Young Teen Short Stories

Award-winning storyteller Barbara McBride-Smith breathes life (albeit a wizened Texan version) into the old Greek myths. With her incurable Texas drawl, she spins the Greek myths as you've never heard them before, rendering them 99% more fun while retaining 100% of their original insights into the crooked ways of the human heart and the no less crooked ways of the ancient Greek gods.

Meet an earnest first-grader, intent upon convincing his hill-country parents that other children are treated to a party each year on their birthday, that they invite friends, eat cake - and receive presents. Meet also his equally intent mother, who is determined not to open this can of worms, not with the 128 cousins who might start doing the same thing. Both of them step out of this luminous story that turns the concept of "good neighbors" upside down.

Joe Davis was in his mid-40s when he became a father, and the experience he was able to apply in raising his sons lent creativity to his parenting. The five stories here recall the wisdom of fathers with humor and rich detail: a visit to the Smithsonian inspires father's memory; father "cures" a boy's impulse to try cigarettes; Santa Claus learns an important lesson; and someone plays a trick on a visiting preacher.

This exceptional and powerful anthology explores the joys, heartbreaks and triumphs of immigration, with stories by critically acclaimed and best-selling YA authors who are shaped by the journeys they and their families have taken from home - and to find home.

This modern, groundbreaking YA anthology explores the complexity and beauty of interracial and LGBTQ+ relationships where differences are front and center. When people ask me what this anthology is about, I'm often tempted to give them the complicated answer: It's about race and about how being different from the person you love can matter but how it can also not matter, and it's about Chinese pirate ghosts, black girl vigilantes, colonial India, a flower festival, a garden of poisons, and so, so much else.

In A New Death: CJ's Story, you meet CJ, the 13-year-old nephew of the truck driver Josh from the novel A New Death. Find out what happens to Josh's family when the zombie apocalypse shambles into Savannah, Georgia! Will the young teenage CJ understand what is going on? Will he believe it? Will his family get out of the city alive, or will he fall to the zombie infection? This zombie apocalypse story is for anyone who is a fan of zombie games, movies, or graphic novels.

Originally published in The New Haven Review, this story features a young married couple who struggle through the rough landscape of Southern Illinois in the late 1950s. They argue over the purchase of a five-dollar-a-month Sears and Roebuck kitchen table, but it ends up saving lives.

Humans are mostly made of water. Tessa is mostly made of molten iron. The petite firefighter had always grown up fearful of her abilities, and went through life harboring this deep secret. Until her encounter with a strange man, Tessa wasn’t sure what kind of freak she was...Begrudgingly; she begins her quest for self discovery. Will Tessa ever know freedom, or will she know happiness instead, or are the two synonymous or inseparable?

When everyone else goes to bed, the ones who stay up feel like they’re the only people in the world. As the hours tick by deeper into the night, the familiar drops away and the unfamiliar beckons. Adults are asleep, and a hush falls over the hum of daily life. Anything is possible.

Before Jak became a hero, a horrible secret surrounded her birth. Witness the beginning of that secret as we follow her father while he searches for his wife, and finds more than he could possibly imagine.

Adolescence is a time of "firsts." First kiss. First love. First loss. First job. And in this case, a very different type of "first": murder. This short story collection of murder mysteries adds a sinister spin to the joy and pain of firsts that have always been a major part of life, whether it be high school cliques who take the term "backstabbing" too seriously, stumbling upon a body on the way home from school, or receiving a Snapchat message that promises something deadly.

Every athlete knows what it takes to win. But for players who are teen girls, the stakes are so much higher. In this anthology, the voices of these athletes come alive, highlighting the ferocity of those who are often shunted to the side. From navigating rampant misogyny to forging a sisterhood through sweat or just reveling in the love of the game, the stories in Out of Our League address the phenomenal physical and emotional power of teenage athletes as they compete, persevere, and thrive, on and off the field.

Hawthorne approached the Romantic notion of the ability of science to destroy art (or beauty) in the form of fictive "horror stories" of biological research out of control. This story is the best of that group. A devoted scientist marries a beautiful woman with a single physical flaw: a birthmark on her face. Aylmer becomes obsessed with the imperfection and his attempts to remove it via his scientific skills, thus rendering his bride perfect.

Before he became an archmage to topple an empire, before he met the legendary Eradicator Xal, Saghir was born a free ratkin, living on the streets of Gateway, a perilous desert city at the edge of the Blasted Lands. Each month, the free laborers must pay their tithe in coin, or blood. Every ratkin in Saghir's tribe searches for something of value, lest their whole people be enslaved. Ruthless Corax, carnivorous scarabs, and worse infest the city. There are countless ways for a rat to die, and all it takes is one mistake. There are no second chances.

What does "being a guy" actually mean? Some of the most talented writers are about to show you. In this diverse and original collection of short stories, ten well-known writers, including Mo Willems, Walter Dean Myers, Ron Koertge, Rene Saldaña, Jr., David Levithan, and David Lubar, share their stories about the trials and tribulations of being a guy. Sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and always honest, each story portrays the reality of being an everyday guy who gets a few life lessons and still manages to come out on top.

A daughter of rock ’n’ roll royalty has a secret crush. A lonely ticket-taker worries about his sister. An almost-famous songwriter nurses old wounds. A stage manager tires of being behind the scenes. A singer-songwriter struggles to untangle her feelings for her best friend and his girlfriend. In this live-out-loud anthology, the disparate protagonists of 16 stories are thrown together for one unforgettable event: their high school’s battle of the bands.

Envie is a Cajun / French word that translates to want or desire in English. Pronounced ahn-vee, this retelling of the legend of the Miranda Guitar is tinged with envie. Miranda became famous even though very few people know her name. She is a Troubadour. Miranda plays the guitar and sings. She is happy her brother, Beau, does not mind the recognition that comes with being her conduit. Beau LaLonde is the first to understand there is more to the guitar than a box with six strings. He understands the LaLonde legacy will live on through the guitar.

Prepare to be entranced by "Paranormal POV presents: Aliens, Witches, & Ghosts, Oh My!"—an enchanting compilation of short stories that will transport you to the captivating crossroads of the supernatural and the unknown. Dive into a realm where the ordinary collides head-on with the extraordinary, and where the unexplained transforms into the thrillingly suspenseful action and adventure.

After pushing away the woman he loves, he tries desperately to forget the love he feels for her, but when Lisbeth is in danger, he can't stay away any longer. In order to save the woman he loves, can he hold true to his promise to stay by her side, despite his overwhelming feelings for her?

From the New York Times & USA Today best-selling author Tamara Rose Blodgett. Almost 15-year-old Caleb Hart is a Cadaver-Manipulator in the year 2025. When teens receive a government-sanctioned pharmaceutical cocktail during school, paranormal abilities begin manifesting...making the teens more powerful than the adults.