My Name Is Aram

The stories detail the exploits of Aram Garoghlanian, a boy of Armenian descent growing up in Fresno, California, and the various members of his large family.

This story also features Aram's grandfather, supposedly the head of the family, but actually easily opposed by the old man's bickering wife.

In "The Three Swimmers and the Grocer from Yale (aka "The Three Swimmers and the Educated Grocer"), Aram, Cousin Mourad, and their Portuguese friend Joe Bettencourt go swimming in Thompson's Ditch in cold weather, amazing the (apparently Yale-educated) owner of the grocery store they stop by afterward, who asks them various questions and spouts off a litany of colorful metaphoric exclamations of surprise.

In "Locomotive 38, the Ojibway," Aram makes friends with a local Native American gentleman of that name, helps him buy a car, and becomes his chauffeur for a summer.

In "A Word to Scoffers," Aram meets a travelling preacher who gives him some wise advice as he leaves the San Joaquin Valley for the first time.