Behind These Hands

"My hands aren't the same hands

as before.

Even my friends feel different."

Claire Fairchild, 14, has always known music would be her life. So when she has the opportunity to enter a prestigious contest, she goes all in—until she realizes she's also competing against Juan, a close childhood friend and one of the most talented musicians she knows. It doesn't help that her thoughts about him are turning romantic.

When Claire and her family receive a devastating blow from Batten disease, he...