perseverance

Personal Narrative·Aleen Watson — A young runner battles self-doubt and physical exhaustion while competing against 349 other girls at the cross-country Junior Olympics in Texas.

Story·Amrita Iyer — A bored village boy seeks a legendary magical harp in Madagascar's forests, solving riddles and overcoming obstacles to bring music to his silent village.

Story·Ashwin Cohen — A retired cop visiting the Louvre discovers the Mona Lisa has been replaced with a forgery and must identify the thief among five suspects using clues and fingerprints.

Story·Lina Yoon — A girl ventures into a frozen forest, falls through river ice where her brother died, and barely survives the journey home through determination and remembered warnings.

Story·Emma Chen Rolufs — A chicken named Rico dreams of becoming a Skyclash champion despite everyone's doubts, trains secretly for months, and defeats the school bully Tony in the championship match.

Story·Translated from Urdu by Zahraa Haq, Art by Karuna Yang — A forgetful servant trying to remember the word for salt keeps adopting new phrases from people he meets, creating misunderstandings until a cobbler accidentally reminds him.

Story·Abigail Sun — Two girls building a snowman discover that many light snowflakes together become surprisingly heavy, then their creation magically waves at them.

Story·Lindsay Gale — A young flutist freezes with stage fright at a recital, flees the church, but finds courage watching sunlight on her flute and returns to perform triumphantly.

Poetry·Analise Braddock, age 10 — A young poet stands with open hands, waiting to receive rain, life, and all the world's green until only she remains in eternal readiness.

Personal Narrative·Mason Li, age 8 — A student navigates the emotional journey of taking a Chinese test, from initial focus through panic about a forgotten word to final triumph.