Contents Scared Stiff Judith Clarke, Selina's Star Signs Jay Linden, The Maniac David Metzenthen, The Pale Pink Ford Cortina Fiona Farrell, The Map Table Meredith Costain, The Day My Bum Went Psycho Andy Griffiths, Bluebeard's Daughter Margaret Wild, The Missing Finger Christine Harris, Pink Bow Tie Paul Jennings, Red Brian Caswell, Glow-Worms Pat Quinn, Shark Bait Dyan Blacklock Blasters: Fears and Fantasies, Animal Tails and Risks and Challenges are the first three titles in a series of theme-based short story collections designed to have maximum appeal for lower secondary students. The stories have also been selected with the needs of busy teachers in mind-teachers who require high-interest material that will entertain students as well as develop their awareness of particular issues and provoke further thought and discussion. Key features: stories range in length from 1000 to 1500 words-short enough to be read by most students in a single lesson, all the stories have been selected for maximum appeal for lower secondary students, stories have a sense of humour and are not afraid to take chances, a wide range of writing styles and subject matter is covered, each volume includes a range of stories suitable for students of all abilities, the stories are written by some of the best Australian and New Zealand writers for this age group, including a number of up-and-coming writers.