In this story by Joy Williams, parents (Tom and Annie) take their teenage daughter Molly on an awkward trip from California to New England to look at boarding schools. Sending Molly to school across the country is ostensibly so that the distance will help her deal with the recent death of her older sister Martha. Molly thinks her parents have an ulterior motive… to help them cope more easily with their own grief. Although Molly rejects all the schools, the trip helps all three on their road to recovery. Themes include family, death, grief, acceptance. More…
The Last Night of the World
This Ray Bradbury story opens with a question: What would you do if you knew this was the last night of the world? A couple believe the world will end sometime during the coming night. The idea came in a dream shared by everyone they know. The couple decide the best thing to do is accept the fact and go through their evening routine as usual. They even manage to share a joke and go to bed laughing. What would you do? Themes include family, powerlessness, acceptance of the “inevitable”, comfort in routine, self-absorption and global awareness. More…
A Fish Named Dog
Like many children, the girl in this story by Christyne Morrell for Spider Magazine dreams of having a pet dog or cat. Unfortunately, this is not to be. Her parents give her a goldfish instead! To make sure her mother and father know what she really wanted, she names the fish “Dog.” This must have hurt the fish’s feelings because, much to the girl’s surprise, it begins to live up to its new name. By the end of the story the girl and fish are happy, her friends are amazed, and some readers may never want to eat fish again. More…
A Christmas Story
In this Christmas story from Walter Dean Myers, a shrewd old woman teaches a new police patrolman an important lesson by inviting his family to Christmas dinner. Along with his co-workers, the policeman has a negative view of Harlem (the poor, often violent African American neighborhood in which he works) and doesn’t think it a fit place for a family visit. His wife insists on going, and the visit reveals another side of the community: “regular”, churchgoing families exchanging Christmas greetings on the street and celebrating the holiday together. Themes: Christmas, community, prejudice, understanding, aging gracefully, caring, sharing. More…
Babylon Revisited
The protagonist in this bittersweet story from F. Scott Fitzgerald is in the process of rebuilding his life after losing everything in the aftermath of the 1929 stock market cash. Along with many other Americans caught up in the hedonistic 1920s Paris lifestyle, he had partied hard and drank to excess. When his wife died as he was recovering in a sanitarium, he was forced to give up custody of his then seven-year-old daughter. Two years later, he is determined to win her back. Themes: alcohol abuse and reform, wealth and poverty, fatherly love, self-discipline, alienation, guilt and regret, hope. More…