in Shanghai receives a pet rabbit as a gift, but after two weeks of joy, the rabbit dies the night before the family must travel.