Young Teen Short

Out on the prairie, the Joseph family is all astir with concealing their Christmas gifts for one another. But will Santa come this year? After all, the crops had failed this summer and they were on short commons. When their town neighbors, the Ralstons ask to take refuge overnight at the Joseph's on Christmas Eve, they make a shakedown bed in front of the fire. But what will become of the big bundle of gifts they carried in with them?

Clorinda laments being poor around Christmastime to her Aunt Emmy. Emmy remarks that some of the best presents aren't bought and paid for and declines to explain, only asking Clorinda to think it out. When she does this, Clorinda determines to give a little bit of herself in priceless presents to her loved ones near and far.

In Matthew Insists on Puffed Sleeves, Anne Shirley's guardian Marilla keeps Anne dressed in plain, dark clothes unlike the other girls her age. Matthew Cuthbert, Anne's kindred spirit and sometime benefactor, struggles to figure out how to solve this problem. He overcomes his shyness to ensure that a wonderful, unexpected present is waiting for Anne on Christmas day.

Sarah went to college to learn. She went for the classes and to prove her father wrong about what women could really achieve. But all she’s managed to do so far is mess things up. Without knowing how, she’s ended up with two men after her and no idea about which one she wants to be with. The clock is ticking, and she knows that neither of them will wait forever.

A collection of stories about a pig named Pigin and his friends, Sammy Seal, Sally Seagull, The Badger of Ballsbridge, and the fairies who live in Howth Castle. Pigin learns how to swim, goes on a magic carpet ride, and even gets to meet the President of Ireland! Ages eight and up.

Although best known for such long novels as Our Mutual Friend and The Old Curiosity Shop, Charles Dickens also wrote many wonderful short stories with both a supernatural and a humorous twist. This is one of his best.

When a young John Lambton skips church to go fishing, he catches something unnatural. Fearful of his father's reaction to both skipping church and bringing such a foul creature to the house - he it throws in the well. Years later, after fighting in the Crusades, John returns home to an unpleasant surprise.

"Local color" author Frances Gilchrist Wood wrote this powerful tale of a young wife who proves better able to succeed on the homestead frontier than does her husband.

Here is another of O. Henry's entertaining "surprise ending" stories. A girl moves to the city looking for a friend she had lost track of and finds him in a very unusual way.

"The Adventure of the Abbey Grange" is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and is one of 13 stories in the collection The Return of Sherlock Holmes.

When it comes to short stories, Edgar Allan Poe is considered by many to be the master of terror and the macabre. This is one of his most famous stories. A man is tormented by a cat and decides to take a terrible vengeance, but things do not go as planned.

In "The Invisible Man", a murderer manages to get in and out of a house, even though it is under constant observation. In some ways, the story parallels Poe's "The Purloined Letter" but adds its own unique touches, particularly in the character and methods of priest-sleuth Father Brown.

Via a series of letters between himself and a friend, a man falls in love with a woman he has never met - and receives a shocking surprise when he travels to meet her.

For Natalie, Lake Huron is more than just one of the Great Lakes. For this seemingly average teenager of Native American descent, Lake Huron holds the secret to the unspoken truths of her childhood; the truths that reveal that she is anything but average; the truths behind her tribal swan name and ultimately, the key to her destiny.

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman is known primarily as a "feminist" and "local color" writer, for such classic tales as "The Revolt of Mother". She wrote very entertaining stories that included clear depictions of the pressures that often silenced or devalued women and their concerns. This famous story gets that message across but not without a bit of humor.

This is the first story of The Jungle Book, in which the reader is introduced to Mowgli, the jungle boy, and his animal friends.

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.

Never seen before private diary entries they don’t want you to know about. Peek into the mind of the making of a maverick, a window to the soul of an angry, young girl, who will come of age in a city on the verge of total annihilation.

Here is one of London's famous stories of the Klondike, where men had to battle the elements, and often each other, to survive.

Chris's parents are going on vacation, so she decides to host a house party while they are away. Chris's world begins to unravel during the party and she ends up in a lot of trouble. Find out what happens to Chris and how the situation is finally resolved.