This is a wonderful collection of short stories edited by Michael Cart. But I hope you'll wait until you're fifteen years old to read it. Because even though my own contribution, Secret Shelf, would be fine for any reader twelve and up, there's some pretty heavy stuff in some of the other stories.

Secret Shelf isn't really a short story. It's just a handful of poems about... well, about love and sex.

Here is a poem from Secret Shelf :

I never should have told Colette
how cute I thought he was.
I never should have pointed out
his hands,
or how he stands
with one foot propped against the wall.
I never should have told her
how I love his lower lip,
or the way I nearly flip
when he walks by me in the hall
and says hello. 

I never should have mentioned Joe. 

If I had never told Colette
how much I like his lashes
and the silver light
that flashes in his violet eyes,
then she might not have noticed them
and she might not have smiled at him
and he might not have noticed her
and he might not have said hello
or asked her out
or given her his ring,
or anything. 

I never should have mentioned Joe.