Sampling Short Stories

Short story collections offer teens a different—and for some, a more manageable—reading experience.  In this episode you’ll hear about a great variety of story collections organized around topics ranging from sports to prom, guns to ghosts.  You’ll also meet Don Gallo, the person who has done more than anyone else to promote short stories as a genre in the field of young adult literature.

After listening to this episode, be sure to print out this list of recommended titles to take to the library or book seller.

Titles recommended in this episode include

Story collections edited by Don Gallo

• Sixteen: Short Stories by Outstanding Writers for Young Adults (Delacorte, 1984)

• Visions: Short Stories by Outstanding Writers for Young Adults (Delacorte, 1987)

• Connections: Short Stories by Outstanding Writers for Young Adults (Delacorte, 1989)

• Short Circuits: Thirteen Shocking Stories by Outstanding Writers for Young Adults (Delacorte, 1992)

• Join In: Multiethnic Short Stories by Outstanding Writers for Young Adults (Delacorte, 1993)

• Ultimate Sports: Short Stories by Outstanding Writers for Young Adults (Delacorte, 1995)

• No Easy Answers: Short Stories About Teenagers Making Tough Choices (Delacorte, 1997)

• Time Capsule: Short Stories About Teenagers Throughout the Twentieth Century (Delacorte, 1999)

• On the Fringe (Dial, 2001)

• Destination Unexpected (Candlewick, 2003)

• First Crossing: Stories About Teen Immigrants (Candlewick, 2004)

• What Are You Afraid Of? Stories about Phobias (Candlewick, 2006)

• Owning It: Stories about Teens with Disabilities (Candlewick, 2008)

Older story collections

• Twelve Shots: Outstanding Short Stories About Guns edited by Harry Mazer (Delacorte, 1997)

• Am I Blue? Coming Out of the Silence edited by Marion Dane Bauer (HarperTrophy, 1994)

• Doing Time: Notes from the Undergrad by Rob Thomas (Simon and Schuster, 1997)

• Girl Goddess #9 by Francesca Lia Block (Joanna Cotler Books, 1996)

• Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher (Greenwillow, 1991)

• 145^th Street Stories by Walter Dean Myers (Delacorte, 2000)

• What They Found: Love on 145^th Street by Walter Dean Myers (Wendy Lamb Books, 2007)

• An Island Like You: Stories of the Barrio by Judith Ortiz Cofer (Puffin, 1996)

• Who Am I Without Him? Short Stories About Girls and the Boys in their Lives by Sharon Flake (Jump at the Sun, 2004)

Newer story collections

• Sixteen: Short Stories About that Sweet and Bitter Birthday edited by Megan McCafferty (Three Rivers Press, 2004)

• 21 Proms edited by David Levithan and Daniel Ehrenhaft (Scholastic, 2007)

• Every Man for Himself: Short Stories About Being a Guy edited by Nancy Mercado (Dial, 2005)

• How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity edited by Michael Cart (HarperTeen, 2009)

• Face Relations: 11 Stories About Seeing Beyond Color edited by Marilyn Singer (Simon & Schuster, 2004)

• Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci (Little, Brown and Company, 2009)

Genre fiction story collections

• Firebirds: An Anthology of Original Fantasy and Science Fiction edited by Sharyn November (Firebird, 2003)
• Firebirds Rising: An Original Anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by Sharyn November (Firebird, 2006)
• Firebirds Soaring: An Anthology of Original Speculative Fiction edited by Sharyn November (Firebird, 2009)
• Black Juice by Margo Lanagan (HarperTeen, 2005)
• White Time by Margo Lanagan (HarperTeen, 2006)
• Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan (Knopf, 2007)
• Gothic: Ten Original Dark Tales edited by Deborah Noyes (Candlewick, 2004)
• The Restless Dead: Ten Original Stories of the Supernatural edited by Deborah Noyes (Candlewick, 2007)
• Sideshow: Ten Original Tales of Freaks, Illusionists and Other Matters Odd and Magical edited by Deborah Noyes (Candlewick, 2009)