From New Mexico to Canada to Scotland, Teachworth's YA short stories introduce readers to teenage protagonists whose lives have been touched by intangible forces.
In "Fireflies," soccer-playing Tamia, a young girl of Navajo and Mexican-American descent, completes a science project about fireflies and draws community attention to problematic power lines in the neighborhood.
"Callanish Stones" tells the tale of a young boy, a shipwreck, a daring rescue, and a remarkable reunion. Nicho learns the extent of God's healing powers in "Saving Grace." A father passes down a chicken-bone necklace of potentially magical proportions in "All the Right Moves."
Each story addresses the natural and supernatural worlds, the power of faith, and the way young people come of age at the end of a difficult journey.
Beyond's Young Adult short stories cross cultures and take place in settings from North America to Europe. A metaphysical / religious motif binds the collection, and stories are set in times dating back to 1932, when swing dancing was the rage, to a recent state science competition in New Mexico. "Play" deals with a girl's attempt to mitigate her feelings about violence in the home; in "Callanish Stones," a young boy is found on a remote beach in Scotland, barely alive; "Finding Edith Allen" centers on a young woman in search of her birth mother; and "Mont. St. Michel" tells the story of a child raised by a Bishop in France. The stories mix male and female protagonists with families and friends, often in school or religious settings. Follow this link to read Finding Edith Allen short story.
Fireflies
North of Taos New Mexico, corridors of high-tension wires cause the small community of Chimayo to be alarmed. In the small middle school, Tamia and her friend Miko compete in a state science competition and do well against all odds. The young Navajo pair takes on the science behind the phenomenon of the firefly.
Wavelength Duet
Set on Prince Edward Island, the date is 1938 and art students from all parts of the world come to this prestigious arts camp for the summer to perform, write, and create visual art. Jamie and Anne Marie meet and become immersed in friendship and the culture of Camp Montague. The airplane trip home gets caught in a violent storm and they find themselves abandoned on a remote island. Their only salvation is an object that produces a strange wavelength signal.
Saving Grace
This story is set in New York City's lower east side, in a time before technology was widespread. Grace and Nicho are Hispanic seventh graders at St. Vincent DePaul Middle School. Nicho's experience with prayer weighs in on helping his friend's fight with influenza. The power of the church crucifix overcomes all odds.
Nicho walked forward, turned around to face the crucifix, crossed himself, and knelt down to pray. He whispered softly to himself, "God bless my family...but I need some help for Grace." A voice replied inside his head, "Take your hand and touch my feet...then visit the one you love and place that same hand on her arm." Set in a Catholic K-8 school setting, the reader learns much about the inter workings of the Catholic faith.
Raised in Detroit by supportive parents, Helen grows up in an integrated culture. Adopted at birth, and with the support of her family, she decides to take a trip to Tennessee in search of her birth mother.
All The Right Moves
Set in the automotive cultural of Detroit during the depression, the story is about a family heirloom that gets passed on from father to son. Vern was born with a natural ability to dance, and when he meets Roxanne his world changes. The story is about a family headed up by two musicians, Harry and Ada who support their young son's challenges in a dance competition.
Philomen
In "Philomen," writer Ron Teachworth returns again to the depths, this time to the ocean. His characters are young people who tend to prefer their own company and pursue their own paths, and in "Philomen" we meet young Kes, drawn inexorably to the sea, who saves the life of a young girl caught in the dangerous offshore undertow. In his stories, Teachworth explores themes of psychological development and growth, and in this story Kes receives the blessing of his father, even though his father drowned in a tragic accident even before Kes himself was born. Trying to explain the events of a strange day in terms of the ordinary world of cause and effect and relationship, Kes and his mother encounter a young woman named Victoria, who was saved from a watery grave by Kes' father, even though the act of heroism cost him his own life. Victoria, haunted by the guilt of having survived when he died, and Kes, in search of his father and his own destiny, encounter one another in the shadows of a shared dream, and together they emerge as more complete individuals who can now step into the future.
Mind Over Maelstrom
A gift from birth, Clare keeps it a secret. Her close relationship with her grandfather sets the stage when a violent storm appears on the horizon. Set back in time in a Midwest high school, two girls who excel in math and science navigate the social norms of their peers. Suddenly things change when they set their sights on the incoming storm.
Marker At Yellowknife
As in earlier stories, "Marker at Yellowknife" deals with the metaphysical, taking the reader to one of the most remote locations in North America. The story intrigues us with a young man's discovery of an unknown object, found along the shores of the Great Slave Lake. The elements of water and beach are reminiscent of earlier stories and provide a certain element of natural stability to the story, while we learn about an omnipotent and positive force existing in the region for many years. The story within a story provides insight to the local people and pulls the reader into an Indian cultural we know very little about. The green bar of light that visits the Marker at Yellowknife lives with us long after the story is over.
A violent act strikes at the heart of a family, and Mila seeks refuge in a private boarding school. It is her memories of her neighbor friend, Jerome that comforts her. If only she could return to their play, the world would be a better place.
The Callanish Stones
A boy is found barely alive on an early morning beach along the edge of Lewis Island and Galen brings him around before taking him back to his parent's farm. Who is he and where did he come from? It becomes hard to know as he suffers from amnesia, but when he meets his mother on the site of the Callanish Stones, all the events come back.
Mont Saint Michel
Tristan has grown up in the Abby that lies out in the middle of the bay where the Couesnon River meets the Atlantic Ocean. The only parent he has ever known is the Arch Bishop Gabriel LaFore. Everything changes when he meets the soul of his twin sister in a mysterious room hidden away in the bowels of the Cathedral. She wants to be with him for all time to come, but when the Bishop dies, they must find a way to be together.
