self-discovery

Story·Sophia Emmert, age 13 — A deaf girl discovers she can feel music through vibrations when her teacher shows her how to play piano barefoot, finding her voice through the instrument.

Story·Allie Aguila, age 11 — A girl with amnesia wakes on a beach, joins a group of free children, and learns to fly by believing in herself—until she wakes from the dream.

Story·Melissa Smith, age 13 — A sixth-grader reluctantly rehearsing for his church's Christmas play gains new understanding of the shepherds' sacrifice when he postpones his birthday party to visit his injured elderly neighbor.

Story·Andrea Bachmann, age 13 — A reluctant soccer player is forced to play halfback instead of her usual defense position and scores the game-winning goal, discovering she belongs there.

Story·Zoe Paschkis, age 14 — A girl accidentally stains her grandmother's quilt while secretly writing at night, then reveals her hidden writing to her mother, who shares her own story of artistic regret.

Story·Erica Boyce, age 13 — A girl raised by lions in Africa encounters humans who might be her birth parents and must choose between two families.

Story·Rita Rozenbaoum, age 12 — A girl in princess clothes and sandals joins an all-boys basketball team, endures weeks of mockery, then makes the game-winning shot when it matters most.

Story·Shelley Noel McFatter, age 13 — An Alaskan trapper obsessed with killing a lynx that's been raiding his traps discovers she has a kitten and chooses compassion over profit.

Story·Emily Blackmer, age 12 — A thirteen-year-old writer rises before dawn on the summer solstice to watch the sunrise alone, finding validation for her literary dreams in nature's voice.

Story·Andrea Albertini, age 13 — A working-class girl secretly drives four hours to audition at a prestigious music school with her grandmother's cello, hoping to win a scholarship her family can't afford.