Short Story by Sherman Alexie. A Native-American man enlists the help of a former friend to go on a road trip to bring back his father’s ashes. The focus of the story is the relationship between the two, and how it reflects growing individual and cultural disconnection among tribal Native-Americans.
Short Story by Jorge Borges. The titular library is composed of a seemingly endless number of galleries full of books that don’t make sense. The librarians continually search for the gallery of a mythical “Man of Books”, thought to contain a compendium volume which may unlock the Library’s secrets.
Short Story by Amy Hempel. A woman has difficulty coming to grips with a friend’s terminal illness. She visits the friend only once during her months in hospital. The two evade serious conversation, speaking almost exclusively about trivia and, instead of staying the night as expected, she hastens away.
Quick Read by Isak Dinesen. A sailor and the daughter of an art-collecting nobleman become lovers during a nine-day ordeal in a lifeboat. The nobleman pays the sailor to return to sea, and spends the rest of her life sailing the world, ostensibly seeking a uniquely colored Chinese porcelain jar.
Grade 5-6 Story by Sue Alexander. When a Bedouin boy is lost in the desert, his father (the tribal sheik) decrees that none of his people speak the boy’s name. Nadia, his willful daughter, finds that the only way she can cope is to talk about their happy times together.