New York City, 19th Century

The story In the Machine takes place in New York City in the mid-to-late-1800s. This historical setting is characterized by industrialization. Lucas lives with his parents in a tenement and works at a metalworking factory. Catherine Fitzhugh lives in a boarding house and works as a seamstress in a garment factory. Lucas begins to fear the dangers of the increasingly present machines in the city, and he comes to believe that an escape to the wilderness outside the city is the only way to protect oneself.

New York City, Early 2000s

The story The Children’s crusade takes place in New York City a few years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The narrative and themes of this story are heavily informed by the ideas and legacy of September 11. A series of domestic terror attacks executed by children begins to occur in the...