For decades, these stories have been on the reading lists of teenagers everywhere. And they’re good short stories. Honestly, they are. Good for teaching voice or theme or pacing in bite-sized chunks, just hard enough to challenge students without frustrating them to the point of quitting. I still think about Omelas and the woman in the wallpaper and the one day of sunlight even now. They’re good and they serve the purpose they are meant to, whether students get annoyed or not. But they’re not very contemporary. They don’t necessarily account for modern events, perspectives, or context. Many of them, while reading, feel too removed from the modern day to really connect to them. And they’re mostly written by white men and women. So, for a little variety and newness for your reading list, here are 15 modern short stories for high school English class. I hope you found one of these modern short stories for high school interesting! If you want more short story options, try these best short stories of all time or these short scary stories!
