SHORT STORIES
For Young Adults
No Such Thing As the Real World:
Stories About Growing Up and Getting
A Life (Harper Collins, 2009)
Complication
An Na
The Projection: A Two-Part Invention
M.T. Anderson
Survival
K.L. Going
The Longest Distance
Beth Kephart
Arrangements
Chris Lynch
The Company
Jacqueline Woodson
War Is . . . :
Soldiers, Survivors, and Storytellers
Talk About War (Candlewick, 2008)
Edited by Marc Aronson and Patty Campbell
What I Believe About War
War Is . . . ?- an introduction by Patty Campbell
People Like War - an introduction by Marc Aronson
Deciding About War
Dead marine Becomes Lesson for Students - an Associated Press
Article
Letter to a Young Enlistee - by Christian Bauman
The Recruitment Minefield - by Bill Bigelow
The Moment of Combat (an excerpt from “What Every Young
Person Should Know About War) - by Chris Hedges, with an
introduction by the author
Thou Shalt Not Kill - an interview with army chaplain Lyn Brown
The War Prayer - by Mark Twain
Masters of War - a song by Bob Dylan
Experiencing War
Letters from “Over There,” 1919 – excerpts from the World War I
letters of Fred Duane Cowan
In the Front Lines – columns by Ernie Pyle
The God-Damned Infantry
A Pure Miracle
The Horrible Waste of War
A Long Thin Line of Personal Anguish
Memories of Vietnam – by C.W. Bowman, Jr.
Letters from Vietnam – by Mickey Andrews
Women at War: What It Is Like to Be a Female Soldier in Iraq – by
Helen Benedict
Wordsmith at War – a miliblog by Lee Kelley
In Order to See Beauty in Life, I Had to See Hell – an interview
with Staff Sergeant David Bellavia
Tough – by Joel Turnipseed
A Survivor’s Tale – a Nagasaki memoir by Fumiko Miura
The Aftermath of War
Killing Flies – a one-act play by Rita Williams-Garcia
Heads – a story by Margo Lanagan
Further Reading
Copyright Acknowlegements
A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts:
A Collection of Deliciously Frightening
Tales (Henry Holt, 2009)
Author’s Note
Hungry Ghosts
The Banquet
Appetizers
Steamed Dumplings
•The Great Wall of China and Chinese Ghosts
Tea Eggs
•Food Offerings, Tea Eggs, and School Factories
Main Courses
Beef Stew
•University Entrance Exam, Mahjong, and Organ Harvesting
Tofu with Chili-Garlic Sauce
•Treatment of Mental Illness, Economic Reforms, and Monkey
Brains
Long-Life Noodles
•Buddhist Temples, Offerings, and Vegetarian Dishes
Egg Stir-Fried Rice
•Human Sacrifices
Desserts
Jasmine Almond Cookies
•Tomb Sweeping Day and Chinese Armies
Eight-Treasure Rice Pudding
•Mantis Fights, Dragon Well Tea, and Arsenic
Moccasin Thunder:
American Indian Stories for Today
(Harper Collins, 2005)
Edited by Lori Marie Carlson
Introduction – Dr. Helen Maynor Scheirbeck, Assistant Director for
Public Programs, National Museum of the American Indian
How to Get to the Planet Venus
Joy Harjo
Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw
Jimi Hendrix Play “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Woodstock
Sherman Alexie
A Real-Live Blond Cherokee and His Equally Annoyed Soul Mate
Cynthia Leitich Smith
The Last Snow of the Virgin Mary
Richard Van Camp
Crow
Linda Hogan
Ice
Joseph Bruchac
Wild Geese
Louise Erdrich
The Magic Pony
Greg Sarris
Summer Wind
Lee Francis
Drum Kiss
Susan Power
Geektastic:
Stories from the Nerd Herd (Little, Brown
and Company, 2009)
Edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci
Once You’re a Jedi All the Way – Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci
Comic: Top Five Words or Phrases You Need to Know in Klingon
One of Us – Tracy Lynn
Comic: How to Tell If Your Dice Are Lucky or Unlucky
Definitional Chaos – Scott Westerfeld
Comic: I Totally Shouldn’t Post This, But . . .
I Never – Cassandra Clare
Comic: How to Look Cool and Not Drool in Front of Your Favorite
Author
The King of Pelinesse – M.T. Anderson
Comic: How to Identify . . . the Living Dead
The Wrath of Dawn – Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith
Comic: How to Cosplay with Common Household Objects
The Quiet Knight – Garth Nix
Comic: What Your Instrument Says About You
Everyone But You – Lisa Yee
Comic: What to Remember When Going to a Convention
Secret Identity: Kelly Link
Comic: What Your Lunch Table Status Means
Freak the Geek – John Green
Comic: How to Hook Up at the Science Fair
The Truth About Dino Girl – Barry Lyga
Comic: Theater Types
This Is My Audition Monologue – Sara Zarr
Comic - the Best Ways to Stay Awake for Group Gaming
The Stars at the Finish Line – Wendy Mass
Comic: What Kind of Geek Are You?
It’s Just a Jump to the Left – Libba Bray
Tunneling to the Center of the Earth
(Harper Collins, 2009)
By Kevin Wilson
Grand Stand-In
Blowing Up on the Spot
The Dead Sister Handbook: A Guide for Sensitive Boys
Birds in the House
Mortal Kombat
Tunneling to the Center of the Earth
The Shooting Man
The Choir Director Affair (the Baby’s Teeth)
Go, Fight, Win
The Museum of Whatnot
Worst-Case Scenario
Fire: Tales of Elemental Spirits (The
Penguin Group, 2009)
By Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson
Phoenix – Peter Dickinson
Hellhound – Robin McKinley
Fireworm – Peter Dickinson
Salamander Man – Peter Dickinson
First Flight – Robin McKinley
How They Met, and Other Stories (Alfred
A. Knopf, 2008)
By David Levithan
Starbucks Boy
Miss Lucy Had a Steamboat
The Alumni Interview
The Good Witch
The Escalator, a Love Story
The Number of People Who Meet on Airplanes
Andrew Chang
Flirting with Waiters
Lost Sometimes
Princes
Breaking and Entering
Skipping the Prom
A Romantic Inclination
What a Song Can Do
Without Saying
How They Met
Memory Dance
Intersection
The Eternal Smile (First Second, 2009)
By Gene Luen Yang and Derik Kirk Kim
Duncan’s Kingdom
Grandpa Greenbax and The Eternal Smile
Urgent Request
Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: The
Complete Collection (film, 2003 – originally
aired in 1988)
•The Storyteller
•Greek Myths
Pixar Short Films Vol. 1 (film, 2007)
•Pixar’s short works from 1986 – 2006
The Adventures of Andre and Wally B.
Luxo Jr.
Red’s Dream
Tin Toy
Knick Knack
Geri’s Game
For the Birds
Mike’s New Car
Boundin’
Jack-Jack Attack
One Man Band
Mater and the Ghostlight
Lifted
The Five Is: Developmental Tasks of Teens
Intimacy
•No Such Thing As the Real World
•How They Met, and Other Stories
Intellect
•War Is . . .
•Geektastic
•The Eternal Smile
Identity
•No Such Thing As the Real World
•Moccasin Thunder
•A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts
•Geektastic
Integrity
•The Eternal Smile
•War Is . . .
•Moccasin Thunder
Independence
•No Such Thing as the Real World
•How They Met, and Other Stories
Santa Claus in Baghdad, and Other
Stories about Teens in the Arab World
(Indiana University Press, 2008)
By Elsa Marston
Santa Claus in Baghdad – a story from Iraq
Faces – a story from Syria
The Hand of Fatima – a story from Lebanon
The Olive Grove – a story from Palestine
In Line – a story from Egypt
Scenes in a Roman Theater – a story from Tunisia
Honor – a story from Jordan
The Plan – a story from a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon
CURRICULUM APPLICATIONS
History
War Is . . .
A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts
Social Studies/Cultural Studies
Moccasin Thunder
Santa Claus in Baghdad
A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts
English/Literature
No Such Thing As the Real World (esp. Na and Anderson)
Tunneling to the Center of the Earth
The Eternal Smile