Open Books Challenge 2026: Short Story CollectionUnpublished

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From New York Times bestselling author Samira Ahmed and Sona Charaipotra comes this uplifting contemporary teen anthology celebrating South Asian stories and writers. From first crushes to first heartbreaks, complicated family dynamics to community relationships, this...

Science meets real-life mystery in this adventurous look at incredible unexpected finds that changed history.Secret treasures are buried all around us -- you just have to look for them!Accidental Archaeologists takes you on an adventure through time to relive some of the coolest surprise...

In a collection of personal stories and essays, award-winning and bestselling artists from Matt de la Pena and Veera Hiranandani to Max Brallier and R.L. Stine write about how hope always wins, even in the darkest of times. Where does hope live? In your family? ...

In China, an entire generation's most formative years took place in remote rural areas when city kids were sent to the countryside to become rusticated youth and partake in Mao's mandated Great Leap Forward. In an inspiring tale, Emei Burrell shares her mother's true experience during the Down to...

Three stories of triumph combine to empower young readers to look inward for strength and create their own definition of bravery. Told in gentle, rhyming couplets, this collection of stories presents relatable moments of unease and the strength found in conquering fears. A...

Perfect for fans of All Out and Cemetery Boys, this anthology claims a seat at the table of fantasy literature for trans and gender nonconforming stories. Transness is as varied and colorful as magic can be. In Transmogrify!, you'll embark on fourteen different adventures alongside...

Bestselling author Chris Grabenstein and the Mystery Writers of America bring together twenty peerless puzzles--from bestselling authors such as Peter Lerangis, Stuart Gibbs, Lauren Magaziner, Kate Milford, and, of course, Grabenstein himself--in an anthology of mystery short...

Princess Truly gardens and has fun with her friends, across three rhyming stories perfect for beginning readers! You can read with Acorn! Pick a book. Grow a Reader! This series is part of Scholastic's early reader line, Acorn, aimed at children who are learning to read. With easy...

AN INSTANT USA TODAY BEST SELLER Kirkus Reviews Best of 2024 list, Best of Middle Grade A vibrant, heartwarming collection of 15 middle grade stories and poems that celebrates the joy, strength, and experience of Black girlhood, including stories from Ibi Zoboi, Sharon M...

Rocky Kanaka is known the world over as a dog rescue advocate. His millions of fans follow along each week as Rocky visits shelters and finds dogs in need. He often finds the most hopeless cases-dogs that have been abandoned because they're sick or their owners can no longer care for them, or they...

A beautifully illustrated collection of 5-minute bedtime stories about the wildlife found in seas and oceans around the world. Every ocean contains a thousand secrets... In this charming anthology of children's stories by Alicia Klepeis readers will be guided under the waves...

A glimmering collection of new short fiction from the Booker Prize winner. "Lively writes with an astringent blend of sympathy and detachment, emotional wisdom and satiric wit." --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times In such acclaimed novels as The...

The first LGBTQA+ anthology for middle-graders featuring stories for every letter of the acronym, including realistic, fantasy, and sci-fi stories by authors like Justina Ireland, Marieke Nijkamp, Alex Gino, and more! A boyband fandom becomes a conduit to coming out. A former...

A USA Today Bestseller  With an exclusive new introduction and some never-before-published pieces, a collection of greatest hits from one of the most beloved comedians of our time, Steve Martin, now starring in Hulu's Only Murders in the Building. ...

"This stunning collection from one of the great writers on Black culture covers the gamut- aging, love, poverty, trauma and plenty of lightness in between."-People From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of How Stella Got Her Groove Back and...

ONE OF THE WASHINGTON INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF BOOKS' BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR * From the author of the breakout novel Thistlefoot: a collection of dark fairytales and fractured folklore exploring how our passions can save us--or go monstrously wrong. "Real magic, real delight,...

"Short stories can act like little tuning forks, helping us to clarify our own values," writes guest editor Celeste Ng. "In a time when our values are being tested daily, it's hard to think of anything more important." The Best American Short Stories 2025 resonates precisely at this...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER . From We Need Diverse Books, the organization behind Flying Lessons & Other Stories, comes an inspiring middle-grade anthology that follows the loosely interconnected lives of multigenerational immigrant families, the residents at the Entrada apartment building. Edited...

Finalist for NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Debut Finalist for Caine Prize For African Writing An Oprah Daily Most Anticipated Book of 2024 "Steady-handed and gut-punching. I'm in awe."―NoViolet Bulawayo In ten vivid, evocative...

Meet Baloney! This book is about him. And also Peanut the horse, his best friend. There's Bizz the bumblebee, too, of course. And Krabbit. He'd rather not be here, but what can you do? In this graphic novel for young readers, watch our pig protagonist perform some questionable magic, cheer him on as...

A dazzling YA anthology that spotlights the transformative power of books while equipping teens to fight for the freedom to read, featuring the voices of 15 diverse, award-winning authors and illustrators. Books are disappearing from shelves across the country. What does this...

In a thrilling follow-up to Tasting Light, ten best-selling and award-winning masters of the form use the possible--and the premise of hope--to explore how science and technology can reshape our world and defy assumptions. At once a collection of hard science fiction for...

A cave monster . . . an abandoned demon . . . a ghost who wants to erase history . . . a killer commandant . . . These are just some of the challenges confronting the young heroes in this highly entertaining anthology. All but one of the heroes previously starred in a popular book from...

Don't miss the #1 New York Times bestseller everyone is raving about! From the wild and wonderful imagination of the author of Dragons Love Tacos comes this hilarious, irresistible debut collection of six totally different stories with the same exact name. In these...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER * The bestselling author of Eligible and Romantic Comedy "blends acerbic wit, shrewd insight and sharp-eyed observation [in this] bravura collection" (The Washington Post), including a story that revisits the main character from her iconic novel Prep<...

Edited by award-winning and bestselling author Cynthia Leitich Smith, this collection of intersecting stories by both new and veteran Native writers bursts with hope, joy, resilience, the strength of community, and Native pride. Native families from Nations across the...

Featuring the voices of both new and acclaimed Indigenous writers and edited by bestselling Muscogee author Cynthia Leitich Smith, this collection of interconnected stories serves up laughter, love, Native pride, and the world's best frybread. The road to Sandy June's Legendary Frybread...

From the bestselling novelist, travel writer, and "master of the short story" (NPR) comes a brilliant new collection. The stories in Paul Theroux's fascinating new collection are both exotic and domestic, their settings ranging from Hawaii to Africa and New England. Each focuses on life's...

Adventure Friends Miguel and Clarke search for a lost dog in this full-color book perfect for beginning readers! Pick a book. Grow a Reader! This series is part of Scholastic's early reader line, Acorn, aimed at children who are learning to read. With easy-to-read text, a short...

Twelve short stories in verse by bestselling and award-winning authors that explore the highs and lows of love - romantic, platonic, familial, and self-love. Love can be many things - all-consuming, fleeting, vengeful, selfless, toxic, uplifting, and always, a core part of the...

Disabled young people will be proud to see themselves reflected in this hopeful, compelling, and insightful essay collection, adapted for young adults from the critically acclaimed adult book, Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century that "sheds light on...