Did you know that May is short story month? As someone who enjoys a good short story but doesn’t carve out time to read them, May is a reminder to add good shorts to my life. It only seems worthwhile to showcase some free YA short stories online, in hopes that others who, like me, want to read more YA short stories can do so.
These free YA short stories online range in genre, in author, and in length. Some are super short, while others are much longer. These are all legally available, so nothing shady here — you can read them and pass them along as your heart desires. I’ve stuck to short stories, as opposed to novellas, and I’ve tried to not include too many stories tied into novels. We’ve written a lot here about the wealth of YA anthologies. The bulk of YA anthologies are short stories, so of course, those would make for some great reading this month as well.
In addition to the free YA short stories online below, I’ve included some other resources for discovering great YA short stories. They might not be free online, but they’re worth seeking out at your favorite library.
Free YA Short Stories Online
Viewfinders
This collection of 10 YA short stories are written by some of the best Asian American authors out there, including Malinda Lo, Samira Ahmed, David Yoon, and more. The premise of the Viewfinders stories is a really neat one: as the New York Times has gone through their archival images, they’ve found some that deserve to have stories about them told. So they picked ten authors and asked them each to write a YA story about one of those images. All ten stories are available for free.
Foreshadow
The incredible brainchild of YA superstars Emily XR Pan and Nova Ren Suma, this digital anthology ran from January until December 2019 and featured YA short stories from both new and established YA authors. Three stories published each month, all of which can be accessed on the website. Authors of these free online YA short stories include Tehlor Kay Meija, Sara Farizan, Mark Oshiro, Nina LaCour, Saundra Mitchell, Courtney Summers, and so many more. It’s a treasure trove!
VCFA’s Hunger Mountain Journal
The Vermont College of Fine Arts has a strong children’s literature MFA program, so that they have a journal of great free YA short stories online isn’t a surprise. Some by YA authors you might know include “Do Not Go Gently” by Mindy McGinnis, “Honey and Cold Stars” by Amy Rose Capetta, “Love at First Book: A Story In Verse” by Sarah Tregay, “The Bus” by Maggie Lehrman, and Jenny Hubbard’s “A Sister’s Story“.
“Fourteen Shakes The Baby” by Susann Cokal
One of the big challenges of collecting YA short stories online is that it’s not always clear if it’s intended to be YA if it’s not published as a YA short story on a platform dedicated to YA. Electric Literature offers up a wide array of short stories, but doesn’t necessarily label them. I’ve included Cokal’s here because it features a 14-year-old protagonist, and Cokal is well-known for her YA titles.
“Of Roses and Kings” by Melissa Marr
Looking for a twist on Alice in Wonderland? Marr’s take is dark and twisted and allows Alice to become The Red Queen.
“Burned Away” by Kristen Simmons
From the description: “When rumors of an uprising in Metaltown’s factories hits Bakerstown, sixteen-year-old wannabe reporter Caris knows she’s found the story that will finally prove her worth to the Journal.” Simmons has written a few YA books, so she knows this readership well.
“Off The Trail” by Diana Urban
You have to provide your email address for access to this one, for the author’s mailing list. From the description: “When 17-year-old Kayla jogs the trail next to the lake where a girl recently drowned, someone—or something—veers her off-course. Will she escape from the woods, or get tangled in a web of horror?”
“Dragons of Tomorrow” by Kathleen Baldwin
I read the first book in the Stranje House series a long, long time ago and enjoyed it quite a bit, so I’m eager to revisit Baldwin’s work with her short story. From the description: “After the collapse of civilization Nora and her family live a quiet life in the Midwestern Plains until a great fiery god of the sky descends and makes her an irresistible offer—an offer that will take her away from those she loves forever.”
“Daydreamer” and “Punishment” by Alex London
Both of these short stories are part of the “Proxy” world. I tried not to include a lot of tie-in/world-built stories, but I’m making an exception. You do not need to be a member of London’s Patreon to access these.
“Ratspeak” by Sarah Porter
Porter is the author of Vassa In The Night. From the description: “Ratspeak is the the shrill and sly language of the rats of New York City’s subway. When a curious boy is granted his wish to speak and understand the secret language of the rats, he brings a curse upon his home.”
“irl” by Catey Miller
Long time YA writer and blogger/enthusiast Catey Miller has a freebie in Lunchtime.
“Kingmaker” by Lindsay Smith
From the description: “Vera is a spy for the Barstadt Empire, a powerful country with a rigid class structure and a seedy underbelly. Her mission is to weed out the corruption that holds this society together, but for Vera it’s not political, it’s personal. And her next mission is anything but routine, as long as she’s not blinded by revenge and can see that in the shadows of Barstadt City, things are seldom what they seem.” Smith has written a number of YA books you might be familiar with.
“The Girl In The Machine” by Beth Revis
From the description: “Franklin can travel through time–but his abilities are limited. He can only go into his own past, never further back and never the future. Then Heather shows up. She says she’s met the future him–and she can help him access his full potential in time travel, going anywhere in history or the future. But there’s something ominous about her time machine…”
If you want more, Beth Revis has more short stories available for free here, many of which tie into her YA series books.
“Trigger” by Courtney Alameda
From the description: “Micheline Helsing is a tetrachromat – a girl who sees the auras of the undead in a prismatic spectrum. Now she’s facing one of her most challenging ghost hunts ever. Lock, stock, and lens, she’s in for one hell of a ride.” Alameda is writing some seriously scary YA right now, and this is a great taste of her style.
“The Wives of Azhar” by Roshani Chokshi
If you need some lush fantasy, you will do well with this one!
“The Star Maiden” by Roshani Chokshi
Even more lush fantasy for your eyes! The first lines of this are so good: “A star maiden is not an actual star.
If you split her open, you will find neither crumbled moons nor milky pearls.
A star maiden is a sliver of heaven made flesh.
She is an orphaned moonbeam clinging to one possession only:
A dress.”
“Friends ‘Til The End” by Bethany Neal
From the description: “In “Friends ’Til the End,” death isn’t the end for Emily Winstead, not even close. She died with a wrong to make right, and she’s been given a second chance to set things straight. The only problem: her memories are hazy, she doesn’t know who to trust or even why she’s back, but she does know something about how she died broke the course of fate and it’s her ghostly mission to mend it.” I cannot wait to read this ghost story!
“Crave” and “The H8TE” by Lilliam Rivera
These are both scary stories! There’s another Rivera short story that likely fits for YA readers called “Trizas/Fragments.”
“Heads Will Roll” by Lish McBride
From the description: “Lena’s not your typical animal trainer. And when she and her unicorn partner, Steve, decide to enter a fight, it’s definitely not your typical fight….”
“Slayers: The Making Of A Mentor” by CJ Hill
From the description: “Before dragon eggs landed on American soil. Before a Slayer camp existed. And before Tori discovered her powers . . . there was an island. Lush forests, jutting peaks, and sloping hills covered St. Helena—the single most remote island in the Atlantic. And it is here where Dr. B grew up, working each summer on the Overdrake plantation alongside his brother. All was well until the day something was discovered on the plantation and things went horribly wrong.”
“On The Corner of Iris and Hartz” by LC Rosen
This Twitter-shared short story is a real treat. From the description: “So what if you’d just broken up with your boyfriend, but then you got quarantined together? And there was only one bed? If you’ve been wondering that, too, good news! I wrote a thing.”
“The Stranger” by Anna Banks
From the description: “The Syrena don’t trust many humans. Rachel is one of them. The story of how Galen met her—and how they bonded—is both exciting and heartbreaking.”
“Ghost Town” by Malinda Lo
From the description: “On Halloween night, two teens visit a small town’s most notorious haunted house.”
“One True Love” by Malinda Lo
From the description: ““One True Love” is a fairy tale-like story that begins with a prophecy and a stepmother, as many fairy tales do. It soon twists and turns into something else, and asks: What if the prophecy didn’t mean what everyone thought it meant?”
You can also read Malinda Lo’s “The Cure”.
“We Have Always Lived In Mars” by Cecil Castellucci
Castellucci is one of my favorite writers, so I can’t wait to read this story. From the description: “Nina, one of the few descendants of human colony on Mars that was abandoned by Earth, is surprised to discover that she can breathe the toxic atmosphere of the Martian surface. The crew, thinking that their attempts at terraforming and breeding for Martian adaptability have finally payed off, rejoice at the prospect of a brighter future. But Nina’s about to unlock the mystery of the disaster that stranded them on Mars… and nothing will ever be the same.”
“A Mindreader’s Guide to Surviving Your First Year at the All-Girls Superhero Academy” by Jenn Reese
The award for best short story title goes to this one!
“Do Not Touch” by Prudence Chen
From the description: “Lane doesn’t understand why people have such a hard time following directions. All these paintings are clearly marked “DO NOT TOUCH” for a reason.”
“The Five Days of Justice Merriwell” by Stephanie Burgiss
From the author’s website: “A sixteen-year-old girl finds the fate of her country in her hands, with terrifying magic and danger on every side.”
“The Scent of Laila Thorinson” by Jeune Ji
A downside to some of the journals which publish short YA stories is they don’t offer a good, snappy description. But this one captured my attention immediately: it has something to do with a Secret Santa.
“Car 393” by Kip Wilson
Wilson’s debut verse novel hit shelves in 2019, so what a delight to see there’s a short story told in verse from her, too.
“Sweet Sixteen” by Kat Howard
What a great opener: “Her entire life, Star had known that on her sixteenth birthday, she would choose to be a Tiffany.” Howard writes fantastical, magical stories and this one is no different.
“After Illume” by Emily Skrutski
Another short story you can read from the Defy the Dark anthology. For all of the spooky, things-that-happen-in-the-dark reading delight.
“How to Ruin Your Senior Year, In 10 Days, In 3 Simple Steps, As Told by Judith Sloan” and “Tequila” by Lauren Gonzalez
YA readers who want humor should do well with both of these stories hosted over at YARN.
“Defying Definition” by Shaun David Hutchinson and “Happiness Goes On” by Adam Silvera
Both of these are short nonfiction works, republished online from my own anthology, (Don’t) Call Me Crazy. Both explore mental illness, specifically depression, and what it does and does not mean when one has depression.
Obviously, this is not a comprehensive list, and chances are there are many, many more wonderful YA short stories online for free. If you know of any others, do drop a link to them in the comments for even more opportunity to celebrate the short story.