These classic contemporary tales written by some of the world's best writers have the power to transport you to other countries. You'll discover what it's like to live in another culture and you'll meet kindred spirits on their own journeys to adulthood. In Ama Ata Aidoo's "The Late Bud, " it takes the collective wisdom of a Ghanan village to reconcile headstrong Yaaba with her mother. A young Chilean boy outwits a representative of the military regime by writing an essay that disguises his parents' true political beliefs in "The Composition" by Antonio Skarmeta. Valentin Rasputin's "French Lessons" takes place during the difficult times following the Second World War and portrays a fifth-grade Russian boy who staves off hunger through gamesmanship and the help of a special teacher who respects his sense of pride. And in "The Child Who Loved Roads, " Norwegian author Cora Sandel's young protagonist almost abandons "her" road in order to travel on the pathway to adulthood, but instead decides to wait a little longer.