Young Teen Short Stories

Aisha, an orphaned youth from the streets of Baghdad during the Middle Ages, seeks to raise herself from the poverty and squalor that surrounds her. Fleeing her unknown past, and her petty life of crime, the young Persian ventures off to Egypt, where she’s approached by a man who claims to belong to a secret sect of assassins. After the convenience of free food and shelter ceded importance to the heaviness of the dark acts being asked of her, Aisha tries to escape The Order of the Hashashin. But Aisha’s story was more intertwined with The Order’s than was initially apparent.

A solar eclipse sends a couple of teens hurtling through time, as they find themselves several centuries in the past. Without the slightest of clues as to what had allowed the impossible to happen, Cameron and his companion struggle to survive in a dangerous world, while working toward piecing together the time-traveling puzzle back to their time. Does the pair of spoiled brats have what it takes to not only survive but work together to get back to the year 2020?

Los relatos de Lugares comunes visitan territorios conocidos: la timidez extrema, el amigo calavera, el amor no correspondido, la rumba de Cali… Pero , apelando a otro tipo de lugar común, el principal valor de este libro reside, no tanto en la extrañeza de las historias, sino en la fuerza del estilo. Andrés Rojas aborda estas historias desde puntos de vista insólitos, con voces cercanas a la oralidad caleña pero enriquecidas con la tradición universal del cuento.

Funny Business is based around the theme of - what else - humor, and if you’re familiar with Jon and Guys Read, you already know what you’re in store for: an hilarious story.

Rolana and her father escape a higher dimension in order to free themselves from an oppressive regime. However, no sooner would their new life come to a start, the pair would be separated. The telepathic teen is instantly flung into the deep end, as all alone, she now has to figure out how to live and blend amongst humans.

More and more, teens are concerned about friends facing a health crisis (such as AIDS or eating disorders), having a serious alcohol or drug problem, and how to help their parents with their problems. Taste Berries for Teens Three addresses these growing concerns through a combination of stories expressing teens' thoughts and the compassionate wisdom of Bettie and Jennifer Youngs.

A town is overrun by road weenies - a.k.a. joggers - who never smile. A girl thinks she's too old for Halloween...until she finds a special pair of gloves. A boy takes a shortcut to an unexpected place. A mummy takes his revenge, one little piece at a time.... These 35 tales ranging from the silly and offbeat to flat-out horrifying are just right for listening alone in the dark.

Meet Syrenka, a little mermaid who must convince her father the Sea King, not to start a war against the humans. Except she had become the very thing he despised...she is secretly living on land as a human. A fairy tale fantasy adventure prequel! This short story takes place after the events in Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid and before Roy Mauritsen’s epic Shards of the Glass Slipper series.

The Dome protects us. It is life for all who live under the ice barrier, but it is on the brink of failure. The Elders saw this coming; they have a plan. There's just one problem: I can't breathe underwater like everyone else. I'm the last air-breathing human in the Dome. As the Aquatics migrate to their new home, I'll need to find a way to survive.

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.

Warning: Short Stories for Middle School Boys Only, Because Girls Have Cooties! is a captivating anthology of fifteen standalone stories, each one a unique exploration of youth, camaraderie, and the trials and triumphs of growing up. The book, penned by the talented Gene J. Miller, is a delightful blend of Tom Sawyer's mischief, Stand by Me's nostalgia, and The Sandlot's youthful exuberance.

Luckily for humanity, scientist Marie Curie applied her brilliant mind and indomitable spirit to expanding the frontiers of science, but what if she had instead drifted toward the darkness? At the cusp of between child- and adulthood, at the crossroads between science and superstition, a teen Marie Curie faces the factual and the fantastic in this fabulous collection of stories that inspire, delight, and ask the question: What if she had used her talents for diabolical purposes?

The story is a double play: is it the story of a woman going mad, or a woman possessed by something evil? We begin to suspect that the narrator’s apparently caring husband John may not be as caring as she thinks. Is he trying to control her? We know that Charlotte was much concerned with the emancipation of women and them achieving financial independence, so is the character of John an echo of this?

In this short story fiction, you’re entreated to the life of a one dollar bill, Todd. Todd falls for a higher denomination, a bill that’s as sassy as him. However, in a world more uncertain than ours, with his movements constrained by his human carrier, will Todd ever escape his form of slavery, let alone sail off with his new love?

The disparate lives of a preteen boy, a mafia kingpin and a crooked bar owner intersect in this thrilling drama. The story is perceived from the vantage point of an aerial being who simply observes as the lives of mortals unfold. Though rendered homeless, do Marco and his mother find redemption? What tethers the misunderstood Roger to those slums, and will he find what he seeks? “Do humans truly get what love is, amidst the rage, war, and greed...or is life simply chaos?”

In this magic inspired short tale, Anthony struggles with family drama as ancient magical forces and traditions resurface. Before long, the ignorant and overwhelmed lad finds himself at the mercy of a pair of sorcerer bounty-hunters. Will Anthony finally get the acceptance that he desperately seeks from his parents? Or will he chart his own path and see the different personalities in his life for who they are?

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.

A toy giant and a clockwork unicorn star in this retelling of Aesop's fable "The Lion and the Mouse" in a steampunk fantasy setting.

Black, like a select few other beings, is a soul reaper, whose sole predilection is to claim human souls. However, his life is turned upside down in a chance encounter with a human woman. Black’s memories of his past human life come flooding back to him. Will he continue to hunt human souls or will he turn against the authority and now hunt the hunters? This is the tale of the beginnings of Black’s journey as a changed reaper.

A young boy with special abilities to see a world beyond the veil, and a realm teeming with shadow formed beasts, undergoes an emotional roller coaster ride in this coming-of-age short story tale. Will Tommy forever remain haunted by these demons from beyond, or will he somehow find a way to best them?