"When writers of fiction have made the effort to explore the mottled landscape of a child's secrets and understanding, they have often created stories of ferocious poignancy," Lorrie Moore writes in her Introduction to this exceptional collection of stories, in which the contradictions and hypocrisies of the adult world are seen through the eyes of children. In this collection of tales by some of today's best writers, including Margaret Atwood, Toni Cade Bambara, Charles Baxter, Spalding Gray, Susan Minot, and Alice Munro, each story is told by a child character or by the adult who was that child, skillfully preserving the child's voice and role as both an actor and a witness in the drama.

Chosen by the acclaimed writer Lorrie Moore for their insight and literary brilliance, these stories range across age, gender, class, ethnicity, and geography. They will resonate with readers as they convey not only individual stories of heartache and joy but also universal themes of growing up and coming to see, if not understand, the world in a new and different way. [close]