The educated lady takes the neighborhood kids to FAO Schwartz to show them how the other half buys toys.

(from More Stories We Tell: The Best Contemporary Short Stories By North American Women)

Told from the perspective of a child badass know-it-all due for a reality check, this story is entertaining in its snarky narration and dazzling in it details. The moral of the story is apparent from the begining, the drama comes from whether or not our too cool for school narrator will recognize it.
How’s this for a first line?
Back in the days when everyone was old and stupid or young and foolish and me and Sugar were the only ones just right, this lady moved on our block with nappy hair and proper speech and no makeup.

This story, which you can read here, was written in 1972. A wee Google search reveals a great deal of scholastic papers on and interpretations of “The Lesson,” and examinations on the author, Toni Cade Bambara (1939-1995). Here‘s one from a site advertising “free essays,” and believe me the price is right.