Grade 5-6 Story by Joan Aiken. A magical being grants a man three wishes. He uses the second wish to undo a mistake he made with the first, and then decides not to use the third. He had learned that even if wishes are granted, they don't always better you.
Short story by Penelope Lively. A sixteen-year-old boy who regularly visits a museum to “mooch around and be on his own” notices a woman of about thirty waiting for someone. His views on “correctness” in relationships are challenged when she greets a man in his fifties she obviously loves.
Short Story by Jonathan Foer. A series of short, seemingly random recollections and observations about a couple’s past, often in the form of negative declarations. On the first read, the differences between the two appear so vast that it is hard to see how they could remain happy together.
Short Story by Ray Bradbury. Although written in 1950, this story serves as a warning to modern parents who let their children build their lives around social networking and/or game play. Here, parents who try to shut down the hi-tech games room in their "HappyLife" home become a "HappyMeal".
Short Story by Kay Boyle. A man warns his twelve-year old granddaughter against talking to an African-American friend because he might do you some kind of harm. The girl’s hobby is horse riding. When the boy helps her home after a fall, he doesn’t get the thanks he deserves.