Edward Wortis (aka Avi)’s Teacher Tamer is a coming of age story about unfairness, revenge, peer pressure, compassion and courage. A burnt-out fifth grade teacher regularly punishes the most promising student in class for things he did not do. In a moment of anger, the boy plots revenge and boasts about it to classmates. Although the class bully questions his courage, others say that if he succeeds he will become the class hero. He feels pressured into going ahead. The plan ends in failure, but by the end of the story he is hailed by the nickname Teacher Tamer. More…
The Shifty Lad
This Irish folktale is about a boy who likes to play tricks on people and wants nothing more than to grow up to be a thief. His mother warns him that if he does become a thief he will be caught one day and hang from the Bridge of Dublin. The boy does some rather terrible things on the way to becoming the most famous thief in the country. Luckily, there is still justice in some folktales and the Shifty Lad is soon lying dead under the Bridge of Dublin… but not for the reason his mother expected. More…
A January Night / Poos Ki Raat
This story by Premchand highlights the plight of tenant farmers in pre-Independence India. In the Hindu calendar, the month of Poos (mid-December to mid-January) marks the beginning of winter. A farmer, forced to pay his debts with money he had saved to buy a blanket, watches over his crops one night in freezing temperatures. With his loyal dog beside him, he manages to survive the night. Unfortunately, his crops do not. His wife is devastated, but he is happy. Themes include the powerlessness and exploitation of tenant farmers, poverty, struggle, the harshness of nature, resilience. More…
Seventh Grade
Middle School marks the beginning of early adolescence. Hormones rage, bodies begin to change, and ‘new’ kinds of relationships form with members of the opposite sex. This story by Gary Soto is about Victor, a boy just starting Seventh Grade. He has promised himself that before the year is out he is going to hook up with Terresa, a girl he has known through their church for several years. The only subject they share at school is French, and Victor’s comical efforts to impress almost lead to disaster. The message: Don’t try to fake who you are. Just be yourself! (1,900 words) More…
Another Kind of Life
People whose ancestors are not native to a country often underestimate the spiritual and cultural connection that indigenous inhabitants have to their traditional family lands. This melancholy story from Roderick Finlayson describes the disappointment and disillusionment of a city-based Maori man who takes advantage of a rare weekday off work to visit an uncle still living in his kainga (home village). He comes away with a great sense of loss, not only of his relationship with “home”, but also of his language. Themes: urbanization, connection (to family, land and culture); change (industrialization, land development), loss. More…