Open Books Challenge 2026: Short Story CollectionUnpublished

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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...

NYPL BEST OF THE YEAR BEST OF THE BEST, BLACK CAUCUS OF THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION A stunning collection of oral histories from Black elders who grew up in the Jim Crow South The past is not past. We may think...

Celebrate the unheralded people and stories that helped shape the game of baseball! Meet unsung pioneers, like John "Bud" Fowler, William Edward White, and brothers Moses Fleetwood Walker and Weld Walker, four African Americans who integrated white teams decades...

From the master of Filipino crime fiction, a genre-bending collection that documents murders, disappearances, and acts of violence in stories that range from procedural crime to horror to near-future noir F.H. Batacan's first novel, Smaller and Smaller Circles, was an...

A legendary collection of cryptid stories for young horror fans!Believe it or not . . . the stories in this book will SCARE YOUR SOCKS OFF! Will the Loch Ness monster upend a young boy's Scottish vacation? What happens when the Jersey Devil terrorizes a summer camp? Is Bigfoot lurking outside...

A magical collection of stories new and old spanning across all of Anne Bishop's most beloved fantasy worlds. Here, together for the first time, the shorter works of New York Times bestselling fantasy author Anne Bishop are included in one dazzling volume. A...

Beginning readers will love these spooky stories from New York Times bestselling author Max Brallier! 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-story...

A collection of moving stories passed from mother to daughter recounting life during China s Cultural Revolution. 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...

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY TIME, NPR AND ELECTRIC LIT * A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2025 BY LIT HUB, THE OC REGISTER, THE MILLIONS AND MORE * NAMED A BEST BOOK OF AUGUST 2025 BY PEOPLE MAGAZINE * NAMED A MUST-READ BOOK BY THE CHICAGO REVIEW OF...

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...

UK Children's Laureate Joseph Coelho presents twenty tiny tales--each one illustrated by a different artist, and each just ten words long--in a book that's as much a work of art as an invitation to budding writers. "Invite me in," she says, outside my tenth-story window....

"Queer, dirty, insightful, and so funny" (Andrea Lawlor), this coyly revolutionary debut story collection imagines new origins and futures for its cast of unforgettable protagonists--almost all of whom are named Sarah. FINALIST FOR THE GOLDEN POPPY AWARD FOR...

Travel back in time to unlock the secrets of the dinosaurs with these 12 fascinating true tales of prehistoric life! Join National Geographic on an expedition into the past to explore kids' favorite topic- dinosaurs! These dino-mite true tales are all the ideal length to be read...

"An emotion-filled collection." --Kirkus Reviews A CCBC 2024 Choices for the Fiction for Young Adult category! Two teens take the stage and find their voice . . . A girl learns about her heritage and begins to find her community . . . A sister is...

Pura Belpré Honor Book BEST OF THE YEAR Chicago Review of Books · Kirkus · Los Angeles Public Library Publishers Weekly Flying Start High Spirits is a collection of eleven...

Join adorable hedgehog Bean in the first picture book of a new series full of tiny stories about big everyday adventures that will warm quills - and tickle funny bones! Meet Bean, a very tiny hedgehog. She loves ghosts, swings and a stuffie called Clem. Meet Bean's grandma. She loves strawberries,...

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...

Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as having 'an imagination that most of us would kill for,' Nalo Hopkinson and her Afro-Caribbean, Canadian, and American influences shine in truly unique stories that are gorgeously strange, inventively subversive, and vividly beautiful. In Hopkinson's first...

Winner of the 2024 Drue Heinz Literature Prize Longlist, 2025 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction | Winner, Minnesota Book Awards of 2025 | Winner, 2025 CLMP Firecracker Award | Finalist, 2024 Foreword Indies Award | Cowinner, The Boston Globe's Best 75 Books of 2024...

Heartwarming stories of loss, rescue, and love from social media star and dog-rescue advocate Rocky Kanaka 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...

Discover an "absurd, funny, and thought-provoking" book perfect for "anyone who has ever felt socially awkward or inadequate" (Louis Sachar, author of Holes and the Wayside School series). Dear weird toes, crooked nose, stressed out, left out, freaked out ...

Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke award-winner Ann Leckie is a modern master of the SFF genre, forever changing its landscape with her groundbreaking ideas and powerful voice. Now, available for the first time comes the complete collection of Leckie's short fiction, including a brand new...

From the author of the New York Times bestselling Three-Body Problem series--now a Netflix Original series--A View from the Stars is a new collection of short fiction and nonfiction pieces. A VIEW FROM THE STARS features a range of short works from the...

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...

Robyn Ray is a young hockey player with lots of speed and one big problem--she can't seem to make a goal. Can her formerly famous hockey star grandpa help her build the skills she needs to score? And will her team come together when it matters most?

Revolutionary and visionary, these twenty-two speculative stories edited by Lambda, Nebula and Hugo finalist Lee Mandelo explore the vast potentialities of our queer and trans futures. USA Today Bestseller! From self-styled knights fighting in dystopian city...

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. ...

"Ann McCallum Staats has written an uplifting book profiling a handful of extraordinary women whose example proves that nothing can or should hold women back. These women push the boundaries of what was believed possible, achieving the impossible." --Milbry Polk, author of ...

"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...

Love is in the air in Serendipity, a collection of stories inspired by romantic tropes and edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer. The secret admirer. The fake relationship. The matchmaker.

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...

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...

A bold and haunting debut story collection that follows various characters as they navigate the day-to-day perils of Jim Crow racism from Diane Oliver, a missing figure in the canon of twentieth-century African American literature, with an introduction by Tayari Jones A remarkable talent...

Gilt-edged stories that slice clean through the mundanity of modern life, from the author of Same Bed Different Dreams, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize "Ed Park is one of the funniest writers working today, and...

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...

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...

Night after night, a father spins a new, fantastical bedtime story for his daughter from the other end of the telephone. Every night, at nine o'clock, wherever he is, Mr. Bianchi, an accountant who often has to travel for work, calls his daughter and tells her a bedtime story....

When you read about war in your history book or hear about it in the news, do you ever wonder what happens to the families and children in the places experiencing war? Many families in these situations decide that they must leave their homes to stay alive. What happens to them? ...

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...

Hornbeam and his friends embark on three new larger-than-life adventures in the third book in the Hornbeam series, from the creators of the Gooseberry Park, Motor Mouse, and Mr. Putter and Tabby books! Hornbeam the moose, Eureka the goose, Cuddy the bull, and Adorabelle the skunk...

From theNew York Timesbestselling team behindRad American Women A-Zcomes an illustrated collection of radical and transformative political, social, and cultural movements in American history. "An engaging, fascinating, and necessary book that speaks truth to...

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<...

The perfect introduction for learning about women throughout history who dared to do the extraordinary! Inspire our new generation of women to explore, discover, persist, succeed, and fight like a girl! A great gift for girls 9-12! Women have been doing amazing, daring, and dangerous...

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...

Back before Odd Duck, before Robot Dreams, Sara Varon created Sweaterweather. This endearing, quirky volume is a captivating look into Varon's creative process. It combines short comics stories, essays, and journal entries, and invites the reader into the world of Sara Varon:...

"While a single sentence can turn a novel, a single word can turn a short story," writes guest editor Don Winslow. The pieces featured in this collection hinge on those small, exacting moments that shock, spook, delight, and change a story entirely. A disgraced ex-cop approaches a...

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...

The thirteen stories in this collection are vintage Can Xue. Similar to her novels (The Last Lover, Frontier) and other collections (Vertical Motion) the focus is less on what happens and more on the experience of reading. Mother River is a short bildungsroman of a young man who decides to become a...