Contains: The Umbrella Man; Dip in the Pool; The Butler; The Hitchhiker; Mr Botibol; My Lady Love, My Dove; The Way Up to Heaven; Parson's Pleasure; The Sound Machine; The Wish.

What does "being a guy" actually mean? Some of the most talented writers are about to show you. In this diverse and original collection of short stories, ten well-known writers, including Mo Willems, Walter Dean Myers, Ron Koertge, Rene Saldaña, Jr., David Levithan, and David Lubar, share their stories about the trials and tribulations of being a guy. Sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and always honest, each story portrays the reality of being an everyday guy who gets a few life lessons and still manages to come out on top.

Humor, fantasy, love, adventure, danger, courage, death . . . The stories in this book were picked by young adults Here is a brilliant anthology. The editor presented students with the most popular stories published in the last several years. Then he said: Choose the best, choose the ones that grip you in a vise of excitement and won’t let you go, the ones that leave you with a sense of mystery and strangeness, the ones that rock you with laughter, the ones that really mean something to you as a young adult. The result is the brightest, freshest, most original collection of proven popular stories published in decades.

The Book of Ten Nights and a Night offers both a keen introduction to the genius of John Barth and a deeply human argument for the enduring value of literature. Gathering stories written throughout this postmodern master's long career, the collection spans his entire range of styles, from straightforward narrative to experimental metafiction. In the time immediately following September 11, 2001, the veteran writer Graybard spends eleven nights with a nubile muse named WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get). The two lovers debate the meaning and relevance of writing and storytelling in the wake of disaster, telling a new tale each night in the tradition of Scheherazade. The Book of Ten Nights and a Night exhibits the thrilling blend of playfulness and illuminating insight that have marked Barth as one of America's most distinguished writers.

A new story unfolds with every turn of a flap in this playful jigsaw puzzle of a book. Every page is divided into four turnable mini-pages that mix and match to create 10,000 different story combinations, each with its own quirky watercolor illustration. Some stories make sense, some come out downright surreal, and each one is as irreverently imaginative as the next. When will Michael find true love? What was it that pushed Elmo over the edge? Ten Thousand Stories lets the reader piece together each hilarious, gripping, or tragic tale. Part Exquisite Corpse and part Choose Your Own Disaster, this offbeat treasure is an addictive pleasure to play alone or to share.