A young basketball player seizes his moment and makes a move that shocks his coach and fellow players. An ornery, independent old man struggles to escape the confines of a nursing home. In a school dormitory, a group of bullied boys plan a revolution against their older oppressors. A devoted musician watches his band disintegrate under the pressures of "real life."

These stories and more are the work of Paul Uche, a talented young author taken from the world too soon. Uche's tight control of language, his crisp, incisive thinking, and his playful use of even the simplest words results...