American Short Stories for High School Readers (Illustrated and Annotated): A High School Curriculum Companion

American Short Stories for High School Readers (Illustrated and Annotated), by M.J. Marin, is a companion to traditional High School English textbooks. The idea of producing this textbook resulted from conversation with friends and family members who have been homeschooling their children since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Some of the parents express their frustration with established English curriculums that center on one or two novels but fail to provide a wider perspective for students. What M.J. discovered is that most parents and students prefer to read a variety to shorter texts that are equally didactic but provide a wider range of writing styles, themes, voices, and perspective. American Short Stories for High School Readers is a compilation of nineteen short stories published between 1820 and 1927. Each story is followed by a few suggested reading comprehension questions. Students will read stories such as: • The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving, • The Tale-Tell Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe, • The Luck of Roaring Camp, by Bret Harte, • Eve's Diary, by Mark Twain, or • To Build a Fire, by Jack London