resilience
— Three cousins rowing to a Maine lighthouse are caught in a sudden storm, their boat capsizes, and they barely make it to shore alive.
— A sixth-grade violinist, the youngest finalist in a school competition, plays brilliantly but doesn't place, learning to transform disappointment into determination for next year.
— In this Dogon retelling of Cinderella, orphaned Ligiri endures her cruel sister's abuse until her grandfather's spirit and magical beads help her win the Hogon's son's heart.
— A girl recalls her baseball-playing brother who returns from WWII as a ghost of himself, until their shared baseball finally breaks his silence.
— A girl recalls her baseball-obsessed childhood with her older brother Sammy, who returns from WWII as a ghost of himself, until their shared baseball finally breaks his silence.
— A girl whose mother died when she was six moves constantly with her father until Miami promises permanence—but that promise breaks too, teaching her home is wherever loved ones are.
— During an autumn storm, forest creatures—a squirrel, owl, fox, mole, and others—struggle for shelter and food, their lives intersecting in a complex web of survival.
— A Japanese-American teenager recounts her family's forced internment during WWII, from receiving the summons through years at Manzanar to liberation that brings no true freedom.
— A girl watches her paralyzed best friend secretly train for a year to ride again after a jumping accident, until their friendship is restored when Amy successfully jumps her horse.
— A boy recounts his great-grandfather's forced migration from Mexico and the miraculous journey of his dalmatian Pinto, who tracked him 2000 miles to California before dying of exhaustion.