responsibility

Poetry·Evans Yaffee — A brief poem urging readers to look up and recognize how the world needs their help, emphasizing awareness and responsibility.

Story·Cecilia Hodgman — A brainy fifteen-year-old plans her escape from a witch-ruled kingdom after being offered an apprenticeship she can't accept, discovering she has magic when crossing the border.

Story·Deeksha Rajesh — A soldier on a battlefield, carrying photos from fallen comrades, hesitates to shoot an enemy and is killed, choosing to let another's future persist over his own.

Poetry·Shivanshi Dutt — A nature walk reveals both beauty—maple trees, flowers, sunlight—and pollution—aluminum cans, plastic bags—prompting the question: are we caring enough for Earth?

Personal Narrative·Misha Joksic — A boy experiences sudden, severe stomach pain that turns out to be appendicitis, leading to an experimental treatment at NYU Langone Hospital instead of surgery.

Personal Narrative·Georgia Marshall — A granddaughter interviews her grandfather about his 44-year career at a college, discovering how he embodied the parable of the third stonemason who built cathedrals.

Personal Narrative·Carolina Ulloa-Compton — A four-year-old puts a bean in her ear during preschool nap time, keeps it secret for days, and finally gets it removed at a foreign object removal clinic.

Story·Chelsea Guo — A wizard who weaves people's fates with glimmering strings realizes the cruelty of his mischief when he sees a boy he cursed years later caring for a sick parent.

Poetry·Analise Braddock, age 10 — A child vows to keep a secret forever, measuring that promise against apocalyptic visions of environmental destruction and the end of the world.

Personal Narrative·Michael Chao, age 13 — A boy rescues two abandoned baby hummingbirds from a tennis court and raises them by hand, learning to feed and care for them until they're ready to return to the...