What You Know First by Patricia MacLachlan

 

Mama and Papa are forced to move away from their home and the narrator does not want to go.  She could refuse to go and stay behind in the place she knows.  But, if she does, who will tell the baby about all the wonderful things?  Papa says, "What you know first stays with you" and the narrator finds comfort in those words.  But, she takes a twig from the cottonwood tree and a little bag of prairie dirt to help her remember.

The Composition by Antonio Skarmeta

 

Pedro lives in a country ruled by a dictator.  He really doesn't understand what that means until the father of his best friend is arrested.  Soon after that, the police come to his school and ask the children to write a composition about what their families do at night.  His family listens to the radio which speaks against the dictatorship.  Writing the truth could get his family in trouble.  What should he do?