Stories for Younger Readers

Young Adult Stories

• American History (Cofer, Judith Ortiz)
• Apollo (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)
• The Bass, the River & Sheila Mant (W. D. Wetherell)
• Be-ers and Doers (Budge Wilson)
• A Brief Moment in the Life of Angus Bethune (Chris Crutcher)
• Cooking Time (Anita Roy)
• Customs (Julia Alvarez)
• Daughter of Invention (Julia Alvarez)
• Dead End (Rudolf Anaya)
• Eraser Tattoo (Jason Reynolds)
• Girls at Play (Celeste Ng)
• Going Fishing (Norma Fox Mazer)
• Hamadi (Naomi Shihab Nye)
• I Go Along (Richard Peck)
• Initiation (Sylvia Plath)
• Jeremiah’s Song (Walter Dean Myers)
• The Lady or the Tiger (Frank Stockton)
• The Man in the Well (Ira Sher)
• The Metaphor (Budge Wilson)
• The Moustache (Robert Cormier)
• My Sweet Sixteenth (Brenda Wilkinson)
• On The Bridge (Todd Strasser)
• Rules of the Game (Amy Tan)
• Safety of Numbers (Lucy Tan)
• Stay True Hotel (Naomi Shihab Nye)
• A Sunrise on the Veld (Doris Lessing)
• Supper (Lesléa Newman)
• Two Kinds (Amy Tan)
• Valediction (Sherman Alexie)
• Why I Learned to Cook (Sara Farizan)
• Wolf (Francesca Lia Block)

Note: Many famous children’s stories are popularized versions of folktales. Several such stories (Cinderella, The Legend of the Christmas Rose, Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots, Rumpelstiltskin, and Sleeping Beauty) can be found in our Folklore category. Because these are original versions as published by the collector, their level of English is much more difficult than that found in simplified children’s books of today.

Grade 7-8 Stories

• Abuela Invents the Zero (Judith Ortiz Cofer)
• All the Years of Her Life (Morley Callaghan)
• Amigo Brothers (Piri Thomas)
• The Ant-Lion (Judith Wright)
• Birthday Box (Jane Yolen)
• Blue (Francesca Lia Block)
• The Blue Bead (Norah Burke)
• Blues Ain’t No Mockin Bird (Toni Cade Bambara)
• Born Worker (Gary Soto)
• The Broken Chain (Gary Soto)
• The Busker (Paul Jennings)
• Checkouts (Cynthia Rylant)
• Clean Sweep (Joan Bauer)
• Click-Clack the Rattlebag (Neil Gaiman)
• A Crush (Cynthia Rylant)
• The Elevator (William Sleator)
• The Enchanted Buffalo (L. Frank Baum)
• Examination Day (Henry Slesar)
• Fox Hunt (Lensey Namioka)
• The Girl Who Can (Ama Ata Aidoo)
• Going Steady (Adam Bagdasarian)
• Gorilla, My Love (Toni Cade Bambara)
• The Great Rat Hunt (Laurence Yep)
• Gren’s Ghost (Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick)
• The Griffin and the Minor Canon (Frank Stockton)
• An Hour With Abuelo (Judith Ortiz Cofer)
• The Ingredients (Jason Reynolds)
• The Jade Bracelet (Mary Frances Chong)
• A Job for Valentin (Judith Ortiz Cofer)
• A Kidnapped Santa Clause (L. Frank Baum)
• The Lesson (Toni Cade Bambara)
• Liberty (Juila Alvarez)
• The Medicine Bag (Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve)
• Melvin in the Sixth Grade (Dana Johnson)
• The Miracle of Purun Bhagat (Rudyard Kipling)
• Monkeyman (Walter Dean Myers)
• Muffin (Susan Cooper)
• My Lucy Friend Who Smells Like Corn (Sandra Cisneros)
• Names/Nombres (Julia Alvarez)
• One Friday Morning (Langston Hughes)
• The Parsley Garden (William Saroyan)
• The People Could Fly (Hamilton)
• Popularity (Adam Bagdasarian)
• Priscilla and the Wimps (Richard Peck)
• Real Food (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)
• Shadows (Richard Peck)
• The Snake and the Mirror (Vaikom Muhammad Bashee)
• The Star-Child (Oscar Wilde)
• The Stolen Party (Liliana Heker)
• Stop the Sun (Gary Paulsen)
• The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse (William Saroyan)
• Suzy and Leah (Jane Yolen)
• Thank You, M’am (Langston Hughes)
• Three Century Woman (Richard Peck)
• A Tiger in the House (Ruskin Bond)
• The Treasure of Lemon Brown (Walter Dean Myers)
• User Friendly (Ernesto T. Bethancourt)
• The War of the Wall (Toni Cade Bambara)
• What Means Switch (Gish Jen)
• The White Umbrella (Gish Jen)
• The Widow and the Parrot (Virgina Woolf)
• Zebra (Chaim Potok)

Grade 5-6 Stories

• The All-American Slurp (Lensey Namioka)
• Big Brother / Bade Bhai Sahab (Premchand)
• The Blue Umbrella (Ruskin Bond)
• The Challenge (Gary Soto)
• The Cherry Tree (Ruskin Bond)
• A Child’s Dream of a Star (Charles Dickens)
• Christmas Every Day (W. D. Howells)
• The Circuit (Francisco Jiménez)
• Dirk the Protector (Gary Paulsen)
• Dragon, Dragon (John Gardner)
• Drying Out (Cynthia Rylant)
• Eleven (Sandra Cisneros)
• The Emperor’s New Clothes (H. C. Andersen)
• Festival of Eid / Idgah (Premchand)
• The Fifty-first Dragon (Heywood Broun)
• The Fir Tree (H. C. Andersen)
• Fish Cheeks (Amy Tan)
• Flowers and Freckle Cream (Elizabeth Ellis)
• Ghost of the Lagoon (Armstrong Sperry)
• The Golden Windows (Laura E.Richards)
• The Goodness of Matt Kaizer (Avi)
• The Grandfather and the Python (Ruskin Bond)
• Greyling (Jane Yolen)
• Her Hands That Held the Stars (Rebecca Birch)
• In the Great Walled Country (R. M. Alden)
• Inside Out (Francisco Jiménez)
• LAFFF (Lensey Namioka)
• Little Claus and Great Clause (H. C. Andersen)
• The Little Match Seller (H. C. Andersen)
• Lob’s Girl (Joan Aiken)
• Master Jacob (Howard Pyle)
• Miss Awful (Arthur Cavanaugh)
• Mother and Daughter (Gary Soto)
• Mowgli’s Brothers (Rudyard Kipling)
• My Father Goes to Court (Carlos Bulosan)
• Nadia the Willful (Sue Alexander)
• The (Chinese) Nightingale (H. C. Andersen)
• The Nightingale and the Rose (Oscar Wilde)
• The Philanthropist’s Christmas (J. W. Linn)
• Pigs is Pigs (Ellis Parker Butler)
• President Cleveland, Where Are You? (Robert Cormier)
• Pret in the House / Ghost Trouble (Ruskin Bond)
• The Prince Who Wasn’t Hungry (Carolyn Sherwin Bailey)
• Raymond’s Run (Toni Cade Bambara)
• The Reluctant Dragon (Kenneth Grahame)
• Ribbons (Laurence Yep)
• Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (Rudyard Kipling)
• The Sand-Castle (Alma Luz Villanueva)
• The Scholarship Jacket (Marta Salinas)
• The School Play (Gary Soto)
• Scout’s Honor (Avi)
• Seibei’s Gourds /The Artist (Shiga Naoya)
• The Selfish Giant (Oscar Wilde)
• The Serial Garden (Joan Aiken)
• Seventh Grade (Gary Soto)
• Sometimes a Dream Needs a Push (Walter Dean Myers)
• The Stone (Lloyd Alexander)
• Teacher Tamer (Avi)
• The Third Wish (Joan Aiken)
• Tuesday of the Other June (Norma Fox Mazer)
• The Water of Life (Howard Pyle)
• What Do Fish Have to Do with Anything? (Avi)
• What the Old Man Does is Always Right (H. C. Andersen)
• Zlateh the Goat (Isaac Bashevis Singer)
• Zoo (Edward Hoch)

Grade 3-4 Stories

• Bigfoot Cinderrrrrella (Tony Johnston)
• The Blind Men and the Elephant (James Baldwin)
• The Champion of Quiet (Tracy Stewart)
• A Change of Aunts (Vivien Alcock)
• Do What You Can (Carolyn Sherwin Bailey)
• A Fish Named Dog (Christyne Morrell)
• The Fun They Had (Isaac Asimov)
• The Giving Tree (Shel Silverstein)
• Grandad’s Gifts (Paul Jennings)
• Grandpas’s Magic Hat (Marilyn Helmer)
• Kissy Face (Nancy Jean Northcutt)
• Licked (Paul Jennings)
• The Magic Sweet Shop (Enid Blyton)
• The Patient Cat (Laura E.Richards)
• The Pig That Went to Market (Enid Blyton)
• Shells (Cynthia Rylant)
• Smart Ice-cream (Paul Jennings)
• Stray (Cynthia Rylant)
• The Tale of Two Oxen (Premchand)
• Two Dollars (Sharona Vedol)
• The Velveteen Rabbit (Margery Williams)
• The Whisperer (Vivien Alcock)