As English teachers, we know that our lessons are only as good as the texts they involve. Bad stories = bored students. Good stories = interested students. Amazing stories = captivated learners. It’s (sort of) that simple.
So, with that in mind, I’ve compiled the following list of short stories and included important lesson-planning info like Reading Level, Approximate Reading Time, and a quick synopsis of the plot.
I’ll start your search with six All-Star level stories that I believe are extraordinarily engaging and useful in the classroom across many grade levels.
The Short List:
#1 “The Most Dangerous Game” By Richard Connell
Full Text Available: The Most Dangerous Game
Synopsis: Ship-wrecked protagonist Rainsford meets the wealthy and enigmatic General Zaroff who lives on a private island where he hunts human beings for sport. Rainsford slowly figures out the madness of Zaroff, eventually gaining the upper hand in a dramatic finale.
Reading Level: 8th grade+ (has some high vocabulary, but the engaging story makes it accessible)
Approx. Reading Time: 35-45 minutes, not recommended for a single class period
One reason it’s worth reading: It’s about as close to a full-length psychological thriller as a written short story gets.
#2 “Raymond’s Run” By Toni Cade Bambara
Full Text Available: Raymond’s Run
Synopsis: Protagonist Squeaky prides herself on being the fastest runner in Harlem. Much of the story takes place in Squeaky’s head as she prepares for a race against a new rival, Gretchen. She considers her competitive relationships with other girls, her poverty, and especially her brother Raymond who has a mental disability. After winning the race, she decides that, while her own success is valuable, she could make Raymond into a successful racer too.
Reading Level: 6th grade+
Approx. Reading Time: About 20 minutes (great for read-aloud)
One reason it’s worth reading: It’s a simple, powerful entry point into meaningful conversations: about disability, poverty, adolescence, selfishness, and more.
#3 “The Gift of the Magii” By O. Henry
Full Text Available: The Gift of the Magi
Synopsis: A married couple, Della and James Young, find their financial situation becoming increasingly desperate as they approach the Christmas holiday. Both have a prized possession though: James’s family heirloom gold watch and Della’s beautiful hair. The story follows Della who, unable to afford proper presents for her husband, sells her hair in order to purchase a fine watch band for James. He comes home and is upset by her new appearance. His emotion stems from the fact that he too has sold his most prized possession in order to purchase Della a fine set of combs for her hair. The story then ends with a moral wrap-up connecting the Youngs and the Magi from the Bible.
Reading Level: Advanced 8th grade-10th grade (I linked to the original version of the story, but it’s been scaffolded downward in many forms for elementary school)
Approx. Reading Time: About 15 minutes
Notes: Multiple versions exist, connections to the Biblical story of the Three Wise Men
One reason it’s worth reading: It is the perfect story for teaching both “true love” and irony.
#4 “Charles” By Shirley Jackson
Full Text Available: Charles
Synopsis: A mother (the narrator) sends her son, Laurie, to Kindergarten. He returns every day with stories of a classmate named Charles who is terrorizing his teachers and peers. Slowly, the reader begins to piece together the truth that is revealed in a final twist.
Reading Level: 6th-8th grade
Approx. Reading Time: Less than 10 minutes
One reason it’s worth reading: It’s so well-crafted that you can point to the exact word where you begin to see the twist coming.
#5 “The Last Leaf” By O. Henry
Full Text Available: The Last Leaf
Synopsis: Two artists, Johnsy and Sue, move into Greenwich village. They meet an old painter named Behrman who has yet to paint his elusive masterpiece. As winter approaches, Johnsy contracts pneumonia to the extent that she believes she is on her deathbed. She fixates on a single leaf on a vine outside her window–despite the continued protests of Sue–and believes that when that last leaf falls, she will pass away. However, someone intervenes to give her the hope she needs to live (I cannot possibly spoil this story. It’s too good!).
Reading Level: Advanced 8th grade-12th grade (certainly not an easy text)
Approx. Reading Time: 10 minutes for upper high school, 15-20 minutes for middle school or early high school
One reason it’s worth reading: I had two eighth grade students–in a classroom full of peers, mind you–with tears in their eyes at the end of the story. It’s honestly that good. The American short story master at the height of his powers.
#6 The Book of Martha by Octavia Butler
Full Text Available: The Book of Martha
Synopsis: A middle-aged novelist is transported to a conversation with God who tasks her with making one single change in humanity to save it from self-destructing.
Reading Level: 9th grade+ (some more serious moments)
Approx. Reading Time: 1 hour
One reason it’s worth reading: A story about God but not really a religious or spiritual story. My favorite short story of all time. Truly a masterpiece.
The Long List:
6th-7th grade
–Raymond’s Run by Toni Cade Bambara
Read Time: 10 mins.
–Charles by Shirley Jackson
Read Time: <10 mins.
–The Treasure of Lemon Brown by Walter Dean Myers
Read Time: 15-20 mins.
Synopsis: A boy who is neglecting his education meets a homeless man who teaches him the error of his ways.
–The Third Wish by Joan Aiken
Read Time: ~10 mins.
Synopsis: Mr. Peters inadvertently saves the Forest King and requests three wishes in return for his kindness.
–Thank You, Ma’am by Langston Hughes
Read Time: 10-15 mins.
Synopsis: A teenage boy attempts to steal a middle-aged woman’s purse as she walks down the sidewalk of a city. She stops him and grabs hold of him, eventually dragging him back to her home. She reveals some information about her own past, and, after some time, he reveals he was attempting to take her purse in order to buy some suede shoes.
8th-10th grade
–The Sniper by Liam O’Flaherty
Read Time: <10 minutes for strong readers; 15-20 minutes for weaker readers
Synopsis: A lone sniper defends his post in the battleground of civil war era Dublin, eventually engaging a fellow sniper in a tense, tragic duel.
–The Gift of the Magii by O. Henry
Read Time: High School, 15 mins.; Middle School, 20-25 mins.
–The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell
Read Time: 35-45 mins.
–The Last Leaf by O. Henry
Read Time: High School, 10 mins.; Late Middle School, 15-20 mins.
–The Stolen Party by Liliana Heker
Read Time: 10+ minutes
Synopsis: A young girl named Rosaura attends a party at the home of the wealthy family who employs her mother as a maid. She vacillates between being another member of “the help” and being a true friend of the family.
–Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Read Time: 1 hour+ (not recommended for a single sitting; great in homework form)
Synopsis: Charlie Gordon, an adult man with a developmental disability, undergoes a surgery that drastically improves his mental ability. Through a series of diary entries, the reader observes Charlie’s voice and ideas growing more and more sophisticated. However, this newfound intelligence leads him to reanalyze his life and relationships in a newly critical, negative way.
–Dead Men’s Path by Chinua Achebe
Read Time: <10 minutes
Note: Written by Nigeria’s (and likely Africa’s) most-widely read modern author
Synopsis: Michael Obi is the newly installed, modern-man headmaster of the school in an old-fashioned community in 1949 Nigeria. Obi’s attempts to “modernize” the school are increasingly antagonistic toward the village’s way of life, eventually leading to the demise of his plans.
–A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury
Read Time: ~20 minutes
Synopsis: A hunter named Eckels travels back in time with a group of fellow hunters and a guide to hunt a T-Rex. The guide, Travis, insists that the hunters not disrupt any of the natural processes of the time period, but Eckels fails to obey this command, leading to far-reaching effects on the present.
–All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury
Read time: 10+ minutes
Synopsis: A young girl lives on Venus with a group of other young teenagers. She is the only one who has lived elsewhere and experienced the sun before. This fact isolates her from the rest of the kids as the colony prepares for the sun to come around for the first time in many years.
–Home by Gwendolyn Brooks
Read time:
Synopsis: A father visits the mortgage company to try to get an extension on his family’s home loan. The majority of the brief story focuses on the increasingly anxious conversation of the family members back home about whether or not the request will be granted.
Advanced 10th grade+
-Misery by Anton Chekhov
Read Time: 10 minutes for strong high school readers; 20+ for early high school readers
Synopsis: A horse drawn cab driver in 19th century St. Petersburg attempts to express his grief over the recent loss of his son to the uncaring passengers he meets throughout the night.
-Everyday Use by Alice Walker
Read Time: 15 minutes
Synopsis: A mother and daughter are visited by the mother’s oldest daughter, Dee, at the home where they still live and that Dee has moved away from. Dee goes around the home praising all of the vintage, hand-crafted items in the home that she used to curse as simple and plain. Eventually, Dee’s true intentions (collecting these objects to decorate her own home) become clear and the tension between she and her mother is on full display.
–The Lady or the Tiger by Frank Stockton
Read Time: 20+ minutes (It’s longer than it looks since the vocabulary is antiquated)
Synopsis: A “semi-barbaric” king administers justice strangely in his kingdom: by making any accused person choose between two doors–one holding back a dangerous tiger who would immediately kill the accused when released and the other a fair woman who would be immediately wed to the accused if chosen. When the king’s lovely daughter is being courted by a low-born but handsome cavalier, the king forces this young man into this same test of innocence, knowing that his daughter will remain unmarried with either result. The princess learns beforehand which door holds a beautiful damsel and which holds the blood-thirsty tiger, and she tells her lover which door to choose as he walks into the arena. The story ends without resolution, and the reader must infer for himself which door she would’ve preferred for her suitor.
–The Death of a Government Clerk by Anton Chekhov
Read Time: <10 minutes
Synopsis: Tchervyakov, a middling clerk in the Russian government, is out at the opera one night. He accidentally sneezes on the man in front of him, a high-ranking figure in the Department of Transport. He spends the rest of the story trying to apologize to this increasingly frustrated man.
–A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor
Read Time: 35+ mins. (probably too long for a single class sitting, especially in lower high school grades)
Synopsis: A grandmother and her family take a vacation. Before they leave, they hear news of a dangerous criminal, The Misfit, on the loose. The family interacts with various people as they drive toward their destination. Eventually, their car breaks down, and they are stranded on the side of the road.
–A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Read Time: 15-20 minutes
Synopsis: An elderly man who appears to be some sort of angel lands in a town. At first, he creates a large sensation, drawing crowds and great interest from spectators. Over time, though, the people of the town eventually lose interest, and he regains his strength and flies away.
–The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Read Time: 15 minutes
Synopsis: The handsome, physically imposing dead body of a man washes up on the shores of a small village. The women of the village become enamored of the man and begin imagining what his life must have been like, much to the chagrin of the men in the town. The villagers eventually hold a proper burial for the stranger.
–The Country of the Blind by HG Wells
Read Time: 1 hour+
Synopsis: An amateur explorer accidentally trips his way into the lands of an isolated village where no one has the ability to see. At first, he believes he can use his own vision to take advantage of the people, but that plan soon goes sideways as he is confronted by the complex systems they have used to survive for centuries.