When Liam makes a trade he can’t undo, he’s forced to navigate a world of ancient grudges, invisible creatures, and a forest that tests him at every turn. Alongside his stepbrother Ben and a hatchling who’s more chaos than comfort, Liam must face the consequences of his choice and the deeper truth behind what it means to belong.

This story matters to me because it explores the quiet ache of shifting family dynamics—something I experienced as a child and something many kids face today. It’s about resentment and guilt, yes, but also about courage, connection, and the slow, surprising ways love can grow in unexpected places.

At its heart, this manuscript asks one simple question: What makes someone family? And it answers it not with magic, but with choice.

A boy. A baby. A bargain he didn’t understand.

A person standing on moss-covered rocks inside a dimly lit cave with sunlight streaming in from above.

Future Stories

Close-up of a Central American terracotta sculpture showing part of a face with a prominent nose and a textured hand resting on the body, highlighting detailed craftsmanship.

Sent to live with her grandparents on a ranch she’s never visited, a young girl struggles to adjust to a new language, a new culture, and a family she barely knows. While helping her abuelito plow the fields, she uncovers forgotten artifacts and hidden structures buried beneath the earth. One day, she finds a door concealed in a mound, and opening it leads her into a mythological world rooted in ancient Mexican and Aztec stories, where secrets wait for her to uncover them.

A forest scene with tall trees, green and yellow leaves, and a small dirt path.

Sent to live with an aunt who has shut the world out, a grieving boy follows a stray cat to a drawer of forgotten seeds. Overnight, they grow into a rainbow forest full of strange, gentle creatures. But the magic is slipping away. With the cat as his guide, he must uncover why the forest is fading before it vanishes, and with it, the first place he’s begun to feel at home.