Here is a treasury of classic contemporary short stories about young people, written by some of the world's best writers, that will take you around the globe to meet kindred spirits in other cultures on their journeys to adulthood.
"The Balek Scales" by Heinrich Boll (Germany): For generations, the aristocratic Balek family has bought mushrooms, herbs, and hayflowers from the village children, by the pound. Then a twelve-year-old boy impulsively tests their scale and uncovers an injustice he must reveal.
"The Jay" by Yasunari Kawabata (Japan): When Yoshiko helps a mother bird find her lost baby, she learns something about her separation from her own mother and stepmother.
"The Composition" by Antonio Skarmeta (Chile): At a soccer game, Pedro sees soldiers take his friend's father away. Then he is asked to write an essay that will betray his own parents' political beliefs.
"To the Jetty" by Jamaica Kincaid (Antigua): Seventeen-year-old Annie John is determined to fulfill her dreams, but must leave her home and cross an ocean to do so.
Plus twelve more stories by these authors: Ama Ata Aidoo (Ghana), Toni Cade Bambara (United States), Italo Calvino (Italy), Anita Desai (India), Elizabeth Jolley (Australia), Naguib Mahfouz (Egypt), Frank O'Connor (Ireland), V. S. Pritchett (England), Valentin Rasputin (Russia), Cora Sandel (Norway), Pramoedya Ananta Toer (Indonesia), and Xiao Hong (China).