Anderson, Sherwood,
Short Stories
. New York: Hill and Wang, 1962.
Short stories which deal with individuals in small towns in America and their dreams. Great stuff for the kids.
Anderson, Sherwood,
Winnesberg, Ohio
. New York: The Viking Press, 1919.
Stories about life in a small American town of the early 20th century. The author is very sensitive to how people feel and how they tend to show their feelings.
Angelou, Maya,
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
. New York: Bantam
Books, 1971.
The first of a three part autobiography. In this segment she talks about her childhood and adolescence in the rural south and then in California.
Arnow, Harriet,
The Dollmaker
. New York: Avon Books, 1972.
The story of a woman and her family when they are forced to move from the southern mountains to Chicago during the Second World War. Wonderful feeling for life in the housing projects and the struggle for survival among these southern whites.
Baldwin, James,
Go Tell It On The Mountain
. New York: Dell Publishing Company, 1953.
A powerful story of the dynamics and feelings in a black family that moves to New York from the rural south. The focus is the development of Black consciousness in an adolescent boys as his family holds on to the traditional religion of southern Blacks.
Childress, Alice,
A Short Walk
. New York: Avon Book, 1979.
An interesting story of a Black woman’s life in a rural southern town and then in New York. She gives a vivd description of life in Harlem in the forties, fifties and sixties.
Chopin, Kate,
The Awakening and Other Stories
. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1970.
Short, emotionally intense stories about life on the plantations of southern Louisiana around the turn of the century. She is particularly interested in racial and sexual issues.
Fitzgerald F. Scott,
The Short Stories of Fitzgerald
. New York: Charles Scribner, Sons, 1957.
Assorted stories about life among the rich and those aspiring to become rich in the 20s and 30s. Difficult reading for some students though many are about adolescents.
Gaines, Ernest,
Bloodline
. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1968.
Collection of Short stories which are powerful descriptions of the changing nature of rural southern life. He is particularly interested in the psychological impact of America’s racial heritage.
Gold, Micheal,
Jews Without Money
. New York: Horace Livewright, 1930.
Wonderful description of life in the Jewish ghetto in the Lower East Side of New York at the turn of the century.
Hemminway, Ernest,
The Short Stories of Ernest Hemmingway
. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1927.
Exciting and interesting stories but tend to be too sophisticated or on distant subjects for my students.
Hughes, Langston,
The Langston Hughes Reader
. New York: George Braziller, Inc., 1958.
A collection of poems, short stories, plays and excerpts from larger pieces which deal with many facits of American life. He is particularly interested in how Blacks and whites see each other.
Hurston, Zora Neal,
Rust Tracks on the Road
. New York: Phillip Lippincott, 1971.
An autobiography of a young Black woman growing up in rural Mississippi in the 20s.
Malcolm X,
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
. New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1966.
Life story of an important leader. Great description of his growth as a thinker.
Miller, Arthur,
Collected Plays
. New York: Viking Press, 1961.
Contains both “Death of a Salesman” and “A View from The Bridge.” Both raise important issues for adolescents.
Morrison, Toni,
Sula
. New York: A Bantam Book, 1973.
Life in a small town in Ohio as seen through the eyes of a few generations of one family made up mostly of strong, powerful Black women.
Morrison, Toni,
Song of Soloman
. New York: Signet, 1977.
Story of a young man’s journey from a northern city to rural southern town to find his roots. Wonderful descriptions and feeling for people.
Olsen, Tillie,
Tell Me A Riddle
. New York: A Delta Book, 1960.
Contains “I Stand Here Ironing.” Collection of stories about women coming to terms with their lives.
Poole, Ernest,
The Harbor
. New York: MacMillan Company, 1925.
Young boy grows up on the docks of New York. Warm sensitive description of his learning to leave home and search for new adventure near and on the sea. Life in the 20s.
Thomas, Piri,
Down These Mean Streets
. New York: Knopf, 1977.
The story of a Puerto Rican Boy growing up in New York in the 60s.
Toomer, Jean,
Cane.
New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1923.
A collection of stories, poems and vignettes about people, places and scenes from the south of the 20s.
Twian, Mark,
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
, New York: Bantam Books, 1965.
Huck leaves home with Jim, the runaway slave, and finds adventure along the Mississippi River.
Walker, Alice,
In Love and Trouble
. New York: Harcourt Brace Javenovich, 1967.
A collection of short stroies about Black women as they deal with changes in their lives as they become more conscious of themselves as women and Blacks.
Washington, Mary Helen,
Midnight Birds
. Garden City, New York:. Anchor Books, 1980.
Wonderful collection of short stories by Black women writers about deal with their new sense of self-consciousness and power.
Wright, Richard,
Black Boy
. New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1966.
Autobiography of young boy growing up in the Jim Crow south.