This is a well-known European folktale. A brother and sister run away from home after years of being badly treated by (you guessed it!) their wicked stepmother. The stepmother also happens to be a witch, and the children have some unlikely adventures. The brother is turned into a deer that loves nothing better than to be hunted. The sister becomes a Queen, has a baby, and is murdered by (you guessed it!) the wicked stepmother. Fortunately, the sister’s ghost comes back to life, the brother is made normal again, and they all (except the wicked stepmother) live happily ever after. More…
This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen
This almost clinical account of Tadeusz Borowski’s holocaust experiences explores an often overlooked aspect of the so-called “final solution”: how general prisoners forced to assist in sending the condemned to gas chambers became so desensitized to the brutality that many actively participated in it. Because of their access to discarded food and clothing, these men formed the “elite” among the prisoner hierarchy. In camp, their insensitivity to suffering prevailed and many looked down on and showed little compassion for the plight of “less fortunate” fellow inmates. Themes: man’s inhumanity to man, death and suffering, the survival instinct, detachment, guilt, rationalization. More…
The Son
In this emotionally charged story by Horacio Quiroga, a thirteen-year-old boy goes hunting in woods near his home. He is well aware of the dangers associated with hunting alone, and competent in the use of a gun. The boy’s father, who is not well and suffers from hallucinations, becomes concerned when he does not return at the agreed time. Fearing the worst, he begins a frantic search, growing increasingly anxious until finding, or thinking he finds, the boy safe and unharmed. Themes include parental love, isolation, nature and survival, trust, anxiety, fear, illusion, death. More…
Cooking Time
Anita Roy’s Cooking Time is about Mandy, a teenage girl living in a future dystopian world. An environmental disaster has destroyed all agricultural production. Everything is controlled by a huge company that makes the world’s only source of food… a processed product sold in squeeze packs. The story introduces some powerful themes inside an entertaining backstory built around the Masterchef TV show. Mandy rises above her poor background, surprising everyone by qualifying for the competition. In this version, contestants travel back in time to catch/gather and cook their meals. Mandy has an ulterior motive: to try to change the future! More…
How I Contemplated the World from the Detroit House of Correction and Began My Life Over Again
The experimental style of this Joyce Carol Oates story takes a little getting used to. In the form of a disorganized set of notes for an English writing assignment, a sixteen-year-old girl reviews the events that landed her in government care. Starved of affection by her wealthy parents, her acts of rebellion escalate from shoplifting to running away from home and falling under the spell of a prostitute and her Svengali-like, drug-addicted pimp. Sadly, the House of Correction isn’t the sanctuary she thought it would be. Themes parental neglect, rebellion, human trafficking, drug use, class and racial conflict. More…