YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Short Stories
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Tasting Light: Ten Science Fiction Stories to Rewire Your Perceptions
Price: $12.99
Pub Date: November 14, 2023
Format: Paperback
"A top-notch hard science fiction collection."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
What does the future hold? Ten speculative short stories by leading young-adult authors imagine what the world could be through the lens of technologies emerging today. When the modification industry transforms how humans look, sound, and interact, a nonbinary teen braves the “reinvention room” to accept a gift from the dead. In an accidental city in space, a young apprentice holds neighborhoods together with braided carbon filaments until distraction and inspiration arrive in the wake of a visitor. Entitlement-fueled drug use alters the landscape of white privilege, robots remember the Earth, and corporate “walkers” stroll for unknown subscribers—until one hacks the system. In tales buzzing with possibility, hope, innovation, anger, and tenderness, Tasting Light offers a dazzling challenge to connect with open minds, hearts, and senses in a fast-changing world.
With stories by:
William Alexander * K. Ancrum * Elizabeth Bear * A. R. Capetta * Charlotte Nicole Davis * Nasugraq Rainey Hopson * A.S. King * E.C. Myers * Junauda Petrus-Nasah * Wendy Xu
First-Year Orientation
Price: $9.99
Pub Date: April 4, 2023
Format: Paperback
Sixteen acclaimed authors—including a National Book Award nominee, a New York Times best-selling novelist, and a beloved actress—join forces for a cross-genre YA anthology of linked short stories about the first days of college.
Jilly cannot believe her parents keep showing up at all of her orientation events. (Except, yes, she can totally believe that.) Isaac wants to be known as someone other than the kid who does magic and has an emotional support bunny. Lilly is stuck working at the college bookstore during orientation (but maybe new friends are closer than they appear). Hira, meanwhile, just wants to retire from ghost hunting once and for all, but a spirit in the library’s romance section has other ideas. For their sophomore effort, the contributing editors behind the critically acclaimed Battle of the Bands admit us to opening day at a fictional college, with a collection that makes an ideal high school graduation gift or “summer-before” read. This colorful array of stories spans genres and moods—from humorous to heartfelt to ghostly—tackling with sensitivity, humor, and warmth what it feels like to take those first shaky steps into adulthood.
With stories by:
Adi Alsaid * Anna Birch * Bryan Bliss * Gloria Chao * Jennifer Chen * Olivia A. Cole * Dana L. Davis * Kristina Forest * Lauren Gibaldi * Kathleen Glasgow * Sam Maggs * Farah Naz Rishi * Lance Rubin * Aminah Mae Safi * Eric Smith * Phil Stamper
Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, Blow
Four Novellas by Daniel Nayeri
Price: $11.99
Pub Date: September 27, 2022
Format: Paperback
“Language lovers as well as those who appreciate the artistry of a perfectly compact novella will consider this collection a treasure.” —Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)
This bold collection of novellas by Daniel Nayeri features four modern riffs on classic genres that explore universally compelling themes such as identity and belonging, betrayal and friendship, love and mortality:
Straw House: A Western sizzling with suspense is set in a land where a rancher grows soulless humans and a farmer grows living toys.
Wood House: A science-fiction tale plunges the reader into a future where reality and technology blend imperceptibly, and a teenage girl must race to save the world from a nano-revolution that a corporation calls “ReCreation Day.”
Brick House: A detective story set in modern New York City featuring a squad of “wish police” and a team of unlikely detectives.
Blow: A comedic love story told by none other than Death himself, portrayed as a handsome and charismatic hero who may steal your heart in more ways than one.
Filled with humor, suspense, and relatable prose, this cutting-edge collection dazzles.
Rural Voices
15 Authors Challenge Assumptions About Small-Town America
Price: $11.99
Pub Date: July 12, 2022
Format: Paperback
“From laughing out loud to holding back tears, readers who enjoy emotionally resonant books will not be disappointed” —School Library Journal
Gracie sees a chance of fitting in at her South Carolina private school, until a “white trash”–themed Halloween party has her steering clear of the rich kids. Samuel’s Tejano family has both stood up to oppression and been a source of it, but now he’s ready to own his true sexual identity. A Puerto Rican teen in Utah discovers that being a rodeo queen means embracing her heritage, not shedding it. . . .
For most of America’s history, rural people and culture have been casually mocked, stereotyped, and deeply misunderstood. Now an array of short stories, poetry, graphic short stories, and personal essays, along with anecdotes from the authors’ real lives, dives deep into the complexity and diversity of rural America and the people who call it home. Fifteen extraordinary authors—diverse in ethnic background, sexual orientation, geographic location, and socioeconomic status—explore the challenges, beauty, and nuances of growing up in rural America. From a mountain town in New Mexico to the gorges of New York to the arctic tundra of Alaska, you’ll find yourself visiting parts of this country you might not know existed—and meet characters whose lives might be surprisingly similar to your own.
With contributions by:
David Bowles
Joseph Bruchac
Veeda Bybee
Nora Shalaway Carpenter
Shae Carys
S. A. Cosby
Rob Costello
Randy DuBurke
David Macinnis Gill
Nasugraq Rainey Hopson
Estelle Laure
Yamile Saied Méndez
Ashley Hope Pérez
Tirzah Price
Monica Roe
Battle of the Bands
Price: $18.99
Pub Date: September 7, 2021
Format: Hardcover
Fifteen young adult authors and one real-life rock star band together for one epic—and interconnected—take on a memorable high school rite of passage.
A daughter of rock ’n’ roll royalty has a secret crush. A lonely ticket taker worries about his sister. An almost-famous songwriter nurses old wounds. A stage manager tires of being behind the scenes. A singer-songwriter struggles to untangle her feelings for her best friend and his girlfriend. In this live-out-loud anthology, the disparate protagonists of sixteen stories are thrown together for one unforgettable event: their high school’s battle of the bands. Told in a harmonic blend of first- and third-person narrative voices, roughly chronological short stories offer a kaleidoscopic view of the same transformative night. Featuring an entry from Justin Courtney Pierre, lead vocalist of Motion City Soundtrack, Battle of the Bands is a celebration of youth, music, and meeting the challenges of life head-on.
With stories by Brittany Cavallaro, Preeti Chhibber, Jay Coles, Katie Cotugno, Lauren Gibaldi, Shaun David Hutchinson, Ashley Poston, Jenny Torres Sanchez, Sarah Nicole Smetana, Eric Smith, Jenn Marie Thorne, Sarvenaz Taghavian, Jasmine Warga, Ashley Woodfolk, and Jeff Zentner, and featuring Motion City Soundtrack’s Justin Courtney Pierre.
We Are All His Creatures: Tales of P. T. Barnum, the Greatest Showman
Price: $17.99
Pub Date: March 10, 2020
Format: Hardcover
In a series of interwoven fictionalized stories, Deborah Noyes gives voice to the marginalized women in P. T. Barnum’s family — and the talented entertainers he built his entertainment empire on.
Much has been written about P. T. Barnum — legendary showman, entrepreneur, marketing genius, and one of the most famous nineteenth-century personalities. For those who lived in Barnum’s shadow, however, life was complex. P. T. Barnum’s two families — his family at home, including his two wives and his daughters, and his family at work, including Little People, a giantess, an opera singer, and many sideshow entertainers — suffered greatly from his cruelty and exploitation. Yet, at the same time, some of his performers, such as General Tom Thumb (Charles Stratton), became wealthy celebrities who were admired and feted by presidents and royalty. In this collection of interlinked stories illustrated with archival photographs, Deborah Noyes digs deep into what is known about the people in Barnum’s orbit and imagines their personal lives, putting front and center the complicated joy and pain of what it meant to be one of Barnum’s “creatures.”
The Radical Element
12 Stories of Daredevils, Debutantes & Other Dauntless Girls
Price: $12.99
Pub Date: September 24, 2019
Format: Paperback
“These are tales across time and cultures, offering diverse women as witnesses to historical times. . . . A needed collection to broaden understanding of the many different faces of history.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
To respect yourself, to love yourself, should not have to be a radical decision. It’s a decision that must be faced when you’re balancing on the tightrope of neurodivergence, finding your way as a second-generation immigrant, or facing down American racism even while loving America. And it’s the only decision when you’ve weighed society’s expectations and found them wanting. In The Radical Element, twelve of the most talented writers working in young adult literature today shine a light on a century and a half of heroines on the margins and in the intersections, standing up for themselves and their beliefs — whether that means secretly learning Hebrew in early Savannah, using the family magic to pass as white in 1920s Hollywood, or singing in a feminist punk band in 1980s Boston.
Original stories by:
Dahlia Adler
Erin Bowman
Dhonielle Clayton
Sara Farizan
Mackenzi Lee
Stacey Lee
Anna-Marie McLemore
Meg Medina
Marieke Nijkamp
Megan Shepherd
Jessica Spotswood
Sarvenaz Tash
Monstrous Affections
An Anthology of Beastly Tales
Price: $14.99
Pub Date: August 13, 2019
Format: Paperback
“Some of these tales are moving, others terrifying. . . . Long after the last page is turned, these tales will linger in readers’ brains, in their closets, under their beds, and in the shadows.” — School Library Journal (starred review)
Predatory kraken that sing; band members and betrayed friends who happen to be demonic; harpies as likely to attract as repel. Welcome to a world where humans live side by side with monsters. Here you’ll find an architect of hell on earth, spectral boy toys, a Maori force of nature, and a landform that claims lives. Fifteen top voices in speculative fiction explore the intersection of fear and love in a haunting, at times hilarious, darkly imaginative volume.
With monstrous stories by:
M. T. Anderson
Paolo Bacigalupi
Nathan Ballingrud
Holly Black
Sarah Rees Brennan
Cassandra Clare
Nalo Hopkinson
Dylan Horrocks
Nik Houser
Alice Sola Kim
Kathleen Jennings
Joshua Lewis
Kelly Link
Patrick Ness
G. Carl Purcell
A Tyranny of Petticoats
15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers & Other Badass Girls
Price: $9.99
Pub Date: March 13, 2018
Format: Paperback
“The heroines are tough and memorable and full of heart, and the concept is irresistible.” — Booklist (starred review)
Join an impressive sisterhood of today’s most talented YA writers for a thrill ride through history with American girls charting their own course. They are monsters and mediums, bodyguards and barkeeps, screenwriters and schoolteachers, heiresses and hobos. They're making their own way in often-hostile lands, using every weapon in their arsenals, facing down murderers and marriage proposals, ghosts and goddesses. And they all have a story to tell.
With stories by:
J. Anderson Coats
Andrea Cremer
Y. S. Lee
Katherine Longshore
Marie Lu
Kekla Magoon
Marissa Meyer
Saundra Mitchell
Beth Revis
Caroline Richmond
Lindsay Smith
Jessica Spotswood
Robin Talley
Leslye Walton
Elizabeth Wein
Poe: Stories and Poems
A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Gareth Hinds
Price: $16.99
Pub Date: August 1, 2017
Format: Paperback
In a thrilling adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s best-known works, acclaimed artist-adapter Gareth Hinds translates Poe's dark genius into graphic-novel format.
It is true that I am nervous. But why will you say that I am mad?
In “The Cask of Amontillado,” a man exacts revenge on a disloyal friend at carnival, luring him into catacombs below the city. In “The Masque of the Red Death,” a prince shielding himself from plague hosts a doomed party inside his abbey stronghold. A prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition, faced with a swinging blade and swarming rats, can’t see his tormentors in “The Pit and the Pendulum,” and in “The Tell-Tale Heart,” a milky eye and a deafening heartbeat reveal the effects of conscience and creeping madness. Alongside these tales are visual interpretations of three poems — “The Raven,” “The Bells,” and Poe’s poignant elegy to lost love, “Annabel Lee.” The seven concise graphic narratives, keyed to thematic icons, amplify and honor the timeless legacy of a master of gothic horror.

Tasting Light: Ten Science Fiction Stories to Rewire Your Perceptions
Price: $12.99
Pub Date: November 14, 2023
Format: Paperback
"A top-notch hard science fiction collection."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
What does the future hold? Ten speculative short stories by leading young-adult authors imagine what the world could be through the lens of technologies emerging today. When the modification industry transforms how humans look, sound, and interact, a nonbinary teen braves the “reinvention room” to accept a gift from the dead. In an accidental city in space, a young apprentice holds neighborhoods together with braided carbon filaments until distraction and inspiration arrive in the wake of a visitor. Entitlement-fueled drug use alters the landscape of white privilege, robots remember the Earth, and corporate “walkers” stroll for unknown subscribers—until one hacks the system. In tales buzzing with possibility, hope, innovation, anger, and tenderness, Tasting Light offers a dazzling challenge to connect with open minds, hearts, and senses in a fast-changing world.
With stories by:
William Alexander * K. Ancrum * Elizabeth Bear * A. R. Capetta * Charlotte Nicole Davis * Nasugraq Rainey Hopson * A.S. King * E.C. Myers * Junauda Petrus-Nasah * Wendy Xu
First-Year Orientation
Price: $9.99
Pub Date: April 4, 2023
Format: Paperback
Sixteen acclaimed authors—including a National Book Award nominee, a New York Times best-selling novelist, and a beloved actress—join forces for a cross-genre YA anthology of linked short stories about the first days of college.
Jilly cannot believe her parents keep showing up at all of her orientation events. (Except, yes, she can totally believe that.) Isaac wants to be known as someone other than the kid who does magic and has an emotional support bunny. Lilly is stuck working at the college bookstore during orientation (but maybe new friends are closer than they appear). Hira, meanwhile, just wants to retire from ghost hunting once and for all, but a spirit in the library’s romance section has other ideas. For their sophomore effort, the contributing editors behind the critically acclaimed Battle of the Bands admit us to opening day at a fictional college, with a collection that makes an ideal high school graduation gift or “summer-before” read. This colorful array of stories spans genres and moods—from humorous to heartfelt to ghostly—tackling with sensitivity, humor, and warmth what it feels like to take those first shaky steps into adulthood.
With stories by:
Adi Alsaid * Anna Birch * Bryan Bliss * Gloria Chao * Jennifer Chen * Olivia A. Cole * Dana L. Davis * Kristina Forest * Lauren Gibaldi * Kathleen Glasgow * Sam Maggs * Farah Naz Rishi * Lance Rubin * Aminah Mae Safi * Eric Smith * Phil Stamper
Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, Blow
Four Novellas by Daniel Nayeri
Price: $11.99
Pub Date: September 27, 2022
Format: Paperback
“Language lovers as well as those who appreciate the artistry of a perfectly compact novella will consider this collection a treasure.” —Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)
This bold collection of novellas by Daniel Nayeri features four modern riffs on classic genres that explore universally compelling themes such as identity and belonging, betrayal and friendship, love and mortality:
Straw House: A Western sizzling with suspense is set in a land where a rancher grows soulless humans and a farmer grows living toys.
Wood House: A science-fiction tale plunges the reader into a future where reality and technology blend imperceptibly, and a teenage girl must race to save the world from a nano-revolution that a corporation calls “ReCreation Day.”
Brick House: A detective story set in modern New York City featuring a squad of “wish police” and a team of unlikely detectives.
Blow: A comedic love story told by none other than Death himself, portrayed as a handsome and charismatic hero who may steal your heart in more ways than one.
Filled with humor, suspense, and relatable prose, this cutting-edge collection dazzles.
Rural Voices
15 Authors Challenge Assumptions About Small-Town America
Price: $11.99
Pub Date: July 12, 2022
Format: Paperback
“From laughing out loud to holding back tears, readers who enjoy emotionally resonant books will not be disappointed” —School Library Journal
Gracie sees a chance of fitting in at her South Carolina private school, until a “white trash”–themed Halloween party has her steering clear of the rich kids. Samuel’s Tejano family has both stood up to oppression and been a source of it, but now he’s ready to own his true sexual identity. A Puerto Rican teen in Utah discovers that being a rodeo queen means embracing her heritage, not shedding it. . . .
For most of America’s history, rural people and culture have been casually mocked, stereotyped, and deeply misunderstood. Now an array of short stories, poetry, graphic short stories, and personal essays, along with anecdotes from the authors’ real lives, dives deep into the complexity and diversity of rural America and the people who call it home. Fifteen extraordinary authors—diverse in ethnic background, sexual orientation, geographic location, and socioeconomic status—explore the challenges, beauty, and nuances of growing up in rural America. From a mountain town in New Mexico to the gorges of New York to the arctic tundra of Alaska, you’ll find yourself visiting parts of this country you might not know existed—and meet characters whose lives might be surprisingly similar to your own.
With contributions by:
David Bowles
Joseph Bruchac
Veeda Bybee
Nora Shalaway Carpenter
Shae Carys
S. A. Cosby
Rob Costello
Randy DuBurke
David Macinnis Gill
Nasugraq Rainey Hopson
Estelle Laure
Yamile Saied Méndez
Ashley Hope Pérez
Tirzah Price
Monica Roe
Battle of the Bands
Price: $18.99
Pub Date: September 7, 2021
Format: Hardcover
Fifteen young adult authors and one real-life rock star band together for one epic—and interconnected—take on a memorable high school rite of passage.
A daughter of rock ’n’ roll royalty has a secret crush. A lonely ticket taker worries about his sister. An almost-famous songwriter nurses old wounds. A stage manager tires of being behind the scenes. A singer-songwriter struggles to untangle her feelings for her best friend and his girlfriend. In this live-out-loud anthology, the disparate protagonists of sixteen stories are thrown together for one unforgettable event: their high school’s battle of the bands. Told in a harmonic blend of first- and third-person narrative voices, roughly chronological short stories offer a kaleidoscopic view of the same transformative night. Featuring an entry from Justin Courtney Pierre, lead vocalist of Motion City Soundtrack, Battle of the Bands is a celebration of youth, music, and meeting the challenges of life head-on.
With stories by Brittany Cavallaro, Preeti Chhibber, Jay Coles, Katie Cotugno, Lauren Gibaldi, Shaun David Hutchinson, Ashley Poston, Jenny Torres Sanchez, Sarah Nicole Smetana, Eric Smith, Jenn Marie Thorne, Sarvenaz Taghavian, Jasmine Warga, Ashley Woodfolk, and Jeff Zentner, and featuring Motion City Soundtrack’s Justin Courtney Pierre.
We Are All His Creatures: Tales of P. T. Barnum, the Greatest Showman
Price: $17.99
Pub Date: March 10, 2020
Format: Hardcover
In a series of interwoven fictionalized stories, Deborah Noyes gives voice to the marginalized women in P. T. Barnum’s family — and the talented entertainers he built his entertainment empire on.
Much has been written about P. T. Barnum — legendary showman, entrepreneur, marketing genius, and one of the most famous nineteenth-century personalities. For those who lived in Barnum’s shadow, however, life was complex. P. T. Barnum’s two families — his family at home, including his two wives and his daughters, and his family at work, including Little People, a giantess, an opera singer, and many sideshow entertainers — suffered greatly from his cruelty and exploitation. Yet, at the same time, some of his performers, such as General Tom Thumb (Charles Stratton), became wealthy celebrities who were admired and feted by presidents and royalty. In this collection of interlinked stories illustrated with archival photographs, Deborah Noyes digs deep into what is known about the people in Barnum’s orbit and imagines their personal lives, putting front and center the complicated joy and pain of what it meant to be one of Barnum’s “creatures.”
The Radical Element
12 Stories of Daredevils, Debutantes & Other Dauntless Girls
Price: $12.99
Pub Date: September 24, 2019
Format: Paperback
“These are tales across time and cultures, offering diverse women as witnesses to historical times. . . . A needed collection to broaden understanding of the many different faces of history.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
To respect yourself, to love yourself, should not have to be a radical decision. It’s a decision that must be faced when you’re balancing on the tightrope of neurodivergence, finding your way as a second-generation immigrant, or facing down American racism even while loving America. And it’s the only decision when you’ve weighed society’s expectations and found them wanting. In The Radical Element, twelve of the most talented writers working in young adult literature today shine a light on a century and a half of heroines on the margins and in the intersections, standing up for themselves and their beliefs — whether that means secretly learning Hebrew in early Savannah, using the family magic to pass as white in 1920s Hollywood, or singing in a feminist punk band in 1980s Boston.
Original stories by:
Dahlia Adler
Erin Bowman
Dhonielle Clayton
Sara Farizan
Mackenzi Lee
Stacey Lee
Anna-Marie McLemore
Meg Medina
Marieke Nijkamp
Megan Shepherd
Jessica Spotswood
Sarvenaz Tash
Monstrous Affections
An Anthology of Beastly Tales
Price: $14.99
Pub Date: August 13, 2019
Format: Paperback
“Some of these tales are moving, others terrifying. . . . Long after the last page is turned, these tales will linger in readers’ brains, in their closets, under their beds, and in the shadows.” — School Library Journal (starred review)
Predatory kraken that sing; band members and betrayed friends who happen to be demonic; harpies as likely to attract as repel. Welcome to a world where humans live side by side with monsters. Here you’ll find an architect of hell on earth, spectral boy toys, a Maori force of nature, and a landform that claims lives. Fifteen top voices in speculative fiction explore the intersection of fear and love in a haunting, at times hilarious, darkly imaginative volume.
With monstrous stories by:
M. T. Anderson
Paolo Bacigalupi
Nathan Ballingrud
Holly Black
Sarah Rees Brennan
Cassandra Clare
Nalo Hopkinson
Dylan Horrocks
Nik Houser
Alice Sola Kim
Kathleen Jennings
Joshua Lewis
Kelly Link
Patrick Ness
G. Carl Purcell
A Tyranny of Petticoats
15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers & Other Badass Girls
Price: $9.99
Pub Date: March 13, 2018
Format: Paperback
“The heroines are tough and memorable and full of heart, and the concept is irresistible.” — Booklist (starred review)
Join an impressive sisterhood of today’s most talented YA writers for a thrill ride through history with American girls charting their own course. They are monsters and mediums, bodyguards and barkeeps, screenwriters and schoolteachers, heiresses and hobos. They're making their own way in often-hostile lands, using every weapon in their arsenals, facing down murderers and marriage proposals, ghosts and goddesses. And they all have a story to tell.
With stories by:
J. Anderson Coats
Andrea Cremer
Y. S. Lee
Katherine Longshore
Marie Lu
Kekla Magoon
Marissa Meyer
Saundra Mitchell
Beth Revis
Caroline Richmond
Lindsay Smith
Jessica Spotswood
Robin Talley
Leslye Walton
Elizabeth Wein
Poe: Stories and Poems
A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Gareth Hinds
Price: $16.99
Pub Date: August 1, 2017
Format: Paperback
In a thrilling adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s best-known works, acclaimed artist-adapter Gareth Hinds translates Poe's dark genius into graphic-novel format.
It is true that I am nervous. But why will you say that I am mad?
In “The Cask of Amontillado,” a man exacts revenge on a disloyal friend at carnival, luring him into catacombs below the city. In “The Masque of the Red Death,” a prince shielding himself from plague hosts a doomed party inside his abbey stronghold. A prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition, faced with a swinging blade and swarming rats, can’t see his tormentors in “The Pit and the Pendulum,” and in “The Tell-Tale Heart,” a milky eye and a deafening heartbeat reveal the effects of conscience and creeping madness. Alongside these tales are visual interpretations of three poems — “The Raven,” “The Bells,” and Poe’s poignant elegy to lost love, “Annabel Lee.” The seven concise graphic narratives, keyed to thematic icons, amplify and honor the timeless legacy of a master of gothic horror.