Short Story by Miguel De Unamuno. Predicting what her baby daughter’s future will hold, the dying wish of a woman married to a selfish, uncaring man is that she be named Solitude. After a failed love affair and the death of her father, the girl lives up to her name.
Short Story by Nadine Gordimer. Set in South Africa during the apartheid era, a once safe neighborhood suffers increasing levels of burglary and street crime. As the break-ins become more frequent, a family’s attempt to make their house almost impregnable from the outside ends in tragedy.
Novelette by H. E. Bates. A young woman is subjected to economic exploitation by her parents who place her in servitude, and sexual exploitation by her employer who rapes her on an almost daily basis. Used, abused, and heavy with child, she is sent back to her parents in tears.
Novella by Robert Heinlein. When Earth’s power systems start to fail, engineers seek help from “Waldo”, an eccentric genius living as a recluse in a gravity-free home in orbit above the planet. With help from a little magic, he not only solves this but also makes three other important discoveries.
Novelette by Harlan Ellison. Set in a dystopic, post-apocalyptic world, an attractive woman almost comes between a young man and his genetically manipulated telepathic dog. Despite the title, there is nothing “boyish” about what the two get up to. Ironically, it is the dog that finally wins the girl!