Back in June, Margot of Joyfully Retired reviewed the short story, Charles by Shirley Jackson.  I had never read anything by this author, so I thought, so decided to read this story.


It was Laurie’s first day of kindergarten and when he arrived back home he couldn’t wait to tell his parents about his day.  He told them about a boy named Charles and how badly he behaved.  


Everyday, Laurie came home from school and told his parents about Charles and what bad things he did.  

“Today Charles hit the teacher.”  “Charles threw chalk.” “He kicked the teacher’s friend.” “Charles had to stay after school and everyone stayed with him.”
As the school year progress Charles started to behave better.  Finally, Lauries mother was able to go to a PTA meeting and she couldn’t wait to ask the teacher about Charles.  Can you guess what happened?
As I was reading this story, it became very familiar to me and I realized that I had read it when I was a child.  It is a cute little story but very predictable.  It was featured at The Library of America’s short story of the week and you can read it here.
If you would like to participate in Short Story Mondays or just find out about some great short stories, go to John of The Book Mine Set. He has a short story review every Monday and a place for you to link your short story reviews. Come join in the fun!
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