"The Red Pony," also by Steinbeck, was initially published in 1937 and later revised in 1945. This story depicts a boy's encounter with death and his subsequent growth.

"The Pearl," Steinbeck's final piece of short fiction, came out in 1947. It tells the parable of a poor fisherman who finds a valuable pearl that brings misfortune to his family. Similar to "Flight," it is narrated in a tone and style reminiscent of a folktale.

"The Bear," by William Faulkner, is part of the collection "Go Down, Moses," first published in 1940. This novella is embedded within a series of short stories set in Faulkner's fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, featuring recurring characters. "The Bear" follows a sixteen-year-old boy who is finally permitted to hunt with the men, seeking "to earn for himself the name and state of hunter." The novella explores the intricate relationships among different races and social classes as a group of men venture into the wilderness to hunt.

"The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway was published in 1952. This novella, structured like a fable, recounts an elderly fisherman's epic struggle to catch a legendary fish. The tone, much like "Flight," is nearly mythic.

Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye," first published in 1970, is a haunting story about a young girl's escape from her own identity due to the pressures of racism, poverty, and brutality.

"Ceremony" by Leslie Marmon Silko was published in 1977. It follows Tayo, a young Native American soldier recently released from a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp after World War II, as he tries to escape the haunting memories and nightmares of his captivity. Realizing that the country he fought for has no place for him and that he has no role in his home pueblo, he embarks on a quest to find and heal himself.