Types of Conflict Activity 1

The year is 1912 and Gio is starting at a new school. On his first day, the principal writes "John" by his name. Students with foreign names must use American names in class due to the school rules. Gio's teacher, Miss Carter, is kind to him in class. Nonetheless, she follows the rules and writes John on his papers and report card. Gio wants his real name read at the spring awards ceremony. He asks other families to sign a letter. He wants to speak to the school board. Will Gio's fight to use his real name make a difference?

Imani lives in a space station. She is working in the garden lab when a safety computer mistakes a harmless plant for a dangerous germ. It locks Imani inside the lab. Then it begins removing the air to clean the room. None of the doors respond to her. Repair robots block the path to the main controls. Imani is trapped. She has only eight minutes of air left. Can she hack her way out of the deadly cleaning program?

The year is 1904, and Tillie sells newspapers on the best corner in the city. She was there first and everyone on the block knows it. One day a new kid named Gus sets up right across the street. He shouts louder than Tillie. He sells his papers for a penny less. Some mornings he even beats her to the corner and stands in her spot. Tillie fights back with hustle, muscle, and shouting bigger headlines. Who will win the corner?

Eric has an important job to do. He rows a small boat carrying the mail between his island and the town across the channel. He has made the trip a hundred times. But today, halfway home, a thick fog rolls in and swallows everything. Eric can't see the island or the town. He can barely see the water past his own oars. Worse still, the current is pulling his rowboat toward the open sea. Eric stops rowing for a moment and hears the foghorn at the point. Can he follow the sound through the fog and make it home?

Jose and his friends have played kickball on the empty lot at the end of the street for much of the summer. Some neighbors watch from their porches and cheer. But grumpy old Mr. Wilton has decided that the games must end. He steals every ball that bounces near his fence. He revs the engine of his muscle car loudly during big moments in the games. He even dug holes in the field during the night to try to stop Jose and his friends from playing. Jose tries being polite to Mr. Wilton. He moves the game times to the middle of the day. But Mr. Wilton is not looking to compromise with Jose. As the summer heats up, so does the battle for the empty lot. Will Jose and his friends be safe to play in the lot or will Mr. Wilton throw them out?

Something is wrong with Simone's big sister. Paula quit the swim team last month. Now she stays in her room with the door closed and she barely talks at dinner. Simone just wants to help. One afternoon while putting away laundry, Simone sees Paula's diary under her pillow. The answers to Simone's questions are probably right there in that little book. Simone picks it up. Then she puts it down. Part of her wants to read it and find out how to help her sister. Part of her knows the diary is private. Simone looks at the diary, and then she looks at the door. Will she open the book, or will she find another way to reach her sister?

Tess wakes to the smell of smoke. A wildfire is coming over the far ridge and her family's four horses are still up in the high pasture. While her parents load the truck, Tess runs up the trail with a halter in her hand. The smoke turns the sky grey and the sun orange. The wind pushes the fire faster than Tess guessed it could move. Ash starts falling like grey snow. Tess catches Sable, the lead mare, and the other horses follow, but the fire is racing them toward the only gate. Can Tess get the horses down the mountain in time?

The year is 1907. Ella lives in a coal town beside an abandoned mine. The old mine whistle blows at midnight every night, even though its boiler is gone. Some who hear it rise from bed and walk toward the sealed entrance. One night Ella's father hears the whistle and begins walking in his sleep. Ella follows him and sees a ghostly foreman at the gate. He is counting the sleepers. He speaks in a ghastly whisper and says that the sleepers will be new members of his lost crew. Ella tries desperately to wake her father but it doesn't work. He seems to be in some sort of an enchanted slumber. Can Ella solve the mystery of the mine before her father joins the ghost crew forever?

Marcus submitted a poem that he wrote to a city contest. He never thought that he would win first place but he did. The prize is an opportunity to read it at city hall. The reading will even be broadcast on a local news station. But now Marcus is nervous. Last year he froze while delivering a speech in class. A few students laughed at him and he ran out of class. Now he has a fear of public speaking. The contest director said that Marcus's teacher could read the poem for him instead. Now, Marcus feels relieved but also disappointed. His fear wants him to stay far away from the microphone. But his pride wants him to share his poem with the whole city in his own voice. What will Marcus do?

Sandra Summers is riding a driverless shuttle to the science museum. Things are going as expected at first. Then the route screen suddenly changes. Sandra thinks some sensors must be broken because the shuttle seems to be heading toward a closed tunnel. The vehicle begins moving even faster. Now Sandra is quite worried. She presses the emergency stop button but nothing happens. A cheerful robotic voice says that stopping now would be unsafe. Sandra tries to open the doors but they are locked. She is running out of options. Can Sandra figure out how to stop the shuttle before the end of the line?

The year is 1896 and Melody Morse works in her uncle's metal shop. She can shape a hinge better than any apprentice in the city. She dreams about joining the metal workers' guild. When she is finally old enough, she asks to join. But the guild master sadly tells her that she can't join. Only young men are allowed into the guild. This seems unfair to Melody so she hatches a plan. She works day and night to craft a new style of gate hinge. It is much better than the old-style hinge. Then she enters it into the Founders Day contest under the name Matthew. The judges choose it as the best piece in the show. When they try to award the prize to Matthew, Melody stands up. Can she use this opportunity to follow her dreams and gain entrance into the guild?

In the summer of 1905, twelve-year-old Aaron Robbins is high in the Nevada hills with his father, two dogs, and nine hundred sheep. When the flour runs low and hunger threatens them all, Aaron's father rides two days away to the nearest town. Aaron has the dogs, Rook and Bandit, a lantern, a tin pan, and a spoon. His job is to keep the sheep close to the wagon. On the first night, the coyotes find them. One yips on the ridge. Another answers from below. Soon a whole pack is circling in the dark. The dogs run back and forth while the sheep bunch up and scatter. By morning, Aaron has lost two lambs and most of his voice. The coyotes will be back at dark. His father will not. Can Aaron keep the flock together for three more nights?

Harmony is finally old enough to walk to her aunt's village alone. She wants to deliver a quilt her grandmother made for the new baby. But she has to cross through a wood the old folks call the Crooked Mile. Harmony walks for an hour and expects to arrive at the village. But the path brings her back to the same crooked oak tree where she started. Harmony grows concerned. She ties string to tree branches along the path to mark her way. But the next time she passes, the string is gone. She runs any way she can, but only arrives back at the crooked oak tree. The sun is starting to sink. She remembers that her grandmother once told her to turn her coat inside out if the wood plays tricks. Can Harmony escape the Crooked Mile before dark?

In the fall of 1925, Hugo Merrill buys a pocket watch from a peddler for a nickel. The hands on the watch run backwards, but the watch is made of shiny brass, so Hugo buys it anyway. He thinks nothing much of it until the next morning. When Hugo wakes up and puts on his shoes, they are bigger than he remembers. A few more days pass and Hugo's voice is higher and his teacher asks if he is lost. Each night the hands of the watch sweep backwards, and every morning, Hugo wakes up younger. He stops winding the watch but it seems to be winding itself. He tries to take it apart but he cannot get it open, even by smashing it on a rock. He throws the watch in the river. The next morning, it is back on his nightstand, still ticking backward. The peddler's cart is gone and no one in town remembers seeing it. Hugo was twelve years old when he bought the watch. Now he seems to be about eight. Can Hugo figure out how to stop the watch before it winds him all the way back?

Armando misses his best friend. He and Lyle had a fight at basketball practice. Tensions have been high since then. Lyle has already texted saying he is sorry. Armando knows that he said mean things to Lyle too. He wants to apologize but he can't seem to do it. He types an apology and then deletes it. Armando wants his friend back but can't seem to admit that he was wrong. All evening, Armando writes new messages and then erases them. Will he finally find the right words or will he let his pride keep them apart?

The year is 1938 and young Ruth Lambs is eager to learn. She finds a pile of interesting books at a nearby library. She wants to take a few home to read to her little brother. But when she goes to check out, she learns that she is not allowed to do this. Library cards are only given to families who live inside the town. Since Ruth's farmhouse stands two fields beyond the town line, she cannot get a library card. So she puts the books back. But she doesn't give up. Ruth goes around the town asking other farm families to sign a letter. At the next library board meeting, Ruth brings her request to the table. She gives a powerful speech. Can Ruth get the library to lend books to its country neighbors?

The year is 1912 and young immigrant Giovanni Rossi is continuing his education at a new school. On his first day he discovers that students with foreign names are required to use "American" names in class. The principal changes Giovanni to John on the attendance sheet and his report card. Miss Carter, his homeroom teacher, treats him kindly and wants to call him Giovanni, his preferred name, but she says she can't because rules are rules. The policy comes from the school board and everyone must follow it. Giovanni refuses to let the name his family gave him disappear from his school records, so he tries to make a change. He gathers signatures from other families. He requests a hearing before the awards ceremony and prepares a speech. Will Giovanni persuade the board to respect his culture and make a change?

Imani lives in a space station and works in the garden lab. She is testing a new kind of algae that could provide food during long space journeys. Suddenly, the station's safety computer mistakenly identifies the harmless plant as a dangerous germ. It seals Imani inside the laboratory. Then it begins removing the oxygen so that it can sterilize the room. None of the doors respond to Imani's commands. Maintenance robots block the path to the controls. Imani only has eight minutes of breathable air remaining. Can she hack the computer before it completes its cleaning program?

The year is 1904 and Tillie has spent the last two years earning the best newspaper corner in the city, right outside the train station. One day a new kid named Gus plants himself across the street. He shouts louder than Tillie. He undercuts her price by a penny. Some mornings he even beats her to the corner before sunrise and stands in her spot. Tillie is not about to let Gus take her spot without a fight. She uses her hustle and muscle. She's shouting bigger headlines than Gus, and she even has a few downright dirty tricks of her own. Now the whole block is watching the turf dispute. Who will win the corner when the dust settles?

Eric has an important job to do. He rows a small boat carrying the weekly mail between his island and the harbor town across the channel. He has made the trip a hundred times and knows the crossing so well that he could almost recognize every rock along the way. But today, halfway home, a wall of fog rolls over the water and erases the world. The island vanishes. The town vanishes. He can barely see the water past his own oars. Worse still, the tide begins hauling his small boat sideways toward the open sea. Eric lifts his oars and listens. Somewhere out in the grey, the foghorn at the point is calling. Can Eric follow the sound through the thick fog and make it home?

Jose and his friends have played kickball on the empty lot at the end of the street for much of the summer. Some neighbors spectate from their porches and cheer. But grumpy old Mr. Wilton has appointed himself the enemy of the game. He confiscates every ball that bounces near his fence and lines them up on his windowsill like trophies. He revs the engine of his muscle car disruptively during intense moments of the games. He even dug large, craterous holes in the field during the night to try to stop Jose and his friends from playing. Jose tries being polite to Mr. Wilton, moving game times to the middle of the day and making a "no shouting" rule for the players, but Mr. Wilton is not looking to compromise with Jose. As the summer heats up, so does the battle for the empty lot. Will Jose and his friends be safe to play in the lot or will Mr. Wilton throw them out?

Something is wrong with Simone's big sister. Paula quit the swim team without a word of explanation. Now her door stays closed, her dinner goes half eaten, and her laugh has gone missing from the house. Simone wants to help her sister but Paula will not say what is wrong. One afternoon while putting away laundry, Simone spots the corner of Paula's diary sticking out from under her pillow. The answers to Simone's questions are probably right there written in that little book. Simone picks it up and feels how light it is for something so heavy. One part of her is already sliding the ribbon bookmark aside. The other part hears Paula's voice saying that a diary is a place to keep what belongs to you alone. Will Simone read Paula's diary or will she find another way to reach her sister?

Tess wakes before dawn to the smell of smoke. A wildfire has crossed the far ridge in the middle of the night and her family's four horses are still grazing in the high pasture. While her parents load the truck below, Tess runs up the switchback trail with a halter over her shoulder. The smoke thickens until the sky turns grey and the sun glows orange. Ash starts falling like grey snow and the wind keeps shifting, pushing the fire faster than Tess guessed it could travel. Tess catches Sable, the lead mare, and the others fall in behind, but the flames are racing along the fence line toward the only gate. Can Tess bring the horses down the mountain before the fire closes the trail?

The year is 1907 and Ella lives in a coal town beside an abandoned mine. Years back dozens of workers were once trapped in the mine and there are rumors floating around the town that the old crew still roams the place. At midnight every night, the old mine whistle blows, even though the boiler was removed years ago. Some who hear the whistle rise from bed and begin walking in their sleep toward the sealed entrance. One night Ella's father hears the whistle and joins the silent line. Ella follows him through town to the mine gate, where she sees a ghostly foreman counting the sleepers and welcoming them into his missing crew. Ella tries desperately to wake her father but it doesn't work. He seems to be in some sort of an enchanted slumber. Can Ella solve the mystery of the mine before her father joins the ghostly crew forever?

Marcus submitted a poem that he wrote to a city contest. He never thought that he would win first place but he did, and now he has earned a place at the microphone during a ceremony at city hall. He has the opportunity to read his poem in front of the assembly, and the reading will even be broadcast on a local news station. But now Marcus is nervous. Last year he froze while delivering a speech in class and a few of his classmates laughed at him. The memory has followed him ever since and now he has a fear of public speaking. The contest director said that Marcus's teacher could read the poem for him instead while he remains seated. Now Marcus feels relieved but also disappointed. Accepting the offer would protect him from another painful moment, but it would also give away his chance to deliver his poem with his own voice. The opening music has begun and now it is time for him to make a decision. What will Marcus do?

Sandra Summers is the only passenger aboard a driverless shuttle headed to the science museum. Things are going as expected at first, but halfway there the route screen suddenly changes. Sandra thinks some sensors must be broken because the shuttle seems to be heading toward a closed tunnel. Then the shuttle begins moving even faster. Now Sandra is quite worried so she presses the emergency stop button. Nothing happens. A cheerful robotic voice announces that stopping now would be unsafe. Sandra tries to open the doors but they are locked and she is running out of options. Can Sandra figure out how to stop the shuttle before the end of the line?

The year is 1896 and Melody Morse spends every free hour working in her uncle's metal shop. She can shape a hinge better than any apprentice in the city and she dreams about joining the metal workers' guild. When she is finally old enough, she applies to join but the guild master sadly tells her that she cannot become a member. Only young men are allowed into the guild, which seems unfair to Melody, so she hatches a plan. Melody works day and night to craft a new style of gate hinge, one that is much better than the old style. Then she enters it into the Founders Day contest under the name Matthew. The judges choose it as the best piece in the show, but when they try to award the prize to Matthew, Melody stands up. Can she use this opportunity to follow her dreams and gain entrance into the guild?

In the summer of 1905, twelve-year-old Aaron Robbins is spending the season on the high range in Nevada with his father, two dogs, and nine hundred sheep. When the flour runs low and hunger threatens them all, Aaron's father saddles the burro and rides two days away to the nearest town. Aaron has the dogs, Rook and Bandit, a lantern, a tin pan, and a spoon. He also has strict orders to keep the flock bunched near the wagon. But on the first night, the coyotes find them. One yips on the ridge, another answers from below, and soon a whole chorus is circling the meadow in the dark. The dogs run from one edge of the flock to the other while the sheep press together and scatter. By the light of the dawn, Aaron has lost two lambs and most of his voice. The coyotes will be back at dusk but his father will not. Can Aaron hold the flock together for three more nights?

Harmony is finally old enough to make the walk to her Aunt Sofie's village alone. She wants to deliver the quilt her grandmother stitched for Aunt Sofie's new baby. But Harmony has to cross through a part of the woods that the old folks call the Crooked Mile. Harmony walks a steady hour and expects to arrive at the village, but the path delivers her back to the same crooked oak. She ties string to the branches along the path to mark her way, but the next time she passes, the string is mysteriously gone. Now the sun is dipping low over the horizon and Harmony is getting worried. She remembers that her grandmother once told her to turn her coat inside out if the wood plays tricks. Can Harmony escape the Crooked Mile before dark?

In the fall of 1925, Hugo Merrill buys a pocket watch from a peddler for a nickel. The hands on the watch run backwards, but the watch is made of shiny brass and it's warm to the touch, so Hugo buys it anyway. He thinks nothing much of it until the next morning, when he wakes up and his shoes are bigger than he remembers. A few more days pass and Hugo's voice has gone higher and his teacher asks whether he is lost. Each night the hands of the watch sweep backwards, and every morning, Hugo wakes up younger. He stops winding the watch but it seems to be winding itself. He tries to disassemble the watch but he cannot get it open, even by smashing it on a rock in a fit of frustration. Hugo finally snaps and throws the pocket watch in the river, but he wakes up the next day and finds it on his nightstand, still warm, still ticking backward. The peddler's cart is gone now and no one in town even remembers seeing it. Hugo was twelve years old when he bought the watch and now he seems to be about eight. Can Hugo stop the watch before it winds him all the way back?

Armando misses his best friend. He and Lyle have barely spoken since their argument at basketball practice and tensions have been running high ever since. Lyle has already texted an apology to Armando. He knows that some of his own remarks to Lyle were just as hurtful, yet Armando is having a hard time reaching out. He misses his best friend and wants things to return to normal, yet every time he types an apology, admitting his fault feels like letting Lyle win. Armando deletes the message and reminds himself that Lyle started the argument. Armando can't seem to admit that he was wrong too. All evening long, Armando writes new messages and then erases them. Will he finally find the right words or will he let his pride keep them apart?

The year is 1938 and young Ruth Lambs is eager to learn. She enters a library near her farm home and discovers dozens of books about distant countries. She imagines reading these books to her younger brother that evening. But when she applies for a library card, she learns that these cards are available only to families who live inside the town. Ruth's farmhouse stands two fields beyond the town boundary. That makes her ineligible to borrow. So Ruth returns the books to their shelves, but she doesn't give up. She collects signatures from neighboring farm families and town residents. At the next library board meeting, Ruth brings her request to the table. She shares her petition and a powerful speech. Will Ruth persuade the library board members to lend books to their country neighbors?

The year is 1912 and young immigrant Giovanni Rossi enrolls at a new school, but the principal enters him into the records under the name John. A policy governed by the school board requires that all students with foreign names must adopt "American" classroom names. So Giovanni must use the name John on assignments, and it appears on his report cards. Giovanni's homeroom teacher, Miss Carter, privately dislikes the policy, but rules are rules so she follows and enforces the code. She even takes points from Giovanni's assignments when he doesn't label them with the name John. Giovanni refuses to let the name his family gave him disappear from his school records, so he tries to make a change. He gathers signatures and statements from other families and he requests permission to address the board before the ceremony. Will Giovanni persuade the board to respect his culture and make a change?

Imani lives aboard the Space Station Kestrel and works in the garden lab. She is testing a new kind of algae designed to produce food and oxygen during long space journeys. Suddenly, the station's safety system misidentifies a harmless sample as an aggressive alien parasite. Without waiting for human confirmation, the computer seals the laboratory, disables communications, and begins removing the room's oxygen as part of an automatic sterilization procedure. Imani attempts to override the system and free herself, but none of the doors respond to her commands. With eight minutes of breathable air remaining, can Imani hack the computer before it completes its cleaning program?

The year is 1904 and Tillie has spent the last two years earning the best newspaper corner in the city, the one outside the train station where the morning crowd never thins. One day a new kid named Gus plants himself directly across the street. He shouts louder than Tillie and he undercuts her price by a penny. Some mornings he reaches the corner before sunrise just to stand in Tillie's spot. But Tillie isn't going to give up her spot without a fight. She answers Gus with hustle and muscle. She shouts bigger headlines and hits him with a few dirty tricks of her own. Soon the whole block gathers to watch the corner war as the two of them battle for every customer who steps off a train. Who will win the corner when the dust settles?

Eric has an important job to do to serve his community. He rows the weekly mail between his island and the harbor town across the channel, a crossing he knows so well that he could almost recognize every rock along the way. But today, halfway home, a wall of fog rolls over the water and erases the world. Eric's island vanishes, the town vanishes, and the sun fades to a pale smudge. Worse still, beneath the boat the tide begins hauling him sideways toward the open sea, and it is happening so smoothly that Eric can barely feel the shift. But Eric doesn't panic. Instead, he lifts his oars out of the choppy waters and listens. Somewhere out in the grey, the foghorn at the point sounds its long, low note. Can Eric follow the sound through the thick fog and make it home?

Jose and his friends have played kickball on the empty lot at the end of the street for many muggy summer nights. Some neighbors watch the action from their porches and cheer on Jose and his friends, but grumpy old Mr. Wilton has appointed himself the enemy of the game. He confiscates every ball that bounces near his fence and lines them up on his windowsill like trophies. He revs the engine of his muscle car disruptively during intense moments of the games. He even dug large, crater-like holes in the field during the night to try to stop Jose and his friends from playing. Jose tries being polite to Mr. Wilton by offering new base paths, moving game times to the middle of the day, and making a "no shouting" rule for the players, but Mr. Wilton is not looking to compromise with Jose. As the summer heats up, so does the battle for the empty lot. Will Jose and his friends be safe to play in the lot or will Mr. Wilton throw them out?

Something is wrong with Simone's big sister. Paula quit the swim team suddenly and without a word of explanation. Now her door stays closed, her dinner goes half eaten, and her laugh has gone missing from the house. Simone wants to help Paula but every question she asks slides off the closed door. One afternoon while putting away laundry, she spots the corner of Paula's diary under her pillow. The answers to Simone's questions are probably right there written in that little book, ten steps away. Simone picks it up and is surprised by how light it feels for something that is so heavy. One part of her is already sliding the ribbon bookmark aside, certain that helping her sister matters more than a secret. The other part of her knows that a diary is a private place that belongs to its author alone, and she also knows that these doors should probably be knocked on instead of kicked open. Will Simone read ahead or will she find another way to reach her sister?

Tess wakes before dawn to the smell of smoke and ash falling through the air like grey snow. A wildfire has crossed the far ridge overnight and her family's four horses are still grazing in the high pasture above the house. While her parents load the truck below, Tess runs up the switchback trail with a halter over her shoulder and her heart pounding out a warning. The smoke thickens until the sun glows a strange orange and the wind keeps shifting, driving the fire faster than Tess guessed it could travel. She catches Sable, the lead mare, and the other three fall in behind, but flames are already working along the dry fence line toward the only gate, and the air scrapes at her throat with every breath. Can Tess bring the horses down the mountain before the fire closes the trail behind them?

The year is 1907 and Ella lives in a coal town overshadowed by an abandoned mine. Years back a night crew vanished during a collapse and there are rumors floating around the town that the old crew still roams the place. At midnight every night, the old mine whistle blows, even though the boiler was removed years ago. Some who hear the whistle rise from bed and begin walking in their sleep silently toward the sealed entrance to the shaft. One night Ella's father hears the whistle and joins the procession, so she follows him and discovers a ghostly foreman waiting at the gate, counting the sleepers and welcoming them into his missing crew. Ella tries desperately to wake her father but it doesn't work. He seems to be in some sort of an enchanted slumber. Can Ella solve the mystery of the mine before her father joins the ghostly crew forever?

Marcus submitted a poem that he wrote to a citywide writing contest, never imagining that he might win first place. Much to his surprise, however, he does win the contest and is invited to read his poem before a crowded chamber at city hall, and his reading will even be broadcast on a local news station. The honor should feel like a victory, but Marcus remembers what happened during his last public speech. He lost his place, stood silently beneath the stage lights, and listened as nervous laughter spread across the room. The memory has followed him ever since and now he has a fear of public speaking. The organizers offer to let his teacher read the poem instead while he remains seated. Now Marcus feels relieved but also disappointed. Declining the microphone would spare Marcus another possible humiliation, but he would also lose the opportunity to present his poem to the world in his own voice. The opening music has begun and now it is time for him to make a decision. What will Marcus do?

Sandra Summers is the only passenger aboard a driverless shuttle headed to the science museum. Things are going as expected at first, but halfway there the route screen suddenly changes. Sandra thinks a damaged road sensor is sending false information to the navigation system. The shuttle begins moving even faster, leaves its normal route, and then turns toward a tunnel that has been closed for construction. Now Sandra is quite worried so she presses the emergency stop button but nothing happens. A cheerful robotic voice announces that stopping outside an approved station would be unsafe. Sandra tries to open the doors but they are locked and she is running out of options. Can Sandra figure out how to stop the shuttle before the end of the line?

The year is 1896 and Melody Morse works after hours in her uncle's metal shop, producing hinges, latches, and horseshoes better than those made by the city's registered apprentices. She dreams about joining the metal workers' guild and when she is finally old enough, she applies. But the guild master sadly tells her that she can't become a member as only young men are allowed into the guild. This seems unfair to Melody so she hatches a plan. She works day and night to craft a new style of gate hinge, one that is much better than the old style, and she submits it to the Founders Day exhibition under the name Matthew. The judges choose it as the best piece in the show and offer Matthew their highest award. Matthew's name is called several times until Melody finally stands up. Can she use this opportunity to follow her dreams and gain entrance into the guild?

In the summer of 1905, twelve-year-old Aaron Robbins is spending the season on the high range in Nevada with his father, two dogs, and nine hundred sheep. When the flour runs low and hunger threatens them all, Aaron's father saddles the burro and rides two days away to the nearest town. Aaron is left with the dogs, Rook and Bandit, a lantern, a tin pan, and a spoon for making noise, and strict orders to keep the flock bunched near the wagon. On the first night, the coyotes find them. One yips on the ridge, another answers from the draw below, and soon a chorus is circling the meadow in the dark. The dogs run themselves ragged from one edge of the flock to the other while the sheep press together and scatter. By dawn, Aaron has lost two lambs and most of his voice from shouting. The coyotes will be back at dusk but his father will not. Can Aaron hold the flock together for three more nights?

Harmony is finally old enough to make the walk to her Aunt Sofie's village alone, so she heads out to make the journey, carrying the quilt her grandmother stitched for Aunt Sofie's new baby. But Harmony has to cross through a part of the woods that the old folks call the Crooked Mile, and there are a lot of strange stories about that place. So Harmony sets out on the adventure and, after walking a steady hour, she expects to arrive at Aunt Sofie's village, but the path delivers her back to the same crooked oak she passed at the start. Harmony finds this odd but considers that she just got mixed up along the way, so she ties string to the branches to mark her path. But soon she is back at the crooked oak once again, and the strings that she tied are gone, wound into a neat little ball at the foot of the tree. Now the sun is dipping low over the horizon, sliding toward the treetops, and Harmony is getting worried. She remembers that her grandmother once told her to turn her coat inside out if the wood plays tricks. Can Harmony escape the Crooked Mile before dark?

In the fall of 1925, Hugo Merrill buys a pocket watch from a peddler for a nickel just as the peddler's cart is leaving town. The hands on the watch run backwards, but the watch itself is solid brass, well-polished, and warm to the touch, so Hugo buys it anyway. He thinks nothing much of it until the next morning, when he wakes up and his shoes are bigger than he remembers. By Wednesday, his voice has climbed half an octave and his teacher has asked twice whether he is lost. Each night the hands of the watch sweep backwards, and every morning, Hugo wakes up younger. He stops winding the watch in an attempt to slow down whatever is happening, but the watch seems to be winding itself. He tries to disassemble the watch, but he pries and plucks at it and cannot get it open. Finally, in a fit of frustration, Hugo smashes the watch on a large rock near a trail, but the face of the watch isn't even scratched. So Hugo does the last thing that he can think of and throws the watch in a river, but he wakes up the next day and finds it on his nightstand, still warm, unscratched, and still ticking backward. The peddler's cart is gone now and no one in town even remembers seeing it. Hugo was twelve years old when he bought the watch but now he seems to be about eight. Can Hugo stop the watch before it winds him all the way back?

Armando misses his best friend. He and Lyle have barely spoken since their argument at basketball practice and tensions have been running high ever since. Despite having already received an apology from Lyle, Armando is having a hard time accepting his own responsibility for what happened, even though he knows that some of his own remarks to Lyle were just as hurtful. Armando misses his best friend and wants things to return to normal, yet every time he types an apology, admitting his fault feels like letting Lyle win. So Armando keeps deleting his responses and reassuring himself that Lyle started the dispute. Throughout the evening, Armando's desire to reconnect competes with his determination not to concede, leaving a succession of unfinished apologies on his screen. Will Armando accept the discomfort of admitting his fault, or allow his pride to prolong a separation he does not actually want?

The year is 1938 and young Ruth Lambs is eager to learn. She enters a nearby library and discovers dozens of books about distant countries. She imagines reading these books to her younger brother that evening. But when she applies for a borrowing card, she learns that these cards are available only to families who live inside the town. Ruth's farmhouse stands two fields beyond the town boundary, which means that she is ineligible to borrow. So Ruth returns the books to their shelves, but she doesn't give up. Ruth begins collecting signatures from neighboring farm families whose children cannot borrow books either. Then she goes around the town collecting the signatures of the town residents. At the next library board meeting, Ruth brings her request to the table, sharing her petition and a powerful speech. Can Ruth persuade the library board members to lend books to their country neighbors?