Young Teen Short

The Dreaded Summons and Other Misplaced Bills investigates seven unfortunate accounts piled together to make you laugh. The collection opens with Tina Teatree, who has a compulsion for weeding that soon digs up the root of her problem. The title story is "The Dreaded Summons", about an introvert and his friendship with a lost manatee. Other stories reveal the Breakfast Hunter, J.J. Whitweather, Shirley Short, and Fig B. Willingsbee.

Stephen Crane's fascinating story "The Blue Hotel" is seen by many as a study of fear. Crane used the stereotypical 1890's American West as his setting, and the story uses a card game to show how fear feeds upon itself. There are both inner fears and fears existing in reality, and the ways that they interact with each other make for a fascinating tale.

In this short story, which takes place directly before The Change: Life, you will meet Jacob and Mia and get a tiny glimpse into how their very lives are tied in to the fate of the world - to the Changed themselves - and to the enigmatic creature that appears out of nowhere to destroy all that it sees, both humans and Changed alike.

When 10-year-old Lara Demming discovers her next-door neighbor is a witch, she is initially horrified by the discovery. And then, she becomes curious what she can learn from Old Widow Holcomb.

"It is the tale of a dragon. It is the tale of a kite. It is the tale of a healer and a storyteller...heroic in spite of themselves and because of the dragon. That's what dragons are for, after all, to call forth heroes." So begins "Dragonfield", by celebrated author Jane Yolen. Paired with Milbre Burch's "Metamorphosis" (James Tiptree Jr. Award Semi-Finalist), these two contemporary fairy tales of true love and high adventure will enchant and entertain you.

Edgar Allan Poe, American poet and master of the horror tale, is also credited by many with inventing the American mystery story. "The Gold Bug" is one of his most famous stories. It was first published in the Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper in June 1843, after Poe had won a competition held by the paper and received a prize of $100.

Rebellious teenager Allyson has broken the rules one time too many, and her mother sends her to stay with her cousins in New Mexico. The LeFebres' highly religious, conservative, rural lifestyle is shocking to Allyson, and one of their strangest superstitions is a belief in a local boogeyman called the Bice. But it's only a superstition, right?

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

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.

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu was one of the major figures of 19th-century supernaturalism. He helped move supernaturalist fiction away from the gothic's emphasis on external sources of terror and toward a focus on the effects of terror, thus helping to create the psychological basis for supernaturalist and horror literature that continues today. "The Familiar" is one of his most terrifying tales.

He was Lord of Death, cursed never to love. She was Night incarnate, destined to stay alone. After a chance meeting, they wonder if, perhaps, they could be meant for more. But danger crouches in their paths, and the choices they make will set them on a journey that will span lifetimes. Discover how Maya and Amar first met and fell in love.

Do you like coming of age stories? Stories that have romance, fear, and hope? Say hello to Heroine. Heroine and the other stories in this collection showcase hardships that are prevalant into todays world such as drugs, bullying, and self-doubt. Follow Cody, Lillie, and Hannah in their journeys of self discovery and acceptance.

Nicholas, Kevin. Age 19. Died at York Hospital, July 19, 2012. Kev's the first kid their age to die. And now, even though he's dead, he's not really gone. Even now his choices are touching the people he left behind. Rita Williams-Garcia follows one aimless teen as he finds a new life in his new job - at the mortuary. Ellen Hopkins reveals what two altar boys (and one altar girl) might get up to at the cemetery at night.

Gary Paulsen was one of the kids who slipped through the cracks, until art and dogs saved him. So are Jake, Jojo, and Jamie, all 12-year-olds who, like Gary Paulsen, had to grow up too fast. Gary Paulsen’s three poignant novellas add up to an unforgettable book.

Let’s face it: Talking about race can be difficult. It’s a slippery subject, rife with as many perspectives as there are people in the world. But laughter gets us talking. It has the power to break down barriers and draw us closer together. In Open Mic, acclaimed author and speaker Mitali Perkins invites us to listen in as 10 authors for young adults - some familiar, some new - step up to the mic and share their stories about what it’s like growing up between cultures.

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.

Tales about sticky confectionary, talking fish, restless gargoyles, mysterious magical eggs in the depths of space, a reasonable giant rat, worlds made with words, and worlds drowned in rivers of chocolate.... For teenagers and children. (Some suitable for adults as well.)

In a tiny kingdom of special humans, beings known as “surfers”, who’ve figured out how to travel across the globe in a matter of seconds, distrust and division festers. The queen, having lost her daughter to a criminal faction of surfers, now struggles to offer her tiny citizenry the comfort and stability of times past. As member of the strike force, will Luga Milash succeed in saving her loved ones and avert a war where possible?

On the night before her Choosing, there were whispers of war in the air. After binding herself to Clarent, Opal is given a grim prophecy of her future. Alone and ostracized from her clan, she finds an unlikely ally in the sorceresses' leader, Joan. Joan is the reason the Sorceress clan wants to attack. She's prophesied to pull Excalibur from its stone. But her clan wants its powers for a darker purpose. They have to band together to stop the Sorceress clan's invasion. Excalibur is on their side, but they’re outnumbered five to one. Can Opal escape this war unscathed?

A delightful collection of stories about children, princesses, and dragons who experience all the magic and wonder of exciting adventures - but with the necessity of learning proper "pleases" and thank-yous"...at least on occasion!