Grade 7-8 Story by Toni Cade Bambara. A wall is special to an inner city community. Two boys plan sabotage when a rude woman from New York begins to paint some kind of mural on it, but change their mind when they see the finished product..
Short Story by Manoj Das. An unfortunate ghost in a deserted villa has become an integral part of an Indian village’s cultural identity. The government plans to demolish the villa to pay its taxes, and the villagers must relocate the ghost so that it doesn’t resettle in someone’s house.
Novelette by John Wideman. Although its central character is an African-American church leader assisting a controversial white doctor, this grim story is prefaced as a tribute to all the people (mostly free African-Americans) who heroically nursed the sick and buried the dead during the Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic of 1793.
Short Story by Samuel Beckett. An absurdist comedy spanning an afternoon in the life of a solitary, eccentric student having trouble understanding Dante’s Divine Comedy. He is fanatical about unimportant things (such as making the perfect toasted sandwich) and apathetic towards the things that matter.
Short Story by Italo Calvino. A man speeds to his girlfriend’s house to apologize about a phone argument during which he called off their relationship. He needs to get there quickly, because she threatened to call a rival. His biggest problem in getting there on time… he thinks too much!