resilience

Story·Reid Plumley, age 13 — A mountaineer separated from his team in a whiteout falls into a crevasse, is rescued by a yeti, and makes a harrowing solo descent to reach base camp.

Story·Ashley Steever, age 13 — A circus clown loses his beloved leopard partner in a tragic accident, returns home to save his family's farm, marries his childhood sweetheart, then loses their daughter in another animal...

Story·Anna Hagen, age 12 — A black cat survives a hit-and-run, loses her leg, and finds purpose when adopted by a mother seeking comfort for her son with cancer.

Poetry·Travis Wilkins-Smith, age 12 — A cacophony of crying baby sounds builds to overwhelming intensity until suddenly the infant sleeps and the house transforms into exaggerated silence.

Story·Madeline Johnson, age 10 — A girl loses her beloved tiger Beanie Baby at the beach, and the story alternates between her grief and the stuffed animal's ocean adventure before their reunion.

Story·Lauren Boersma, age 11 — During the 1953 Netherlands flood, twelve-year-old Sieke is separated from her family and spends a terrifying night caring for a lost little girl before both are reunited with their families.

Story·Julian March, age 12 — A boy showing off in an old boat gets swept downriver at night, then ingeniously lassos a giant snapping turtle to pull him to shore at dawn.

Story·Monica Del Toral, age 12 — During the Pearl Harbor attack, a young Japanese-American woman searches desperately for her brother among the wreckage while confronting sudden hostility from her neighbors.

Story·Elizabeth B. Smith, age 13 — A thirteen-year-old girl escapes the frustrations of seventh grade by galloping her horse Hobo, transforming their ride into a fantasy race at Churchill Downs.

Story·Kyle Eichner, age 13 — A young wife in 1896 South Carolina cares for her husband dying of consumption, their memories of courtship interweaving with his final days and the birth of their daughter.