Best Teen & Young Adult Short Stories

But what if Brian hadn't been rescued? Then came a sequel, The River, and, last year, Father Water, Mother Woods, a collection of autobiographical essays introduced as the nonfiction counterpart to Hatchet. Authoritative narration makes it easy for readers to join Brian vicariously as he wields his hatchet to whittle arrows and arrowheads and a lance, hunts game, and devises clothes out of animal skins; while teasers at the ends of chapters keep the tension high ("He would hunt big tomorrow, he thought.... Then, his freeze-dried food runs out and his rifle fails, and he realizes how careless and complacent he has become. Suddenly aware of the changing seasons, he works frantically to winterize his shelter, fashion warmer clothes from animal skins, and construct a more powerful bow and arrow.

These eBooks, with writing curated by Pottermore, will take you beyond the Harry Potter stories as J.K. Rowling reveals her inspiration, intricate details of characters’ lives and surprises from the wizarding world.

‘The Ministry of Magic felt strongly, however, that to construct an additional wizarding station in the middle of London would stretch even the Muggles’ notorious determination not to notice magic when it was exploding in front of their faces.’ – J.K. Rowling Pottermore Presents is a collection of J.K. Rowling’s writing from the Pottermore archives: short reads originally featured on pottermore.com.

In Book 11 of the Ranger's Apprentice epic, fans will see never-before-published stories featuring all their favorite characters, from Will to Halt, from Horace to Alyss. "The last few years have seen the publication of many fantasies, but few have the appeal of this original story.”— Booklist , starred review, on The Ruins of Gorlan Inspired by questions and letters his loyal readers have sent over the years, John Flanagan offers a gift in response: a collection of "lost" tales that fill in the gaps between Ranger's Apprentice novels.

She shines a light not only on blatant discrimination, but also the more insidious, institutional behaviors that marginalize women around the world, in order to help readers of all walks of life better understand the often masked realities of sexual politics. Adichie, celebrated author of the acclaimed Americanah (Knopf, 2013), offers a more inclusive definition of feminism, one that strives to highlight and embrace a wide range of people and experiences. Her focus on women of color is also an aspect of the movement that hasn't always been given its due, and Adichie works in her own experience and life as a feminist within a more conservative Nigerian culture in an organic and eye-opening way.

Though Dr. Seuss is known for his peerless work in books for children, this comical look at what it's like to get older is ideal for Seuss fans of advanced years. Subtitled A Book for Obsolete Children , this unusual item in the Seuss canon doesn't really belong among the children's books. Written to celebrate the nonsense master's 82nd birthday, it follows "you" (an elderly gent in a suit and white moustache) through a physical check-up in some fiendish geriatric clinic.

Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. He expects disaster when he transfers from the reservation school to the rich, white school in Reardan, but soon finds himself making friends with both geeky and popular students and starting on the basketball team. Arnold Spirit, a goofy-looking dork with a decent jumpshot, spends his time lamenting life on the "poor-ass" Spokane Indian reservation, drawing cartoons (which accompany, and often provide more insight than, the narrative), and, along with his aptly named pal Rowdy, laughing those laughs over anything and nothing that affix best friends so intricately together. He weathers the typical teenage indignations and triumphs like a champ but soon faces far more trying ordeals as his home life begins to crumble and decay amidst the suffocating mire of alcoholism on the reservation.

Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. He expects disaster when he transfers from the reservation school to the rich, white school in Reardan, but soon finds himself making friends with both geeky and popular students and starting on the basketball team. Arnold Spirit, a goofy-looking dork with a decent jumpshot, spends his time lamenting life on the "poor-ass" Spokane Indian reservation, drawing cartoons (which accompany, and often provide more insight than, the narrative), and, along with his aptly named pal Rowdy, laughing those laughs over anything and nothing that affix best friends so intricately together. He weathers the typical teenage indignations and triumphs like a champ but soon faces far more trying ordeals as his home life begins to crumble and decay amidst the suffocating mire of alcoholism on the reservation.

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. Bilbo reluctantly joins their quest, unaware that on his journey to the Lonely Mountain he will encounter both a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum. Bilbo, along with his friend Gandalf the Wizard, embarks on an adventure with a band of dwarves that sends them into the wild and the depths of the earth to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from a dragon. What transpires as a game of riddles and escape from the creature Gollum in the Hobbit is, in fact, the foundation for an entire adventure for the whole of Middle Earth in Bilbo's later years. Inspired by the author's time serving in World War I, The Hobbit builds to a climactic battle in which many characters met throughout the book reappear.

After the local homecoming queen shows up at her family's struggling drugstore with a beauty disaster that Lucy helps to fix, Lucy has a long line of makeover customers for every school dance and bat mitzvah. Like the recent Teashop Girls , also about an enterprising preteen trying to save a family business, this novel takes an upbeat approach to serious issues—money struggles and impending foreclosure—underscoring the optimistic message that one individual can make a difference. While Mom and Grandma argue about how to handle the crisis, Lucy, an aspiring makeup artist, joins her school’s Earth Club, researches green businesses, and hatches a plan to expand the pharmacy into an eco-spa. Many young readers will recognize likable Lucy’s frustrations (“I can’t wait for the day when adults take kids seriously”), as well as her growing excitement, all expressed in an utterly believable voice: “The Earth would be healthier just because of us .

Another classic western yarn from a master storyteller, Ride Harder follows cowpuncher Bud Eugen and his resourceful fiancée Marta as they confront all of the dangers Texas in the late 1880’s holds, both old and newfangled. Gordon Rottman lives outside of Houston, Texas, served in the Army for 26 years in a number of "exciting" units, and wrote war games for Green Berets for 11 years.

Then, on Harry's eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He is left only with a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead, curiously refined sensibilities, and a host of mysterious powers to remind him that he's quite, yes, altogether different from his aunt, uncle, and spoiled, piglike cousin Dudley. Of course, Uncle Vernon yells most unpleasantly, "I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" So far it has won the National Book Award, the Smarties Prize, the Children's Book Award, and is short-listed for the Carnegie Medal, the U.K. version of the Newbery Medal. After 11 years of disregard and neglect at the hands of his aunt, uncle and their swinish son Dudley, Harry suddenly receives a visit from a giant named Hagrid, who informs Harry that his mother and father were a witch and a wizard, and that he is to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry himself.

Now a major motion picture starring Chloe Grace Moretz, Mia's story will stay with you for a long, long time. My first writing job was at Seventeen, where I spent five years on staff and as a contributor reporting the magazine’s social-issues stories. I loved writing for teens then because—contrary to popular opinion—they really care about serious issues (from child soldiers in Africa to kids embroiled in the drug war here) and the engage in their reading with such passion. And my husband is a musician; he was playing in a punk band when we met, so I’ve spent a lot of my life ensconced in that scene. Then she is standing outside her body beside their mangled Buick and her parents' corpses, watching herself and her little brother being tended by paramedics. I actually have to ask myself this), Mia is whisked away to a hospital, where, her body in a coma, she reflects on the past and tries to decide whether to fight to live. Via Mia's thoughts and flashbacks, Forman ( Sisters in Sanity ) expertly explores the teenager's life, her passion for classical music and her strong relationships with her family, friends and boyfriend, Adam. Mia's singular perspective (which will recall Alice Sebold's adult novel, The Lovely Bones ) also allows for powerful portraits of her friends and family as they cope: Please don't die. If you die, there's going to be one of those cheesy Princess Diana memorials at school, prays Mia's friend Kim.

Tossed on a ship bearing him to the icy northern reaches of Britannia, Jurian dreams of a mysterious woman and a sword driven into a stone. As the storm of fire and blood sweeps across the Empire, Jurian relinquishes his sword and the honor he most desires to fulfill the prophecy along with his destiny.

Then, on Harry's eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He is left only with a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead, curiously refined sensibilities, and a host of mysterious powers to remind him that he's quite, yes, altogether different from his aunt, uncle, and spoiled, piglike cousin Dudley. Of course, Uncle Vernon yells most unpleasantly, "I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" So far it has won the National Book Award, the Smarties Prize, the Children's Book Award, and is short-listed for the Carnegie Medal, the U.K. version of the Newbery Medal. After 11 years of disregard and neglect at the hands of his aunt, uncle and their swinish son Dudley, Harry suddenly receives a visit from a giant named Hagrid, who informs Harry that his mother and father were a witch and a wizard, and that he is to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry himself.

-Millions of copies sold-. #1 New York Times Bestseller. #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller. #1 USA Today Bestseller. #1 International Bestseller. Amazon Best Books of the Month, January 2012 : In The Fault in Our Stars , John Green has created a soulful novel that tackles big subjects--life, death, love--with the perfect blend of levity and heart-swelling emotion. The two are kindred spirits, sharing an irreverent sense of humor and immense charm, and watching them fall in love even as they face universal questions of the human condition--How will I be remembered? To help her deal with this, her doctor sends her to a weekly support group where she meets Augustus Waters, a fellow cancer survivor, and the two fall in love. After announcing he would sign all 150,000 copies of this title’s first print run, it shot to the top of Amazon and Barnes & Noble’s best-seller lists six months before publication.

Gliding over the treacherous Green in a shaky aircraft that she has no idea how to land, Violet Bates is still in shock. She has barely time to catch her breath before she is sucked into a perilous journey at breakneck speed - to uncover secrets guarded for centuries and find the only two people that matter. "Wonderful story line, it keeps you on your toes with exciting twists and turns through the entire book." "The Gender Secret is an exhilarating, heart stopping, mind blowing and jaw dropping read from the beginning to the end." "An absolutely stunning follow up to a heart pounding, innovative novel from my favorite author!!" The characters continue to grow, the story line exploded with intrigue, and it all left me hungry for more !" "I love Ms. Forrest's writing style and how she seems to capture the character's emotions so beautifully!"

A National Book Award Longlist title with eight starred reviews! Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. This story is important.” (Kirkus Reviews (starred review) ). “Though Thomas’s story is heartbreakingly topical, its greatest strength is in its authentic depiction of a teenage girl, her loving family, and her attempts to reconcile what she knows to be true about their lives with the way those lives are depicted—and completely undervalued—by society at large.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review) ). “Pair this powerful debut with Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely’s ALL AMERICAN BOYS to start a conversation on racism, police brutality, and the Black Lives Matter movement.” (School Library Journal (starred review) ). “Thomas has penned a powerful, in-your-face novel that will similarly galvanize fans of Kekla Magoon’s How It Went Down and Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely’s All American Boys.” (Horn Book (starred review) ).

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTELLER. AMAZON'S BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF 2015. PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD WINNER - FAVORITE FANTASY. BUSTLE'S BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF 2015. “This novel is a harrowing, haunting reminder of what it means to be human — and how hope might be kindled in the midst of oppression and fear.” — The Washington Post “ An Ember in the Ashes could launch Sabaa Tahir into JK Rowling territory…It has the addictive quality of The Hunger Games combined with the fantasy of Harry Potter and the brutality of Game of Thrones .” —Public Radio International " An Ember in the Ashes glows, burns, and smolders—as beautiful and radiant as it is searing." Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy. An Amazon Best Book of May 2015: If the test of a good novel is how badly you want to drop everything to finish it, then Sabaa Tahir’s debut An Ember in the Ashes gets an A+. “A setting inspired by ancient Rome; a fierce battle for freedom in the face of tyranny; and a villain who makes Cersei Lannister and Dolores Umbridge look like a pair of pathetic amateurs ... An Ember in the Ashes is at the top of our must-read list for 2015.” — MTV.com“Be prepared to be blown away by this fantasy-thriller-adventure.” — Girls’ Life “ An Ember in the Ashes is a book that's too good to put down .” — RedEye “ Perfect for fans of Maggie Stiefvater's The Scorpio Races or Sarah Maas's Throne of Glass series …The book is already set to be a film, which will be EPIC!” — TeenVogue.com* “Tahir’s deft, polished debut alternates between two very different perspectives on the same brutal world, deepening both in the contrast. I hope the world’s ready for Sabaa Tahir.” — Marie Lu, New York Times bestselling author of Legend “With An Ember in the Ashes , Sabaa Tahir shows us light in the darkness, hope in a world of despair, and the human spirit reaching for greatness in difficult times.” — #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson “ An Ember in the Ashes is a spectacular page turner that asks readers to consider how far they’d go to save the ones they love. Sabaa Tahir is the next superstar in young adult fiction and her debut is as cinematic as Gladiator and as high-stakes as Game of Thrones .”— Holly Goldberg Sloan, New York Times bestselling author of Counting by 7s “ A heart-pounding story of love and loss , with the most original world-building I’ve read all year. Deeply felt and deeply moving, I could not put it down .” — Margaret Stohl, New York Times bestselling co-author of Beautiful Creatures “This electric debut is a pulse-pounding action-packed Romeo and Juliet story in a richly imagined world with a great twist and heroic characters you’ll root for and won’t stop thinking about.” — Melissa de la Cruz, New York Times bestselling author of Frozen and The Ring and the Crown.

Then, on Harry's eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He is left only with a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead, curiously refined sensibilities, and a host of mysterious powers to remind him that he's quite, yes, altogether different from his aunt, uncle, and spoiled, piglike cousin Dudley. Of course, Uncle Vernon yells most unpleasantly, "I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" So far it has won the National Book Award, the Smarties Prize, the Children's Book Award, and is short-listed for the Carnegie Medal, the U.K. version of the Newbery Medal. After 11 years of disregard and neglect at the hands of his aunt, uncle and their swinish son Dudley, Harry suddenly receives a visit from a giant named Hagrid, who informs Harry that his mother and father were a witch and a wizard, and that he is to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry himself.

With a light-hearted introduction by bestselling author Anthony Horowitz, creator of the highly successful Alex Rider novels, most recently Snakehead . In the history of English literature, Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol , which has been continuously in print since it was first published in the winter of 1843, stands out as the quintessential Christmas story.

The first book in the blockbuster phenomenon The Maze Runner series now features chapters from the highly-anticipated series conclusion, The Fever Code, the book that finally reveals the story of how the maze was built! The Maze Runner and Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials are now major motion pictures featuring the star of MTV's Teen Wolf , Dylan O’Brien; Kaya Scodelario; Aml Ameen; Will Poulter; and Thomas Brodie-Sangster. Praise for the Maze Runner series: A #1 New York Times Bestselling Series. A USA Today Bestseller. A Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book of the Year. An ALA-YASLA Best Fiction for Young Adults Book. An ALA-YALSA Quick Pick "[A] mysterious survival saga that passionate fans describe as a fusion of Lord of the Flies , The Hunger Games , and Lost . ”— Romantic Times “James Dashner’s illuminating prequel [ The Kill Order ] will thrill fans of this Maze Runner [series] and prove just as exciting for readers new to the series.”— Shelf Awareness , Starred. Unfortunately, the question of whether the teens will escape the maze is answered 30 pages before the book ends, and the intervening chapter loses momentum. That said, The Maze Runner has a great hook, and fans of dystopian literature, particularly older fans of Jeanne DuPrau's The City of Ember (Random, 2003), will likely enjoy this title and ask for the inevitable sequel.— Kristin Anderson, Columbus Metropolitan Library System, OH END Praise for the Maze Runner series: A #1 New York Times Bestselling SeriesA USA Today BestsellerA Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book of the YearAn ALA-YASLA Best Fiction for Young Adults BookAn ALA-YALSA Quick Pick "[A] mysterious survival saga that passionate fans describe as a fusion of Lord of the Flies , The Hunger Games , and Lost . ”— Romantic Times [ STAR ] “James Dashner’s illuminating prequel [ The Kill Order ] will thrill fans of this Maze Runner [series] and prove just as exciting for readers new to the series.”— Shelf Awareness , Starred. " Take a deep breath before you start any James Dashner book.

Suddenly, Brian finds himself alone in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but a tattered Windbreaker and the hatchet his mother gave him as a present—and the dreadful secret that has been tearing him apart since his parent’s divorce. This Newbery Honor book is a dramatic, heart-stopping story of a boy who, following a plane crash in the Canadian wilderness, must learn to survive with only a hatchet and his own wits. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. Grade 8-12 Brian Robeson, 13, is the only passenger on a small plane flying him to visit his father in the Canadian wilderness when the pilot has a heart attack and dies.

5 books with over 1,000 pages of dragons, jaw dropping twists, and adventure filled with simmering romance! With over 8 million pages read in Kindle unlimited, readers are raving about the dragon kings.... While most people avoid the national parks because of the resident dragons, Aspen spends most of her free time in search of the feared and misunderstood creatures. She’d rather track dragons in the wild and through the lens of her camera than talk to real people. But even as she feels strangely drawn to the mysterious boy, she senses he’s hiding his own set of dark and powerful secrets. When hikers start turning up dead in the park, everyone suspects the formidable predators.