If there is one thing that my students and I share, it is our love for short stories for high school. They may not choose to read short stories on their own time, but they get very excited when the story I choose to teach a concept is short. I find that because they are short stories, they pack a stronger emotional punch. Short stories for high school elicit real reactions, especially if the author manages to surprise them. Short stories for high school are the thing I use most often to teach literary devices, act as mentor text for our writing, and get students excited about reading. Here is a collection of 55 short stories for high school students.
1. “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl
“‘I’ll fix some supper,’ she whispered. When she walked across the room, she couldn’t feel her feet touching the floor. She couldn’t feel anything except a slight sickness. She did everything without thinking. She went downstairs to the freezer and took hold of the first object she found. She lifted it out, and looked at it. It was wrapped in paper, so she took off the paper and looked at again—a leg of lamb.
Why I love it: The dramatic irony. The discussion that follows: Who is the innocent lamb in this story?
2. “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell
“The world is made up of two classes—the hunters and the huntees.”
Why I love it: This is one of those short stories for high school that engages all of my students. I love to ask them what they think the most dangerous game in the world is. I like to watch them figure out what is about to happen as we read through the story.
3. “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl
“‘I stuff all my little pets myself when they pass away. Will you have another cup of tea?’”
Why I love it: This story is great for suspense, irony, and characterization. It always creeps students out.
4. “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury
“I think the sun is a flower / That blooms for just one hour.”
Why I love it: This story is heartbreaking and truth-telling. Bradbury takes us to Venus and uses the setting to drive the conflict and focus on the character’s behavior.
5. “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury
“Too much of anything isn’t good for anyone.”
Why I love it: It’s a dystopian story about the power of technology in our lives. It’s easy to connect to students’ lives.
6. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
“There’s always been a lottery.”
Why I love it: The brutality of this story sneaks up on you. For a while, you’re convinced this town is ordinary until you find out the dark consequences of blindly following tradition.
7. “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe
“It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night.”
Why I love it: My students love a murder mystery. This one is made even more alluring while the narrator tries to convince the readers of his sanity.
8. “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry
“The James Dillingham Youngs were very proud of two things which they owned. One thing was Jim’s gold watch. … The other thing was Della’s hair.”
Why I love it: It’s one of the best stories for high school to teach irony during the holiday season.
9. “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs
“Never mind, dear,” said his wife soothingly; perhaps you’ll win the next one.”
Why I love it: One of the classic short stories for high school about what can go wrong when granted three wishes. Students also love to know that there was a Simpsons episode based on this short story.
10. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber
“The District Attorney suddenly thrust a heavy automatic at the quiet figure on the witness stand. ‘Have you ever seen this before?’ Walter Mitty took the gun and examined it expertly. ‘This is my Webley-Vickers 50.80,’ he said calmly. An excited buzz ran around the courtroom.”
Why I love it: This story moves from the ordinary to the extraordinary. It highlights the mundane adult life while the main character escapes to fantastical situations, inspired by his surroundings. Bonus: the movie version that was released in 2013.
11. “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula K. LeGuin
“This is the treason of the artist: a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain.”
Why I love it: This story encourages high school students to consider the cost of happiness.
12. “Araby” by James Joyce
“Her name sprang to my lips at moments in strange prayers and praises which I myself did not understand. My eyes were often full of tears (I could not tell why) and at times a flood from my heart seemed to pour itself out into my bosom. I thought little of the future. I did not know whether I would ever speak to her or not or, if I spoke to her, how I could tell her of my confused adoration.”
Why I love it: It’s about growing up and developing a crush that is all-consuming.
13. “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury
“It fell to the floor, an exquisite thing, a small thing that could upset balances and knock down a line of small dominoes and then big dominoes and then gigantic dominoes, all down the years across Time. Eckels’ mind whirled. It couldn’t change things. Killing one butterfly couldn’t be that important! Could it?”
Why I love it: It’s a short story about the butterfly effect. The plot asks the question many have asked before, if we could travel back in time, how would it change the future?
14. “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan
“My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America.”
Why I love it: It explores the complex mother-daughter relationship.
15. “Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan
“Next time win more, lose less.”
Why I love it: Use this for an example of extended metaphor and, again, the dynamics of a mother-daughter relationship.
16. “Eraser Tattoo” by Jason Reynolds
“He knew the sting wouldn’t last forever. But the scar would.”
Why I love it: I love a teenage love story. Focus on the symbolism of the eraser tattoo.
17. “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst
“All of us must have something or someone to be proud of.”
Why I love it: A beautifully written heartbreaking story about brothers.
18. “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” Flannery O’Connor
“‘It isn’t a soul in this green world of God’s that you can trust,’ she said. ‘And I don’t count nobody out of that, not nobody,’ she repeated, looking at Red Sammy.”
Why I love it: It’s a great story for studying characters, their flaws, and their transformation by the end of the story.
19. “Ruthless” by William de Mille
“When it comes to protecting my property, I make my own laws.”
Why I love it: It’s a tale of revenge with unexpected twists and turns.
20. “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin
“When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease—of joy that kills.”
Why I love it: It makes you ponder the question: Can a person die of a broken heart?
21. “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros
“What they don’t understand about birthdays, and what they’ll never tell you, is that when you’re eleven, you’re also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one.”
Why I love it: I use this when I teach creative writing. What changes when we turn 11? How are we different from when we were 10? Most agree that it is a significant change.
22. “The Test” by Theodore Thomas
“Nobody should want to drive a car after going through what you just went through.”
Why I love it: Your students will not see the ending coming.
23. “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury
“And one voice, with sublime disregard for the situation, read poetry … until all the film spools burned, until all the wires withered and the circuits cracked.”
Why I love it: Use this futuristic story to teach setting, foreshadowing, and theme.
24. “The Schoolmistress” by Anton Chekhov
“‘It is beyond all understanding,’ she thought, ‘why God gives beauty, this graciousness, and sad, sweet eyes to weak, unlucky, useless people—why they are so charming.’”
Why I love it: We get to see simple moments become symbols for larger happenings in her life.
25. “Lob’s Girl” by Joan Aiken
“Some people choose their dogs, and some dogs choose their people.”
Why I love it: Read it for a tale of friendship paired with elements of suspense.
26. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce
“He had power only to feel, and feeling was torment.”
Why I love it: The ending will shock your students.
27. “The Chaser” by John Collier
“‘She will want to know all you do,’ said the old man. ‘All that has happened to you during the day. Every word of it. She will want to know what you are thinking about, why you smile suddenly, why you are looking sad.’”
Why I love it: For the discussion afterward, what would you be willing to do for love? Bonus: Pair with a Twilight Zone episode.
28. “The Janitor in Space” by Amber Sparks
“She feels at home beyond the skies. She lied and said she came here to be close to God, but she feels further away from Him than ever.”
Why I love it: The creative plot created in this story launches deep discussion after reading.
29. “Standard Loneliness Package” by Charles Yu
“Root canal is one fifty, give or take, depending on who’s doing it to you. A migraine is two hundred.”
Why I love it: The plot is intriguing enough for students to be invested. Imagine a world where you outsource negative feelings and experiences to other people.
30. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
“I cry at nothing, and cry most of the time.”
Why I love it: I still remember the first time I read this story in high school and the discussion about women and mental health and the symbolism throughout the story.
31. “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell
“Oh, well,” said Mrs. Hale’s husband, with good-natured superiority, “women are used to worrying over trifles.”
Why I love it: It’s a story about women being misunderstood and underestimated.
32. “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe
“‘The cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough.’
‘True—true,’ I replied.”
Why I love it: It’s a revenge story that allows students to see examples of irony throughout.
33. “To Build a Fire” by Jack London
“He now received the full force of the cold. The blood of his body drew back from it. The blood was alive, like the dog.”
Why I love it: This story is great for any adventurous soul.
34. “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty
“[The sniper’s eyes] were deep and thoughtful, the eyes of a man who is used to looking at death.”
![“[The sniper's eyes] were deep and thoughtful, the eyes of a man who is used to looking at death.”](https://www.weareteachers.com/wp-content/uploads/Short-Story-Quotes-HS-6-800x800.jpg "50 Best Short Stories for High School Students")
Why I love it: It’s a story that illustrates the pain and loss of war.
35. “The Lady or the Tiger?” by Frank Stockton
“It mattered not that he might already possess a wife and family, or that his affections might be engaged upon an object of his own selection; the king allowed no such subordinate arrangements to interfere with his great scheme of retribution and reward.”
Why I love it: Use this as a short story that illustrates that actions have consequences.
36. “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe
“Yet, mad I am not—and very surely do I not dream.”
Why I love it: This is one of the classic Poe short stories for high school about madness.
37. “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by Mark Twain
“Smiley said all a frog wanted was education, and he could do ‘most anything’—and I believe him.”
Why I love it: A Mark Twain story about a man who bets on anything. Use this next time a student says “Bet!” to you.
38. “Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka
“One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin.”
Why I love it: Read this story for symbolism, as the main character turns into an insect overnight. It’s an excellent story that illustrates alienation and loneliness.
39. “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
“Depending upon one another’s hearts, ye had still hoped that virtue were not all a dream. Now are ye undeceived. Evil is the nature of mankind.”
Why I love it: A great read for American literature that explores the nature of humanity and questions of faith.
40. “Through the Tunnel” by Doris Lessing
“They were of that coast; all of them were burned smooth dark brown and speaking a language he did not understand. To be with them, of them, was a craving that filled his whole body.”
Why I love it: The story focuses on overcoming limitations while an 11-year-old trains to swim through an underwater hole in a rock.
41. “The Ice Palace” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
“Up in her bedroom window Sally Carrol Happer rested her nineteen-year-old chin on a fifty-two-year-old sill and watched Clark Darrow’s ancient Ford turn the corner.”
Why I love it: Fitzgerald was gifted in writing about tension in love. This story is about the tension between lovers from the North and South. Read it for the story and the poetic language of Fitzgerald.
42. “The Purple Jar” by Maria Edgeworth
“‘Oh! mother, how happy I should be,’ said she, as she passed a toy-shop, ‘if I had all these pretty things!’”
Why I love it: It’s a simple story of the conflict between what we desire versus what we need.
43. “Birthday Party” by Katharine Brush
“There was nothing conspicuous about them, nothing particularly noticeable, until the end of their meal, when it suddenly became obvious that this was an Occasion—in fact, the husband’s birthday, and the wife had planned a little surprise for him.”
Why I love it: This is a very quick read and still manages to pack a punch.
44. “Thank You, Ma’am” by Langston Hughes
“You ought to be my son. I would teach you right from wrong.”
Why I love it: The story is relatable and sends an important message.
45. “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid
“This is how you smile to someone you don’t like too much; this is how you smile to someone you don’t like at all; this is how you smile to someone you like completely.”
Why I love it: It’s a message from a mother to a daughter on how to behave.
46. “Powder” by Tobias Wolff
“My father was driving. My father in his forty-eighth year, rumpled, kind, bankrupt of honor, flushed with certainty. He was a great driver.”
Why I love it: This is one of the great short stories for high school that explores the complexity of a father-son relationship.
47. “The Pie” by Gary Soto
“Once, at the German Market, I stood before a rack of pies, my sweet tooth gleaming and the juice of guilt wetting my underarms. I nearly wept.”
Why I love it: This is one of the best short stories for high school about the strength and power of guilt in the presence of childhood and into an adulthood.
48. “Sticks” by George Saunders
“The pole was Dad’s only concession to glee.”
Why I love it: This super-short story is about a father’s tradition of decorating a pole in the yard and all that the pole represents.
49. “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier
“For one does not have to be ignorant and poor to find that one’s life is barren as the dusty yards of our town.”
Why I love it: This is a story about realizing that we’re growing up. This is one of the great short stories for high school students that they can connect to.
50. “The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury
“The multicolored or grey lights touching their faces, but never really touching them …”
Why I love it: This story takes place in 2053. Ray Bradbury has a way of making the future feel like the present. Bradbury reminds us how important it is to not lose our humanity.
51. “The Stolen Party” by Liliana Heker
“She was so pleased with the compliment that a while later, when her mother came to fetch her, that was the first thing she told her.”
Why I love it: This story lets us view a party through a child’s eyes and a mother’s desire to protect her daughter’s heart.
52. “Through the Tunnel” by Doris Lessing
“He would do it if it killed him, he said defiantly to himself.”
Why I love it: This is a story that is rich in symbolism and beautifully illustrates the transition from childhood to adulthood.
53. “The Wretched and the Beautiful” by E. Lily Yu
“‘Come out where we can see you,’ the policeman said. The rest of us were glad that someone confident and capable, someone who was not us, was handling the matter.”
Why I love it: While this story involves aliens, it asks readers to think about what it means to be human. There is also great symbolism in this story.
54. “Cooking Time” by Anita Roy
“At that moment, all I felt was angry. I’d always known that Mandy’s obsession would get us into trouble. But would she listen? Never.”
Why I love it: This is a story that is set in a dystopian future where the food has been replaced by a supplement. It’s a unique take on a dystopian world as it involves a cooking show and trying to change the way the world operates.
55. “He — Y, Come On Ou — t!” by Shinichi Hoshi, translated by Stanleigh Jones
“Whatever one wished to discard, the hole accepted it all. The hole cleansed the city of its filth. …”
Why I love it: This is a story about a Japanese village discovering a mysterious hole and illustrates what happens when people behave selfishly.
Did you enjoy these short stories for high school students? Check out this list of Our All-Time Favorite Classroom Quotes.
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