分类： 赛事资讯

Winner

Viviana Thumm, 15, from Bradenton, Fla., chose an article on cuts to SNAP benefits, part of the domestic policy bill President Trump signed into law on July 4, and wrote:

The article “What Are SNAP Benefits and How Will They Change?” brought back childhood memories I thought I’d forgotten. I remember now. The checkout lines, my mom hissing in my ear, “Swipe the card faster.” I was too young to understand what shame was, but my mom did, and I felt it.

We were on food stamps for most of my childhood. It wasn’t because we were lazy, like politicians claim to excuse these cuts, but because rent was high, her job as a middle-school teacher didn’t pay enough, and we chose between groceries or gas. SNAP wasn’t a handout, it was the difference between starvation or hunger. So when I read that our elected officials are trying to cut access, it was personal.

One line in the article that stood out to me was: “Republicans say the program discourages people from working.” Tell that to my mother, who worked full-time and still had to rely on SNAP to feed her daughter something other than ramen. Or to every other parent who whipped something up from a food bank box, saying “It’s your favorite,” when it wasn’t.

This article reminded me how easy it is to demonize the poor when you’ve never stood in their shoes, or in their line at Dollar Tree. It reminded me that policy matters. People like me grew up knowing what hunger feels like, and now we sit helplessly watching powerful people debate whether we ever needed help at all.

I chose this article because it wasn’t just news to me, it was my life, and I’m not done standing up for people who still live it.

Runners-Up

Allison Zhang on “How Empathy Became a Threat”

Anthony Y. on “A Pro-Trump Community Reckons With Losing a Beloved Immigrant Neighbor”

Anvi J. on “I Hate, Therefore I Am”

Charles R. on “Can You Love a Stranger?”

Jiaxin X. on “Daniel Kahneman’s Decision: A Debate About Choice in Dying”

Kathy Z. on “How Do You Grieve? With Cupcakes, Fishing and Home Depot.”

Komi K. on “I Hate, Therefore I Am”

Editors’ Picks

Escondido, Calif., a Showcase for Fire-Resilient Building

36 Hours in Jackson Hole

Paint, Pottery and Profitable Leases: Experiential Retail That Works
Leyi Z. on “I Teach Creative Writing. This Is What A.I. Is Doing to Students.”

Peterl S. on “How to Pick Up the Local Language Before You Go”

Pragyan Dahal on “Strong Earthquake Hits Remote Tibet in Western China, Killing Dozens”

Pranav V. on “How to Pick Up the Local Language Before You Go”

Ritvikaa Naveen K. on “My Kids Asked for the Benson Boone Cookie, Here Is My Reply.”

Samaira Rasul on “Why One of the Causes of Falling Birthrates May Be Prosperity”

Serena Ghazarian on “Is She Jazz? Is She Pop? She’s Laufey, and She’s a Phenomenon.”

Sophia Liang on “Do You Hug Your Parents?”

Honorable Mentions

Aiden T. on “The ‘Boy Crisis’ Is Overblown”

Angela S. on “If I Don’t Post About My Vacation, Did It Even Happen?”

Atiya T.K. on “Aid Groups Blame Israel’s Gaza Restrictions for ‘Mass Starvation’”

Carla on “A Political Titan in Argentina Is Sentenced to Prison”

Chaebeom Lim on “If Only My Father Could Choose to Deny the Holocaust Ever Happened”

Chelsea G. on “Don’t Throw Your Dictionary Away”

Crystal W. on “Alysa Liu Left Figure Skating at 16. Now She’s Back and in Position for a Major Win”

Dana A. on “Don’t Throw Your Dictionary Away”

Derek C. on “With Labubus and a Cat Cafe, a Shopping Mall Thrives in New York City”

Dingkai W. on “Chinese Students Flocked to Central Illinois. Their Food Followed.”

Elizabeth W. on “Always Late? Blame Your Time Personality.”

Evalyn on “Their Superpower? Holding Things.”

Hadley M. on “How to Pick Up the Local Language Before You Go”

Han Y. on “An Era of Authenticity (or Something Like It)”

Hanlin S. on “I Hate, Therefore I Am”

Hannah L. on “‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Took 7 Years to Make but a Lifetime of Experience”

Hyunseo K. on “Should I Be Worried About Arsenic in Rice?”

Isaac L. on “Should Teens Vote?”

Jazmin S. on “Should Teens Vote?”

Jennifer L. on “Shooting in Midtown Was New York’s Deadliest in 25 Years”

Jeremy P. on “Don’t Throw Your Dictionary Away”

Jian C. on “Eight Arms to Taste Your Microbiome”

Jieni T. on “If Only My Father Could Choose to Deny the Holocaust Ever Happened”

Justin H. on “What to Know About the Conflict Between Thailand and Cambodia”

Krystal on “There’s a Name for What Trump is Doing. Juan Crow.”

Li Ziyue on “The Coldplay Concert Shame Is Something to Celebrate”

Maya Y. on “Sketched Out: An Illustrator Confronts His Fears About A.I. Art”

Mia T. on “Listen to ‘Hamlet.’ Feel Better.”

Ryan P. on “How an M&M Sparked the Search for the Next Perfect Peanut”

Samantha S. on “This Is Why America Needs Public Media”

Sarah D. on “I Hate, Therefore I Am”

Sarrah F. on “Finding Beauty at Maximum Discount”

Selene Li on “Finding Beauty at Maximum Discount”

Sophie Ding on “Videos From the Amazon Reveal an Unexpected Animal Friendship”

Teo C. on “Should I Be Worried About Arsenic in Rice?”

Youlan Li on “How Do You Self-Identify? For Many Americans, Checking a Box Won’t Do.”

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Winner

Grady Zheng, 16, from Katy, Texas, chose a roundup of reader responses about grieving rituals from the Well section headlined “How Do You Grieve? With Cupcakes, Fishing and Home Depot,” and wrote:

The article, “How Do You Grieve? With Cupcakes, Fishing and Home Depot,” totally nailed it. It beautifully shows that grieving isn’t some fancy, one-size-fits-all funeral parade. Sometimes, the wackiest ways we remember those we’ve “lost” are the most perfect. While the article talked about, you know, death, it got me thinking about a different kind of heartbreak: when my buddy AK ditched me for another ZIP code. And for me, processing that separation involved a chaotic, joyful and utterly ridiculous food fight in the middle school cafeteria.

AK was moving away at the end of seventh grade. I needed something that screamed “us” — loud, a little rebellious, disgusting, and definitely a health code violation.

Our “grieving ritual” occurred one day during lunch. AK, ever the mischievous mastermind, nudged me with that glint in his eye. “Throw the banana,” he whispered. A spark ignited. This wasn’t about sadness; it was about one last, epic hurrah.

In short, we had a food fight. The chaos, and inevitable detention, was a small price for that sheer, unadulterated catharsis.

Just like the article pointed out how a trusty fishing pole or an ancient rotary phone can become powerful memory conduits, that food fight became my iconic symbol of AK. When I think of him now, it’s not with a wistful sigh. Instead, I get a vivid mental snapshot of him laughing, covered head-to-toe in doughnut glaze, in the glorious, food-strewn aftermath.

Runners-Up

Eryn L. Rhoads on “Yes, Gen Z Is Staring at You. The Question Is Why.”

Anika M. on “Canceling Stephen Colbert Isn’t Funny”

Anjali Kapilavai on “Did the Camera Ever Tell the Truth?”

Anthony on “A Landscape of Death: What’s Left Where Ukraine Invaded Russia”

Archisha P. on “It’s Time to Let Go of ‘African American’”

Caitlin M. on “It’s Time to Let Go of ‘African American’”

Dylan T. K. on “Chess Lover Introduces Game to Malawi’s Prisons, Schools and Street Kids”

Jiaying S. on “How to Travel Without a Phone”

Lena M. on “Is This the Beginning of the End of America’s National Parks?”

Marvin S. on “It’s Paradise Lost as Climate Change Remakes Europe’s Summers”

Minwoo K. on “What Is ‘Aura Farming’? This Tween Will Show You.”

Navya S. on “As Iran Deports a Million Afghans, ‘Where Do We Even Go?’”

Pranav V. on “Videos From the Amazon Reveal an Unexpected Animal Friendship”

Varchasva S. on “The Streaming Wars Come Down to 2: YouTube vs. Netflix”

William C. on “Be Careful About What You Want”

William W. on “Where Congress’s Cuts Threaten Access to PBS and NPR”

Honorable Mentions

Aaron C. on “The Way You Build Muscle Is the Way You Build a Life”

Alfred L. on “A New Era of Hunger Has Begun”

Allegra M. on “How Trump Deflected MAGA’s Wrath Over Epstein, at Least for Now”

Angela Y. on “A.I. Griefbots Are Just Our Latest Attempt to Talk to the Dead”

Chaebeom L. on “You Said ‘Yes’ to Being an Organ Donor. What Exactly Does That Mean?”

Cutie Z. on “Don’t Throw Your Dictionary Away”

Dora S. on “U.S. to Review Social Media Posts of Student and Scholar Visa Applicants”

Dung H. on “A.I. Griefbots Are Just Our Latest Attempt to Talk to the Dead”

Emma H. on “The Love We Leave Behind”

Fatima D. on “How to Bargain Like a Pro in Thai Street Markets”

Fiona L. on “Pregnancy Is Going to Be Even More Dangerous in America”

Grace P. on “As Texas Flood Raged, Camp Mystic Was Left to Fend for Itself”

Hansika G. on “Yes, Gen Z Is Staring at You. The Question Is Why.”

Ishaan S. on “Yes, Gen Z Is Staring at You. The Question Is Why.”

Iwan L. on “Supreme Court Clears the Way for Trump’s Cuts to the Education Department”

Jack H. on “What to Know About Canada’s Fires as Smoke Drifts South”

Jenny W. on “How Do You Grieve? With Cupcakes, Fishing and Home Depot”

Joonwoo P. on “Novak Djokovic, I Was Wrong About You”

Joy K. on “‘Jeopardy!’ Is a Reminder That Facts Are Fun — and Essential”

Justin Yu on “Landslides and Floods Kill 18 in South Korea”

Landon Kai H. on “Trump Tariffs: What’s the Latest on the Trade War?”

Rachel C. on “The Perverse Economics of Assisted Suicide”

Riddhi R. on “The Harvard-Educated Linguist Breaking Down ‘Skibidi’ and ‘Rizz’”

Semin J. on “Sharing a Bed With Your Kid? It’s Totally Normal in Asia.”

Seojun L. “Kids Are in Crisis. Could Chatbot Therapy Help?”

Shenzhi Z. on “A.I. Griefbots Are Just Our Latest Attempt to Talk to the Dead”

Tatum A. on “Trump Hails $90 Billion in A.I. Infrastructure Investments at Pennsylvania Summit”

Valery L. on “Supreme Court Clears the Way for Trump’s Cuts to the Education Department”

Xinyue H. on “The Tooth Fairy Is Real. She’s a Dentist in Seattle”

Yi Chien C. on “Yes, Gen Z Is Staring at You. The Question Is Why.”

扫码查看夏季阅读比赛第 7 周更多获奖论文

每年夏天，在为期 10 周的时间里，世界各地的青少年都会受邀回答以下问题：“本周《纽约时报》的什么内容最让您感兴趣？” 以下是最受官方喜欢的答案：

夏季阅读比赛第 10 周获胜者：On Phones and Childhood

夏季阅读比赛第 9 周获胜者：On Fathers and Sons and ‘Unpronounceable’ Names

夏季阅读比赛第 8 周获胜者：‘SNAP Wasn’t a Handout’

夏季阅读比赛第 7 周获胜者：‘The Wackiest Ways We Remember Those We’ve “Lost”’

夏季阅读比赛第 6 周获胜者：‘I Was a Small, Sticky God of Summer’

夏季阅读比赛第 5 周获胜者：‘This Isn’t Just a Policy Debate’

夏季阅读比赛第 4 周获胜者：‘Let’s Talk “The Ick”’

夏季阅读比赛第 3 周获胜者：‘He Replied With a Single Thumbs-Up’: The Week 3 Winner of Our Summer Reading Contest

夏季阅读比赛第 2 周获胜者：‘I Do Not See Rot. I See Rest.’

夏季阅读比赛第 1 周获胜者：‘The Authoritarian Playbook Is Always the Same’: The Week 1 Winner of Our Summer Reading Contest’

更多获奖作品我们将持续更新

Winner

Joel Raj, 17, from Metuchen, N.J., chose an article by Yotam Ottolenghi from The New York Times Magazine headlined “Summer Is Delightfully Messy. So Is This Simple Peach Dessert.,” and wrote:

“You’ve got juice in your hair,” my mom would laugh, but at age five, I didn’t care.

My face could’ve passed for a Jackson Pollock painting. The canvas for an abstract expressionist medium: watermelon. I was a small, sticky god of summer. But now, I am a reformed savage, slicing up a piece of pepperoni like a frog in eighth grade biology class.

My original recipe for life was merely pure chaos and joy. Then came the single, traumatic event that soured the whole batch, the Great Taco Catastrophe of sixth grade. There I was, on a first date, trying to look poised while wrangling a carnitas taco that had the structural integrity of a wet paper bag. I went for a civilized bite, and the whole thing imploded. For the next hour, I tried to carry on a conversation about her pet lizard while a piece of pickled onion was basically superglued to my chin.

That was the moment my inner five-year-old went into hiding, and the tall, awkward teenager took over.

So when Yotam Ottolenghi describes that sloppy, beautiful mess of a peach dessert, a dish that offers “total freedom to enjoy,” I hear the call of going back to the original stage of myself. This summer, I will find a peach so ripe and devour it with the kind of chin-dribbling freedom that would make my five-year-old self proud. The paper towel industry is officially on notice!

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Runners-Up

Vivian Li on “Why We Mistake the Wholesomeness of Gen Z for Conservatism”

Allen Wu on “Can We Ask a Disabled Woman to Leave Our Pickleball Group?”

Apple M. on “The Lives Lost to the Texas Floods”

Jenny W. on “From Girl Boss to No Boss”

Karen Z. on “My Problem With Superman”

Melody Z. on “What I Learned When I Went Back to My Old Therapist”

________

Honorable Mentions

Kelvin J. Lin on “The Harvard-Educated Linguist Breaking Down ‘Skibidi’ and ‘Rizz’”

Anika Khedekar on “Gillian Murphy, a Ballerina With Joy and Aplomb, Steps Down”

Daria S. on “For Family Reunions, Just Walk Down the Hall”

Darian A. on “Trump Shouldn’t Forget the Iranian People”

Ellie W. on “Separated as Toddlers, Raised on Opposite Sides of the World”

Evelyn Zhao on “What Tourists in Martha’s Vineyard Showed Me About Being Indigenous”

Gia Deborah W. on “The Grip That Race and Identity Have on My Students”

Grace Shim on “How Elephants Say They Like Them Apples”

Grace X. on “What (Actually) Brings Teens Joy?”

Henry Benning on “The New Yorker Embraces (Some) Modern Language”

Isabella W. on “Trying to Win at Doing Nothing, With a Crowd Watching”

Jack Riley on “I Can’t Sleep. Now What?”

Ka Ki Cici S. on “When They Don’t Recognize You Anymore”

Kaliopi T. on “Never Quitting ‘Brokeback Mountain’”

Leo C. on “A Lifetime After Fleeing the Nazis, They Tell Their Stories”

Lisa on “What I Learned When I ‘Walked My Age’”

Lu Yutong on “Australia Wants to Bar Children From Social Media. Can It Succeed?”

Myra Dhawan on “A Journey Across the New Syria”

Peixin “Joy” Y. on “Finding Beauty in Midair”

Ruyi L. on “What Teenagers Are Saying About Hugging Their Parents”

Shi Yi Y. on “A New Barbie Wears Blue Polka-Dots, and a Glucose Monitor”

Shuxin Fan on “Chinese University Expels Woman for ‘Improper Contact’ With a Foreigner”

Sonia on “It’s a Great Time to Be a Toe”

Xiaoqing Cai on “Finding Beauty in Midair”

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Winner

Ayesha Afghan, 16, from Niskayuna, N.Y., responded to a June 27 article from the U.S. section headlined “In Birthright Citizenship Case, Supreme Court Limits Power of Judges to Block Trump Policies,” and wrote:

My parents are legal immigrants, but growing up in Queens, that didn’t mean much. Everyone around us was “illegal” in some way — overstayed visas, expired documents, and sometimes, no papers at all. Their kids ran through sprinklers, lined up for lunch, knew no other country but this one. I’ve always known the only thing separating me from them were government stamps and a manila folder full of paperwork.

Reading about the Supreme Court limiting nationwide injunctions — allowing Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship to take effect in most states — felt terrifying. This isn’t just a policy debate. It’s a direct threat to the lives of children like the ones I grew up with.

Children who didn’t choose where they were born, or who their parents are. Children who couldn’t tug on their umbilical cord and ask to be delivered “legally.” Children that are welcomed by the Constitution and somehow shunned by the state.

It doesn’t make sense.

The article explains how this ruling could create a “patchwork system” across states, meaning your ZIP code might decide if you’re a citizen. That’s not democracy. That’s roulette. We call it birthright for a reason. Not privilege. Not permission. Right. When courts stay silent and power moves unchecked, that right turns into a lottery. And the kids I grew up with — the ones who call this country home just like you and I — are the ones left losing.

Editor’s note: On July 10, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from enforcing its executive order ending birthright citizenship after certifying a lawsuit as a class action, effectively the only way he could impose such a far-reaching limit after the Supreme Court ruling last month.

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Runners-Up

In alphabetical order by the writer’s first name.

Allison Zagroba on “Who Wants a BlackBerry? Apparently, Gen Z.”

Chloe C. on “They Planned Parties and Salsa Music for July 4th. ICE Raids Made Them Think Twice.”

Chloe L. on “I Let My Parents Down to Set Myself Free”

Emma L. on “When Novels Mattered”

Grace C. on “Tate-Pilled Boys Are a Problem for Schools”

Helen Z. on “Are We Really Willing to Become Dumber?”

Jessie L. on “The Last Words of a Dying Glacier”

Krupa P. on “Finding Beauty in Fake Flowers”

Kylie Zhang on “Each Person Has a Unique ‘Breath Print,’ Scientists Find”

Leo C. on “As Trump and Kennedy Reach Into Family Life, Will They Face Blowback?”

Lila K. on “Where Kids Put Down Their Phones and Pick Up the Correct Fork”

Matthew on “The Things Only English Can Say”

Mehar A. on “The Prada Sandal That Led to Cries of Cultural Theft in India”

Minwoo Kim on “Umbrellas Optional? East Asia’s Monsoon Rains Are No Longer a Sure Thing”

Yuki W. on “The Best Relationship Advice We’ve Heard So Far This Year”

Yun A. on “Finding Beauty in Fake Flowers”

________

Honorable Mentions

Adrian L. on “I Let My Parents Down to Set Myself Free”

Aleksandra A. on “Finding Beauty in Fake Flowers”

Anfeng X. on “Carney’s ‘Build, Baby, Build’ Faces Pushback From Indigenous Groups”

Anika Khedekar on “The Creativity Challenge: Day 3: Master the Art of Daydreaming”

Anna X. on “The Summer Job, a Rite of Passage for Teens, May Be Fading Away”

Aritro C. on “Justices Let Parents Opt Children Out of Classes With L.G.B.T.Q. Storybooks”

Bennett H. on “Georgia Man Sentenced to 475 Years for Dogfighting”

Bokeun Seo on “T.S.A. Officially Tells Fliers They Can Keep Their Shoes On”

Caden Z. on “What Makes Someone Cool? A New Study Offers Clues.”

Cayden S. “Kids Are in Crisis. Could Chatbot Therapy Help?”

Charlotte N. on “The Best Relationship Advice We’ve Heard So Far This Year”

Claire K. on “The Joy of Swimming with Strangers”

Cynthia L. on “Finding Beauty in Fake Flowers”

Ethan L. on “Scenes From Deadly Disaster in Central Texas”

HeeSoo C. on “What Makes Someone Cool? A New Study Offers Clues.”

Ilanna B. on “In Birthright Citizenship Case, Supreme Court Limits Power of Judges to Block Trump Policies”

Isabella W. on “Here Is the Science of Why You Doomscroll”

Jieni T. on “Finding Beauty in Fake Flowers”

Lalie Lours on “Love Letters”

Linny S. on “Cézanne and the Hard Facts of Time”

Max Hung Nguyen on “We Don’t Have to Give In to the Smartphones”

Milly X. on “A.I. Videos Have Never Been Better. Can You Tell What’s Real?”

Mobina B. on “Israel-Iran Conflict”

Muai L. on “What Reading 5,000 Pages About a Single Family Taught Me About America”

Nathanial M. on “There’s a Race to Power the Future. China Is Pulling Away.”

Nina P. on “Oasis Reunites, Its Songs Still Stomping and Wounds Still Healing”

Olivia L. on “Florida Builds ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Detention Center for Migrants in Everglades”

Rickey Z. on “Jacques Pépin: History Is Culinary”

Rachel Chen on “Can We See Our Future in China’s Cameras?”

Sarah Ren on “What Makes Someone Cool? A New Study Offers Clues.”

Sean Feng on “We Cannot Escape History”

Seoyeon K. on “2 Firefighters Killed in Idaho Sniper Ambush”

Vivian M. on “Finding Beauty in Fake Flowers”

Ziqiao Z. on “Illness Took My Mother’s Independence, but It Gave Us Something Precious”

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Winner

Chesapeake Woods, 17, from Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, responded to a June article from the Well section, “You’ve Got ‘The Ick.’ Is Your Relationship Doomed?”

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Runners-Up

Piter Levani on “Two Brown Bears Broke Out of Their Pen. Then They Ransacked the Honey Stash.”

Maggie Ruochen Tang on “Sketched Out: An Illustrator Confronts His Fears About A.I. Art”

Adriana C. on “Kids Are in Crisis. Could Chatbot Therapy Help?"

Allison Park on “You’ve Got ‘The Ick.’ Is Your Relationship Doomed?”

Angela S. on “Happiness Doesn’t Have To Be A Heavy Lift”

Camille on “The 100 Best Movies of The 21st Century”

Chaeeun Lim on “Chin Hair, Laundry, Your Opinion: Women in Menopause Don’t Care”

Gustavo C. on “She Was the First Nicaraguan to Be Crowned Miss Universe. Can She Ever Go Home?”

Helen Z. on “For Some International Students, U.S. Dreams Dim Under Trump”

Jasmine on “Happiness Doesn’t Have to be a Heavy Lift”

Jazmin on “At Least 8 Killed as Protesters Battle Police in Kenya”

Jieni T. on “What My Dad Gave Me,”

June Y. Kim on “Under Pressure From the White House, ICE Seeks New Ways to Ramp Up Arrests”

Landon H. on “Kids Are in Crisis. Could Chatbot Therapy Help?”

Leah T. on “Kids Are in Crisis. Could Chatbot Therapy Help?”

Maxine L. on “Are We Really Willing to Become Dumber?”

Nathanial M. on “Where Have All My Deep Male Friendships Gone?”

Nina P. on “‘Love Island USA’ Heads Back to the Villa”

Sragvi B. on “5 Takeaways From the New York City Mayoral Primary”

William C. on “Why the Word ‘Like’ Drives People Bananas”

________

Honorable Mentions

Ava Moazeni on “Americans Are Thriving. Why Don’t We Feel Like It?”

Ayaan D. on “‘Motherhood Should Come With a Warning Label’"

Berna K. on “What My Dad Gave Me,”

Grace Shim on “The World Is Warming Up. And It’s Happening Faster”

Grace Jooeun Choi on “U.S. to Review Social Media Posts of Student and Scholar Visa Applicants”

Erica Z. on “Why Factories Are Having Trouble Filling Nearly 400,000 Open Jobs"

Hanyi Zhou on “No Home, No Retirement, No Kids: How Gen Z-ers See Their Future”

Henry Hudson on “Americans Are Thriving. Why Don’t We Feel Like It?”

Howard Z. on “You’ve Got ‘The Ick.’ Is Your Relationship Doomed?”

Jerry L. on “Saying ‘Thank You’ to ChatGPT Is Costly. But Maybe It’s Worth the Price.”

Kylie L. on “Trump Withholds Nearly $7 Billion for Schools, With Little Explanation”

Linny S. on “Shop Cats Run the City”

Luke Lamour on “The Surprising Joy of Lego’s $5 Mini Builds”

Maxine L. on “Are We Really Willing to Become Dumber?”

Morgan C. on “You Can’t Trust Elites. Just Ask a 500-Year-Old German Peasant” meets “The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Get a 400 Percent Pay Raise”

Raquelle Zhang on “Room for One More on Mount Rushmore? (The President Wants to Know.)?”

Vansh C. on “Want More Excitement From the N.B.A.? Try the Korean Broadcast"

Yueqian J. on “10 Years of Marriage Equality: ‘With the Stroke of a Pen, Our Lives Changed Completely’”

Zoe T. on “Kids Are in Crisis. Could Chatbot Therapy Help?”

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Winners

Ellena Li, 15, from Toronto, responded to a June article from the Well section, “The Subtle Art of the Dad Text,” by writing:

Asian parents don’t text their kids like they do in Western movies. There are no “I love you”s, no heart emojis, no long paragraphs about how proud they are. My dad texts, “Spinach feta wrap. Want?” That’s his version of I love you. His language isn’t flowery or loud; it’s quiet, practical, and wrapped in a Starbucks order. Most often, it’s communicated through Messenger: a single thumbs-up emoji. Whenever I got a good grade, I’d send him a screenshot.

He’d reply with 👍.

If I got an A+, he might even send three 👍👍👍.

That was his version of fireworks.

At first, I found it funny, like we were playing a secret code game only we understood. Somehow, no matter what I sent him, that little thumbs-up felt like a whole conversation. It meant I’m proud of you, I see you, you’re doing great.

Then one day, I got a bad grade. I sent it anyway, nervous but honest. I waited, expecting silence or maybe a short voice message asking what happened.

Instead, he replied with a single thumbs-up.

Just one.

It was the same emoji as before, but this time, it hit differently. It felt heavier, quieter, more human. And I cried. Because in that moment, I understood: That emoji didn’t mean good job. It meant I’m still here. It meant I love you, even now. A true father’s love doesn’t always sound like words — it shows up in the silence, in the small things, in a world where a thumbs-up can mean

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Runners-Up

Amaira Rathor on ‘‘Human Therapists Prepare for Battle Against A.I. Pretenders"

Angie Y. on “The Joy of Swimming With Strangers"

Bailey C. on “What My Dad Gave Me”

Bhavya Thakur on “Immigration Raids Add to Absence Crisis for Schools”

Elaine Zhang on “Does It Matter How a Cello Is Held? It’s a Centuries-Old Debate.”

Emma B. on “Chin Hair, Laundry, Your Opinion: Women in Menopause Don’t Care”

Hanyi Zhou on ”Shoes On or Shoes Off?”

Henry Hudson on “Who Wants a BlackBerry? Apparently, Gen Z.”

Lalie Lours on “I Teach Memoir Writing. Don’t Outsource Your Life Story to A.I.”

Melody Z. on “3 Lessons for Living Well, From the Dying”

Sragvi B. on “First Time in 100 Years: Young Kayakers on a Ride for the Ages”

________

Honorable Mentions

Aisha A. on “Slow and Steady, This Poem Will Win Your Heart”

Andy Q. on “Real Risk to Youth Mental Health Is ‘Addictive Use,’ Not Screen Time Alone, Study Finds”

Chloe Ning on “Can This Not-Particularly-Cute Elf Make China Cool?”

Colbie S. on “The Morning Ritual That Helps Me Resist the Algorithm”

Deena A. on “Snow White and the Seven Kajillion Controversies”

Delancey Z. on “I Brake for Robins”

Ella G. on “‘Floating Ballerina Vibes’: The Hypnotic Allure of Indoor Skydiving”

Ginkgo C. on “Why Is Everybody ‘Crashing Out’?”

Isabel S. on “Vera Rubin Scientists Reveal Telescope’s First Images”

Ishani on “Do You See Craters or Bumps on the Moon’s Surface?"

Jeff (Seunghyun) Cho on “I, Human”

Jenna R. on “What My Dad Gave Me"

Jessica G. on “How L.A. Raids Ignited a New Fight Over Immigration”

Katelyn T. on “Immigration Raids Add to Absence Crisis for Schools”

Lawrence Z. on “A G.O.P. Plan to Sell Public Land Is Back. This Time, It’s Millions of Acres”

Leah J. on “Why Is Everybody ‘Crashing Out’?"

Lorraine Yin on “No Home, No Retirement, No Kids: How Gen Z-ers See Their Future”

Max Hung Nguyen on “I Was an Undocumented Immigrant. I Beg You to See the Nuance in Our Stories.”

Margaux Simone Devenny on “Immigration Raids Add to Absence Crisis for Schools”

Maryejli M. on “We Don’t Have to Give In to the Smartphones”

Muai L. on “What My Dad Gave Me”

Neil B. on “Everyone Is Using A.I. for Everything. Is That Bad?”

Owen G. on “A Bold Idea to Raise the Birthrate: Make Parenting Less Torturous”

Richard Q. on “Starry Skies May Guide Bogong Moths Home”

Samaira Rasul on “Young Muslims Loved Zohran Mamdani, and Their Parents Listened to Them”

Saoirse L. on “Studio Ghibli’s Majestic Sensibility Is Drawing Imitators”

Shivansh B. on “They Had Come to Graduate. Their Minds Were on a Student Held by ICE.”

Shreshta G. on “The Joy and Pain of Three-Way Friendships”

Sophia J. on “Where Have All My Deep Male Friendships Gone?”

Teenie Zhang on “Can We See Our Future in China’s Cameras?”

Teo K. on “Studio Ghibli’s Majestic Sensibility is Drawing Imitators”

Viviana L. on “Should Boys Start Kindergarten a Year Later Than Girls?”

Zeqi D. A. on “Parents in Gaza are Running Out of Ways to Feed Their Children”

Zhang H. on “Instagram Wants Gen Z. What Does Gen Z Want From Instagram?”

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Winners

Alvin Su, 15, responded to a Style article from June, “Is It OK for Your Kids to ‘Rot’ All Summer?,” by writing:

At six, I spent summer on a farm, chasing dragonflies and stacking bottle caps into kingdoms. No camps. No schedules. No countdowns. Just cicadas screaming into dusk and our bare feet pressed against hot cement. We called it summer, and it felt like freedom.

Later, summer came with a price. I learned the word enrichment, and July became a checklist. Robotics camps. Leadership programs. STEM intensives. Calendars filled before spring had even ended. But I still remember one rare summer with no plans at all. Just the slow hum of an old fan. At first, I felt unproductive. Then boredom became a window. I read books no one had assigned. I wrote poems that led nowhere. I listened to silence until it bloomed.

That’s why Hannah Seligson’s article “Is It OK for Your Kids to ‘Rot’ All Summer?” stayed with me. Some parents now defend boredom as essential. I do not see rot. I see rest. I see the rare freedom to define time instead of having it defined for you. Some families cannot afford that kind of idleness not by choice, but because doing nothing has become a privilege. Screens replace tree forts. Safety concerns replace wandering. But what if boredom is not a problem to fix, but a skill to teach?

Summer does not need to be a launchpad. Sometimes it is a rooftop. A breeze. A dragonfly resting on your sleeve. Summer should not be a productivity contest. Sometimes it is firefly chasing and popsicle-sticky hands. We just need to leave space and trust for magic to grow wild again.

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Runners-Up

Bahiyyih V. on “Israel-Iran Conflict in Photos and Videos”

Chloe Careaga on “Starbucks Has a Pumpkin Spice Latte Problem in China”

Cynthia Qin on “This Elusive Antarctic Squid Was Seen for the First Time”

Dhairya M. on “We Don’t Have to Give In to the Smartphones”

Ellena L. on “How to Be an Artist"

Emma L. on “The Things Only English Can Say”

Jiayi (Iris) Li on “We May Soon Be Telling a Very Different Kind of Story About Dementia”

Kate L. on “How to Be an Artist”

Morgan C. on “The Peacock Chair and the Black Experience”

Olivia on “Our 21 Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes”

Olivia G. on “Why Is Everybody ‘Crashing Out’?”

Ruby L. on “Don’t Pity a Woman Eating Alone”

Sophie T. on a recipe for Zha Jiang Mian

Victoria D. on “What Makes a Food Ultraprocessed?”

________

Honorable Mentions

Alexey Pak on “The Surefire Way to Cook Perfect Rice (Without a Rice Cooker)”

Allison P. on “In Singapore, Grandmothers Dive Into Aging With a Splash"

Amy X. on “History is Culinary”

Ashlyn L. on “Looking at a Stranger and Seeing Myself”

Ayaan on “History Is Culinary”

Caris Co on “‘Love on the Spectrum’ Delivers on the Promise of Reality TV”

Chelsea G. on “Let Students Finish the Whole Book. It Could Change Their Lives.”

Dhairya M. on “We Don’t Have to Give In to the Smartphones”

Divyansh on “Why California’s Wildfires Could Be Brutal This Summer”

Erin J. on “School Shooting Suspect Slipped Past Security via Unsecured Door, Police Say”

Fred Z. on “Why California’s Wildfires Could Be Brutal This Summer”

Isaac L. on “Finding God, and Nietzche, in the Hamas Tunnels of Gaza”

Julia D. on “Living to Die Well”

Leah T. on “How to Tackle Your To-Do List if You Struggle with Executive Functioning”

Max Amat on “Have We Been Thinking About A.D.H.D. All Wrong?”

Medha M. on “We Underestimate the Manosphere at Our Peril”

Neil B. on “The Subversive Joy of BookTok”

Pratham F. on “These Waterproof Hiking Sandals Are Ugly. I Love Them Anyway.”

Preston Liu on “How Trump Is Changing FEMA as Hurricane Season Begins”

Samaira Rasul on “It’s Not Just a Feeling: Data Shows Boys and Young Men Are Falling Behind”

Seojun L. on “Where Have All My Deep Male Friendships Gone?”

Sylvia on “What to Know About Israel’s Strikes and Iran’s Retaliation”

William C. on “As the Dalai Lama Turns 90, His Exiled Nation Faces a Moment of Truth”

Yan Z. on “My Father Never Escaped His Rage and Anxiety. Can I?”

Yuwei Gao on “I Got $4 a Week in Food Stamps. This Is the Reality of Hunger in America.”

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Winners

Alexander M., 16, from Denmark, responded to a short Opinion video from May, “We Study Fascism, and We’re Leaving the U.S.,” by writing:

I remember panic flooding the room — lit by the flickering blue light of a police car outside — during a gathering in support of political prisoners. I remember saying goodbye to my brother, worrying he would not return from the protests. I grew up in Russia as Putin’s tyranny strengthened, and I fear that many more will soon have memories like this.

The authoritarian playbook is always the same: first, the state comes for marginalized groups no one cares about; soon, the media and activists; then your friends and family. The video talks about the Americans’ belief in exceptionalism: “Fascism can happen elsewhere but not here.” Russians believed the same. Yet, here we are: the government is killing people for dissent, waging an aggressive war, and threatening the rest of the world with nuclear weapons.

The authors mention the words Russians learn from the cradle (proizvol, prodazhnost). I would like to add one more term to this list: silovik (plur. siloviki). My body freezes when I hear this word. A silovik is a state worker who uses force without any restraint. Persecutes, kidnaps, imprisons — whatever.

“You get out sooner rather than later,” the video warns. Sadly, it is true. I had to do the same — leave even before I started high school. But if there is a lesson from Russia, it is very simple: those who are safe must help the victims of siloviki by organizing legal defense, publicity, and resistance.

Runners-Up

In alphabetical order by the writer’s first name.

Adrian L. on “The Very Gay Life of Edmund White”

Bowen Raymond Jiang on a Learning Network writing prompt, “Pen and Pencil”

Emily X. on “Are You Asian American? Let’s Talk About Your (Gold) Jewelry”

Kaylee Dang on “Trivia and ‘Jeopardy!’ Could Save Our Republic”

Marceline S. on “No Home, No Retirement, No Kids: How Gen Z-ers See Their Future”

Max Hung Nguyen on “50 Years After Saigon’s Fall, ‘the Wall’ Reflects and Collects a Nation’s Trauma”

Samaira Gaind on “Don’t Pity a Woman Eating Alone”

Samantha D. on “Tensions Flare Between Protesters and Law Enforcement in L.A.”

Seojin Kim on “Does Hot Lemon Water Have Any Health Benefits?”

Shitong Z. on “Eating Your Way Through Europe. Or Anywhere, Really.”

Taisiia on “A Girl Struggles to Survive Her Country’s War and Her Own”

Taylor Gaines on “Has America Given Up on Children’s Learning?”

Yueqian on “Visions of My Father”

Yukang L. on “Trump and Musk Alliance Crumbles Amid Public Threats and Insults”

Zachi Elias on “When Dementia Changes a Loved One’s Personality”

________

Honorable Mentions

Abigail C. on “Why Are Cats Such a Medical Black Box?”

Addison A. on “Trump Administration More Than Doubles Federal Deployments to Los Angeles”

Adhi on ”Risking Their Lives to ‘Self-Deport’ “

Angela Sun on The Truth About Dreams

Anya W. on “You’re a Friend, Tofu”

Audley on “Losing International Students Could Devastate Many Colleges”

Bailey on “A New Headache for Honest Students: Proving They Didn’t Use A.I.”

Dweny G. on “A.I. Killed the Math Brain”

Grady W. on “The Man of the Moment Is 3,000 Years Old”

Emeline Z. on “Say Goodbye to Your Kid’s Imaginary Friends”

Jerry L. on “Who Would Steal New York City’s Pigeons? Mother Pigeon Thought She Knew”

Leah T. on “Trump Administration Halts Harvard’s Ability to Enroll International Students”

Olivia G. on “The 100 Best Restaurants in New York City in 2025”

ShiYi Yang on “A Girl Struggles to Survive Her Country’s War and Her Own”

Stephan A. on “It’s Not Just a Feeling: Data Shows Boys and Young Men Are Falling Behind”

Tiffany W. on “The Things Only English Can Say”

Wei Z. on “What to Know About the Immigration Protests in Los Angeles”

Yanxi D. on “Trump Administration Halts Harvard’s Ability to Enroll International Students”

Yuying F. on “A Global Flourishing Study Finds That Young Adults, Well, Aren’t”

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