responsibility

Poetry·Analise Braddock, age 9 — A young poet's urgent plea for environmental action warns that without animals, 'the world is a joke' and challenges readers to reconsider who is truly foolish.

Story·Hannah Nami Gajcowski, age 9 — A young furow girl named Elana discovers she's the Chosen One and embarks on a magical quest with a fairy named Henry to stop the evil rock star Casey Flumpton...

Poetry·Lauren Giglia, age 11 — A lake speaks through a young swimmer, revealing both its natural beauty—kingfishers, trout, pines—and the damage humans have inflicted upon it.

Story·Eli Spaulding, age 11 — A digger at a World War III archaeological site discovers a general's journal that reveals how soldiers were lost in a catastrophic storm, changing his family's fortunes.

Story·Tudor Achim, age 9 — A bullied boy finds a magic pen that grants him superpowers, but his friend's rejection teaches him that real heroism doesn't require magic.

Story·Seoyon Kim, age 12 — A freelance journalist travels to Syria to report on the civil war, interviewing refugees in a camp and finding wisdom in an elderly woman's perspective on conflict.

Story·Emma McKinny, age 13 — A girl attends her father's opening night performance in an opera about the atomic bomb, where the show's depiction of nuclear devastation awakens her anger about historical injustice.

Story·Tristan Hui, age 12 — Thu loses his place as grandmother's favorite when his sickly sister is born, but journeys to save her life and learns what family truly means.

Story·Ziqing (Izzie) Peng, age 10 — A child describes their city's beauty through the day, then reveals how its bright lights confuse baby sea turtles, causing them to crawl away from the ocean.

Story·Harper Miller, age 11 — During a Texas drought, 11-year-old Ayita discovers her community's water crisis and organizes a grassroots effort to save dying plants while navigating life with her distant father.