The Girl with the White Fur Muff — Eric Kraft

Peter Leroy recalls the trouble that ensued when a well-meaning teacher appointed him director of Babbington's annual fourth-grade production of King Lear. Three of his classmates wanted the role of Lear's loving daughter, Cordelia, and each had her strategy for ensuring that she got it. Clarissa Bud, the girl with the white fur muff, used sweetness and charm; Veronica McCall used sex; and Lily O'Grady, known as Spike, threatened to break his foot if he chose anyone but her.

Length: novella, about 20,000 words, 96 pages in the trade paperback edition