Over the past year, my top viewed blog post has been this one, 7 favorite short stories for grades 9-10. I find this surprising, since most of the traffic to this blog is from AP Lit teachers. But it also tells me that many other teachers are looking for new and engaging short stories to use with 9th and 10th graders. So…here are 7 more text suggestions to use with 9-10th grades! Enjoy!
If you haven’t read the first installment on this topic, you can find it here.
“Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl
I cut this story one year because I was worried it glorified violence, but added it back into my 10th grade curriculum. It’s in our first thematic unit of the year about making assumptions. Most students don’t see this twisted tale coming after seeing that Roald Dahl wrote it, but it’s definitely a shift from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or Matilda!
In this story, we meet Mary Malone, married to police officer Patrick and expecting their first child. One night, as Mary preps Patrick’s dinner and makes him an after-work drink, Patrick tells her he’s leaving Mary for another woman. When he tries to go, Mary clubs him over the head with a frozen leg of lamb, one she was thawing for dinner. After a moment of composure, Mary feigns the grieving wife and reports her husband’s murder by an intruder. Patrick’s colleagues arrive to investigate the scene and she feeds them the lamb that was cooking for Patrick, effectively destroying the murder weapon they’re looking for.
I usually ask my students to read this story aloud in small groups and I walk around them to watch their reactions. Mary seems like a precious and doting wife, so Patrick’s sudden murder usually elicits some entertaining reactions! I like talking about stereotypes and assumptions in this story because we make some of our own about Mary before the murder, many of the same ones the men in her life make. In fact, it’s these assumptions that allow her to get away with murder!
“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
I usually teach this story to my AP Lit students but it works well in 9th or 10th grade as well. The story features a mother with two daughters, Dee, who left home years ago, and Maggie. Maggie is simple and potentially slow-witted but devoted to her mother. When Dee returns for a visit she insists by going by Wangero and looks around the home to collect items to celebrate her African heritage. Dee, accompanied by a new boyfriend, is rude and presumptive in her visit, taking things for their aesthetic value rather than their practical ones. Their mother finally draws the line when Dee tries to take a quilt that has been promised to Maggie upon her marriage. Dee, frustrated, leaves with a final, condescending remark about her family’s lack of understanding.
If you need a text to highlight skills like narrator, point of view, and character in grades 9-10, this is a strong one. Walker builds strong characters and a vivid familial conflict in this short story even though we don’t know this family very well. It’s also a great story to pair with texts that deal with assimilation and cultural heritage, like A Raisin in the Sun or Passing.
“The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty
I taught this text when I used to teach 9th graders and it’s another one that has a memorable twist at the end.
The story follows an Irish sniper as he perches on a parapet during a civil war. He gets involved in a firefight with an enemy sniper on another rooftop. After tricking the sniper to shoot at a diversion, he guns him down. Driven by curiosity, the sniper wonders if the enemy sniper might be someone he knew. He crosses to the other roof and turns the other sniper over and discovers he has killed his own brother.
This story sometimes confuses students who can’t fathom the ending. However, the beginning of the story tells us that we are in the midst of a civil war, which separates families. If you want to emphasize the importance of taking note of setting details, this is the story to use!
“The First Day” by Edward P. Jones
I tried this story one year with my sophomores and they found it too difficult, so I shelved it for a few years. Last fall, I used it again. But because I knew it was a challenge, we approached it slowly and meticulously.
The story depicts an unnamed character as she recalls her first day of kindergarten. Close readers will deduce that the story is set during the 1950s or 60s, and closer readers will infer that she is African American. (I usually have to point this out, as most of my students aren’t aware that Ebony magazine was, and is, a sophisticated women’s magazine for Black women.) The narrator’s mother has dreamed of her first day of school for years, but on that fateful morning she learns she is not enrolled there. She’s forced to take her to a newer, unfamiliar school. Upon registering her, the narrator learns her mother cannot read enough to fill out the enrollment forms. As she is taken to her classroom, she watches her mother walk away in shame.
I read the story aloud to them while my students annotated for details. Every few paragraphs I paused and asked them to talk discuss, “What do you notice? What do you wonder?” This approach was perfect for getting them to collect story details and move from speculation to interpretation. This would be a great activity for teaching close reading to Pre-AP or Honors students.
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
This really belongs in my first blog post, but I didn’t think of it because I don’t teach it. This story belongs in our 9th grade curriculum and it’s one of those stories that scars you in ways you won’t forget.
In “The Lottery,” a small rural town gathers for its annual lottery, a long-standing tradition they follow without question. Each family draws a slip of paper, and when Tessie Hutchinson’s paper reveals a black mark, she protests that the process was unfair. Despite her objections, the townspeople—including her own family—proceed to stone her to death, revealing the lottery’s shocking purpose: a ritualistic sacrifice.
Because of the shocking twist at the end, I recommend reading this story aloud and even assigning parts like it is a play. That’s how I read it when I was in high school and I still remember it! Aside from a fun twist, this is a powerful text for talking about peer pressure and mob mentality. The story challenges students to examine how societies blindly follow customs without questioning their morality or purpose.
“A Rice Sandwich” by Sandra Cisneros
This text is actually a chapter from Cisneros’ collection of vignettes, The House on Mango Street. Vignettes are good practice for close reading, as they are usually light on expository information and more subtle in their use of details.
In “A Rice Sandwich,” Esperanza convinces her mother to let her eat in the canteen at lunch. Because she lives near school, Esperanza heads home for lunch each day. This leaves the “canteen kids” shrouded in a sense of mystery and privilege. Exasperated, her mother finally agrees and writes her a letter to let her eat in the canteen. Esperanza is sent to see Mother Superior on her first day at lunch. In her office, Mother Superior questions her about her desire to eat at the canteen when she lives so close. “There, you live there!” Mother Superior says, pointing at ragged and shameful apartments (where Esperanza does not live). Because she is overwhelmed, Esperanza nods with tears in her eyes. She’s allowed to eat in the canteen just this once, but the mystery is gone and Esperanza eats her cold lunch with tears on her cheeks.
This is another text my students and I explore in our thematic unit on making assumptions. Like I said, it requires close reading and attention to detail, especially for students in grades 9-10. For this text, I run a graded discussion, which is similar to a Socratic Seminar but requires no previous studies. To learn more about graded discussions, check out this blog post!
“Charles” by Shirley Jackson
This is another text I fluctuate between my upper and lowerclassmen. When students hear that this is by the same author who wrote “The Lottery” they are cautious, but also ready for a surprise.
In “Charles,” a young boy named Laurie starts kindergarten and comes home each day with dramatic stories about a mischievous classmate named Charles. According to Laurie, Charles constantly misbehaves—hitting teachers, yelling in class, and even teaching the other children bad words. As the weeks go by, Charles’s behavior becomes a topic of fascination in their household, and Laurie’s mother eagerly attends a parent-teacher meeting to learn more about him. To her shock, the teacher informs her that there is no Charles in the class.
As soon as we finish this story, my students are eager to tell me which of them was able to guess the ending. If you’re looking for a twist, you really can see it coming! But if you’re just reading for fun it will shock you. It’s a great text if you want to distinguish between reading for plot and reading for detail—even pushing students to read a second time. In their second reading, students should annotate or collect quotes that prove Laurie is actually the devious Charles.
Honorable Mentions:
- “The Pit and the Pendulum” or “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe
- “Metonymy, or the Husband’s Revenge” by Rachel de Queiroz
- “The Monkey’s Paw” by W. W. Jacobs
- “After You, My Dear Alphonse” by Shirley Jackson
- “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
- “Thank You, Ma’am” by Langston Hughes
- “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin
- “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl
I have several short story units available for sale in my TpT store if you’re looking for no-prep lessons. My skill-based unit for grades 9-10 lets you plug in stories of your choosing (but I give suggestions!). I also have a Short Story Boot Camp you can use with AP Lit or upper level ELA courses, available here!
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