The short stories included in this volume are The Lumber-Room, The Open Window, Sredni Vashtar, and Gabriel-Ernest. All of these stories journey into the worlds and imaginations of rebellious young people who are struggling with bottled up, repressed and conflicting spirits that ultimately leave no choice but to express themselves regardless of the consequences. They are all about independent thinkers whose actions assert their independence and give voice to their emerging identity. At the same time the adults who are rebelled against, certainly feel they are doing right. They are confident, perhaps too confident in their good intentions, that they know what’s best for everyone. In the end, these stories all speak not just to the emergent identities of youth, to individual acts of protest and rebellion, but to the ultimate internal pressure we all feel to be ourselves, to do what we feel is right, to impose what we believe in on others. And they point to the tragedies that ensue when the forces that compel us to assert and defend our identities become so powerful that they end up being self destructive or hurtful to others.
