Young Teen Short

Against the wishes of superstitious townspeople, Jonathan Harker journeys to the castle of Count Dracula on Walpurgisnacht, the dreaded night of the dead. Abandoned by his frightened coachman, Harker finds himself alone in a cemetery, battered by the elements and at the mercy of the strange beasts hunting him.

Leo Tolstoy is widely regarded as one of the greatest of all novelists for such works as War and Peace and Anna Karenina. He also wrote a number of outstanding short stories. This is one of his best.

This story, one of Harte's most anthologized, first appeared in The Luck of Roading Camp and Other Stories.

A phantom haunts The Pole-Star, a whaling ship stranded in the north Atlantic ice, as the ship's captain slips into madness....

Richie Preston is 27 years old and still lives in his parents' house, still works at a dead end job, lost his great love, still hasn't really begun his life. One day the fates smile on him and give him the opportunity to start over, to go back to being 17 and about to start his senior year of high school, only this time with all the memories of what he did wrong the first time. All he has to do is not interfere with anyone else's life. It sounds like a great deal, but living up to his end of the bargain turns out to be harder than Richie ever imagined.

Journey to the Cloud-Lands as a young group of interns takes on Lynn's Dragon Ranch for school credit. All is not as easy as learning how to feed the different dragons and harvest their scales when some of the dragons' health takes a turn for the worst. Can the lively interns help Lynn save the dragons and her ranch? This is Cloud-Lands mini adventure set in the same world as Katie Pottle's debut novel: Warrior Path, set to be released by E2 Books and Co. in the Fall of 2015.

A toy soldier. A butter dish. A compass. Mundane objects, perhaps, but to the remarkable authors in this collection, artifacts such as these have inspired stories that go to the heart of the human experience of World War I. Each author was invited to choose an object that had a connection to the war - a writing kit for David Almond, a helmet for Michael Morpurgo - and use it as the inspiration for an original short story.

When he takes his young son to a magic shop as a birthday present, a father finds it ever more difficult to separate what is illusion from what he begins to wonder is real magic. This is a wonderful trip into the world of fantasy for young listeners and parents alike.

Frank Stockton was an American writer and humorist, best known for a series of innovative children's fairy tales that were widely popular. His most famous fable is "The Lady or the Tiger?" (1882), about a man sentenced to an unusual punishment for having a romance with a king's beloved daughter. Other memorable tales are "The Griffin and the Minor Canon", "Old Pypes and the Dryad", and "Mr. Tolman".

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky is considered one of the greatest Russian writers. His works have had a profound and lasting effect on 20th-century literature. His psychological penetration into the human soul had, in novels like Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov, a profound influence on the 20th century novel. He also wrote a number of brilliant short stories along these same lines. "The Wedding" is one of his best.

In this Poe-like tale, set in "an old gray house", a man exacts a bizarre revenge on his unfaithful wife and her lover. This chilling story is one of Balzac's most popular.

A young man gives a present of "a work of art", or so he thinks, with very interesting consequences. This is one of Chekov's most humorous stories.

While Robert Louis Stevenson is most famous for novels like Treasure Island and Kidnapped, he also wrote a number of excellent short stories of suspense. "The Sire de Maletroit's Door" is one of his best.

A man is sentenced to an unusual punishment for having a romance with a king's beloved daughter. Taken to the public arena, he is faced with two doors, behind one of which is a hungry tiger that will devour him. Behind the other is a beautiful lady-in-waiting, whom he will have to marry if he finds her.

A train ride home from a school field trip turns sinister when two kids spot a body on the tracks. A short story from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

Kenny is 14. His dad has just died and to keep the family together, Kenny must find work. 'Be careful going through the flatlands,' his mother warns him. 'Don't stop for anyone'. But Kenny does stop, and what happens next will define the man he becomes. With subtle, evocative prose, and characters you will grow to love, Wolf on the Fold

Wilting is a short story about a man named Michael. After being accused of murdering his family, Michael was committed to Shriekville Asylum to live out the rest of his days alone. A year passed, and Michael encountered another patient named William. After losing a simple card game, Michael agrees to teach William the ropes to survive the unethical treatment of the asylum in hopes that they escape back to their lives on the outside.

It's Halloween night and the Count is throwing a party for his undead friends. Guess who the main course is! Join Jill and Vickie, two college cheerleaders, as they accept Dracula's special invitation to the Ball. See if two cheerleaders fight back against the evil forces surrounding them this Halloween night?

Here is Twain's hilarious tale of "Smiley" and his extraordinary frog.

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....