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Original poster

Can anyone recommend a short story collection for a 14 year old?

9 replies

Yourinmyspot · 01/08/2026 19:08

My 14 year old DD is a bit of a reluctant reader, the last book she read was The Summer i turned pretty and she didn’t finish it as she watched the series. I thought she might enjoy a short story collection more, but don’t really know of any. Any suggestions?

OP posts:
MachineBee · 01/08/2026 19:10

You could try Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl books. There’s a cartoon one done in the Anime style that might peak her interest to start with.

AelinoftheWildfire · 01/08/2026 19:14

Might be a bit old school for her but chicken soup for the teenage soul

AnAutumnCrow · 01/08/2026 19:16

I read a lot of sci fi stories at that age. There are wonderful collections from Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov, for example.

permanently · 01/08/2026 19:22

Stephen King Different Seasons?

MrsFionaCharming · 01/08/2026 19:26

Stephanie Perkins has collated 2 short story collections, one summer and one Christmas, with each story written by a different YA romance author.

Needmorelego · 01/08/2026 20:02

She might like some of the Quick Read books. They are short easy to read books by well known (adult) authors.
(I gave up on The Summer I Turned Pretty too....it took too long for anything to actually happen 🙂)

DoAWheelie · 01/08/2026 21:01

If you just want her reading anything at all, check out reddit's "nosleep" sub. it's full of creepy short stories and was my stepping stone to getting back into reading. It being less obviously "reading a book" might help with motivation.

There are also some really cool youtube channels like The Dark Somnium who produce narrations of many short stories, like an audiobook but with music / sound effects and extra voice actors for different parts.

If she seems interested in trying either of these let me know and I can pull out a handful of my favorites for her to look through.

ExplodingSmittens · 02/08/2026 08:31

Needmorelego · 01/08/2026 20:02

She might like some of the Quick Read books. They are short easy to read books by well known (adult) authors.
(I gave up on The Summer I Turned Pretty too....it took too long for anything to actually happen 🙂)

I can second this. The Quick Reads are designed just to get reluctant readers into reading. There is a list of all of them here.

Rocknrollstar · 02/08/2026 09:12

The Sherlock Holmes Stories by Conan Doyle?

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