• Learning to Trust Myself

  by Anonymous

  Names have been changed.  Growing up, I believed my family was a close one. My siblings and I spent time together, and we  traveled every year to new places as a family. We lived in an apartment in East Harlem and I felt comfortable living with my parents, who mostly seemed to care for me. 

• My Father’s New Family

  by Jaya Arellano

  Names have been changed. It was Christmas Eve, just after my 12th birthday. My parents had divorced earlier that year, and I had just found out that my dad had already married someone else. I’d never even met his girlfriend-now-wife.  My dad picked up my younger sister Ana and me outside our mom’s to take us to the mall to Christmas shop.

• The Price of a Soda

  by Alice Zong

  It’s quiet in the house and my sister and I are sound asleep. There’s a blue tint coming in from the window; this morning light rests over our eyelids and slowly wakes us from our dreams. We share a bed, and when she starts moving around I begin gaining consciousness.

• The Oatmeal Cookie Peace Offering

  by S. I.

  I was perched on a wooden stool next to the kitchen island, gobbling a stack of waffles, eager to not miss the train for school. As soon as I was done, I placed the syrup-covered plate in the empty sink, slung my backpack over my shoulder, and headed for the door. 

• Dancing With the Bollywood Stars 

  by Ayush P.

  In the 4th grade, I attended a Bollywood dance class for the first time. My mom had signed me up, and the goal was for me to do something outside of my school and home life. “Physical activity is good for you!

• No Chance for Goodbye

  by Arvaa Hasan

  Guilt. This was the emotion I felt when I read my brother’s text: Tayabo has passed. I quickly shut off my phone, staring into the blackness of the screen, my face distorted in the reflection as the gears in my head stopped turning.