The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara

This is an eye opening account of the social conditions and the class difference so evident in every major city in the United States. The kids were taken for the ride of their lives when Ms. Moore decided to take them to the famous toy store FAO Shwartz. The was like a new world for the kids they have never seen such expensive toys in their lives. One kid even make the observation that one perticular toy was more expensive than they all spend on food in a year.
This is the tragedy of our time when one part of the city is the richest in the world and few block from it people are living in utter poverty. Ms. Moore was the kind of bright shining light in the lives of those kids who tries to open their eyes to the class difference in the hope that one day they might learn something to bring them out of their condition.
The transformation of the main character "Sylvia" is stark. She was a very confident, doesn't give a damn kind of a kid before she come face to face with the reality. The reality of how there is so much class difference around her.Once she was put on the spot she lost her confidence and got intimidatd by the shere seriousness of the situation.