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Fourteen top writers from around the world contribute short stories for a collection benefitting Amnesty International. Each tale explores one of the rights asserted in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, passed in 1948. The stories vary in style, range, power and tone—some purposive and flat, others nuanced expressions of human nature and hope. Rita Williams-Garcia’s “After the Hurricane” is a powerful story in verse about Hurricane Katrina and the “ragtag band” of refugees left in its wake, reminiscent of Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing,” except here it’s disgruntled voices rather than “varied carols.” David Almond’s “Klaus Vogel and the Bad Lads” explores the fascist nature of bullies, a common theme in his work, and Michael Morpurgo’s “No Trumpets Needed” concludes the volume with a moving story of a Palestinian boy making kites in the hope of peace. A mostly solid volume for a good cause. (foreword, biographical sketches of contributors, editors’ note, the articles of the Declaration) (Short stories. 10 & up)