perseverance

Story·Leon Antonov, age 12 — After a killer whale destroys his research ship, a marine biologist and his pet cormorant survive on a deserted island until they can build a raft to escape.

Story·Alexa Rivera Rockwood, age 12 — A monarch butterfly loses half her wing crossing a polluted city on her migration to Mexico, but continues on foot, determined to be the first to complete the journey.

Story·Sierra Glassman, age 13 — A young crane faces exhaustion, cold, and an eagle attack during his first migration over the Himalayas, finally reaching safety in a warm field.

Poetry·Rhône Galchen, age 11 — A solitary figure contemplates a metaphorical mountain that blocks their path, yearning for waves of change while trapped between states of black and white.

Story·Anna Shepherd, age 11 — During a tense car ride to visit relatives, two sisters play Twenty Questions, but when Jenny thinks she's solved Ula's puzzle, her sister refuses to confirm the answer.

Story·Madesyn Fogg, age 10 — After losing their father and fortune, Elizabeth and her mother survive a deadly storm that destroys their cliff-side house, only to recover their wealth through a rediscovered bank account number.

Poetry·Charlie McDermott, age 13 — Wind attempts to teach bare trees to dance, but they thrash awkwardly; the speaker wishes to become the wind's pupil instead.

Story·Yanni Yohannes, age 9 — A six-year-old dreams of creating an immortality potion, achieves it as an adult through a meteor fragment, becomes wealthy, then loses everything and returns to normal life.

Personal Narrative·Taryn Morlock, age 11 — Scientists are using gene-editing to modify pig organs for human transplants, removing problematic sugars and viruses that cause rejection.

Poetry·Sara Chebili, age 13 — A grandson builds a chair beside an avocado tree he planted, hoping to help his grandmother with memory loss remember their shared moments by the shore.