loss and grief

Poetry·Julia Caggiano, age 10 — A child sends love through night sounds and constellations to someone far away, finding connection in shared memories of crickets and stars.

Story·Eleanor M. Polak, age 11 — After her parents' death, Sarah moves from her strict aunt's house to live with elderly strangers in the country, finding unexpected warmth and belonging.

Story·Ellanora Lerner, age 12 — A volunteer meal deliverer meets an elderly man who asks her to write about his deceased son so he'll be remembered, then receives the son's funeral tape after the father...

Story·Catherine Chung, age 10 — After her dog is killed in a storm, a girl runs to their secret creek hideout to grieve, where her mother finds and comforts her.

Story·Isabel Stronski, age 12 — After her mother's death, a girl moves to a farm with her father and encounters an old woman who tends a single bean plant, her only inheritance from her late...

Story·Abby K. Svetlik, age 12 — A girl moves from Colorado to New York after her mother's death, resisting the change until an elderly landlady helps her see that pain makes love meaningful.

Story·Nadezh Mulholland, age 13 — A girl discovers a mysterious book that transports her into its pages, where she finds reassurance that her comatose sister will recover.

Story·Sophie Eisenberg-Edidin, age 13 — A ten-year-old girl struggles to reconnect with her father when he returns from World War II, discovering both his trauma and their shared memories at the chicken coop.

Story·Anonymous — After her beloved Siamese cat Silver Blue dies in a car accident, a girl rejects a replacement kitten until one cold night when the kitten's comfort helps her accept loss...

Story·Lena Boesser-Koschmann, age 11 — A girl encounters a bear while riding her pony, watches in horror as a neighbor shoots it, and struggles with anger and grief over the senseless killing.