The Good Deed by Marion Dane Bauer — Review

"The Good Deed" by Marion Dane Bauer is a short story about a young girl named Heather who feels lonely during her summer vacation. To pass the time, she decides to do a good deed by helping an elderly neighbor, Mrs. Brown, with her garden. At first, Heather thinks the task is simple, but she soon learns that Mrs. Brown doesn’t really want help pulling weeds—she wants company and someone to share stories with.

Heather discovers that a good deed isn’t just about hard work; it’s about caring and listening to someone else.

Here is the link to the text of the story:
http://lswaney.weebly.com/uploads/1/5/5/9/15593462/the_good_deed_text.pdf

Tuesday of the Other June by Norma Fox Mazer — Review

"Tuesday of the Other June" by Norma Fox Mazer is a story about the slow, suffocating experience of school bullying. The plot follows a gentle girl named June who is tormented every week at swim class by another girl who shares her name. The bully’s tactics—cruel nicknames, shoves, and public humiliation—are painfully realistic, and the protagonist’s decision to endure in silence to protect her loving mother will resonate with any reader who has ever felt small or trapped. 

The turning point occurs not at school or the pool, but at June’s own doorstep, when the bully threatens her sense of safety and family. June’s explosive, raw shout of "NO!" is a moment of pure, earned liberation. It is not presented as a magic solution to all her problems, but as a critical first step in reclaiming her voice and her identity.

 

https://teacherspondering.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/tuesday-of-the-other-june.pdf

Spar by Kij Johnson — Review

“Spar” by Kij Johnson is a short, strange, and powerful science fiction story. It imagines a human woman trapped alone in a tiny, broken spaceship with an alien being. They cannot talk to each other and have nothing in common. The story is not about romance or pleasure, but about the raw, ugly struggle to stay alive and the weird connection that forms between two completely different creatures in a hopeless place.

This is a difficult but memorable read. Johnson uses very simple, direct language to describe a situation that feels both lonely and claustrophobic. The story makes you think about what communication and intimacy really mean.

Here is the text of the story:

https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/johnson_10_09/

Sitting straight and smiling by Anna Davis — Review

This very short story by Anna Davis is like a sharp, funny snapshot of a feeling everyone knows. It shows a single moment where a woman is trapped in a boring business meeting. The whole plot is her struggle to keep a polite face while her body rebels. Her smile hurts, her neck is stiff, and the man talking to her becomes a blur of annoying motions and bad breath. The story’s power is in how it turns an ordinary, awkward situation into something almost surreal, comparing the speaker to a "dying fish."

The story is a perfect bite-sized commentary on modern work life. There is no big event or twist, just the quiet violence of having to pretend you’re okay. The title, “Sitting Straight and Smiling,” is the whole plot and the main conflict. It’s about the mask we wear to be professional, even when we’re screaming inside. You finish reading it in a minute, but it sticks with you because it’s so true—a clever and relatable piece about the small tortures of being polite.

Here is the text if the story:

https://short-stories.co/@anna/sitting-straight-and-smiling-pqkln97yyz24

"A Presentiment" by William Dean Howells — Review

"A Presentiment" by William Dean Howells is a clever story that feels like a ghost story but ends with a smart, logical twist. It starts with a husband and wife ready to leave for a trip. Suddenly, the wife is struck by a powerful feeling of doom, convinced their train will crash. Her fear is so strong that her practical husband agrees to delay their trip for a day—and they later discover their original train did indeed crash. 

The real genius of the story is its ending, where Howells explains the "miracle." The wife’s premonition wasn't magical at all. It came from her subconscious mind reacting to a late-delivered telegram she held but didn't read; the bad news in the message made her feel dread. This twist isn't disappointing but satisfying, as it turns the story into an exploration of how our brains work. It shows how intuition can be our subconscious picking up on real clues, not a supernatural force.

Here is the text of the story:
https://short-stories.co/@m.r.james/the-residence-at-whitminster-e0kl1d680lxp

Forgotten Dreams by Stefan Zweig —- Review

"Forgotten Dreams" by Stefan Zweig is a masterfully crafted gem of psychological insight that delves deep into the quiet tragedies of choice and self-deception. Set against a backdrop of shimmering, almost oppressive beauty, the story uses the contrast between the luxurious villa and the stark conversation within it to explore the gap between illusion and reality. 

Zweig's signature precision is evident in every detail, from the calculated elegance of the heroine to the symbolic key that unlocks not a door, but a buried truth. The plot's power lies not in dramatic action, but in the devastating weight of a single, quiet admission: the revelation that the protagonist's seemingly romantic youthful dreams were, in fact, mercenary desires for material splendor. This moment of confession becomes a profound exploration of identity, asking whether we are shaped by our ideals or by our most concealed, and perhaps less noble, longings.

Here is the link to the text of the story:
https://www.prosperosisle.org/spip.php?article1186

"A Woman without Prejudice" by Anton Chekhov — Review

Chekhov’s “A Woman without Prejudice” is a masterfully ironic study of social anxiety and the absurdity of self-imposed shame. The story follows the hulking, seemingly invincible Maxim Salyutov, a man of extraordinary physical strength who is utterly crippled by the fear that his modest, non-noble past—specifically, having worked as a circus performer—will disgust his beloved Elena (Lelya) and ruin his marriage prospects. 

The central comedy and pathos arise from the drastic disconnect between Salyutov’s towering physique and his shriveled sense of self-worth, a contradiction Chekhov highlights with surgical precision. Salyutov’s torment, fueled by a blackmailing “friend,” portrays the psychological tyranny of imagined social judgment, revealing how internalized class prejudices can be more destructive than any external rejection.

Here is the link to the text of the story:
https://www.prosperosisle.org/spip.php?article1157#Woman