The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County is a short story in which a narrator is tricked into listening to a long-winded tale about Jim Smiley, a man who once caught a frog and trained it to jump, betting that it could jump further than any other frog. A stranger takes him up on that bet, but cheats and fills Jim's frog with lead. The narrator escapes before having to hear about more of Jim's exploits. This story, which catapulted Mark Twain to fame in the 1860s, is a humorous tale that plays on themes of deceit, cunning, and competition.
The Grapes of Wrath is the story of the Joads, a family of farmers from Oklahoma who are driven off their land by drought and the Great Depression. Making their way to California in an old truck, the Joads encounter prejudice and have to face the stark poverty of migrant camps, not to mention the unfair working conditions of huge corporate farms. The novel takes a harsh look at the effects of the Depression and questions the morality of a modern America that no longer cares for the individual.
Desperation is the story of a group of people trapped near the eponymous Nevada mining town by a demonic being called Tak who, at the story's inception, inhabits the body of sheriff Collie Entragian. Tak torments his captives, seeking a new host, and displays power over the native wildlife. The story deals with the captives' quest to trap Tak at his place of origin, a mine shaft in the desert's heart.
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH is a Newberry Award-winning children's novel which tells the story of Mrs. Frisby, a field mouse, as she attempts to save her home and family from being destroyed by a farmer's plow. She ends up seeking out the technologically advanced former lab rats of NIMH, who help her move to a new home, and in return she assists in protecting them from exterminators and in keeping their human-like intelligence a secret.