To Capture The Wind

In a risky plan to free her kidnapped lover, Oonagh cleverly solves the evil pirate king’s riddles, unites the princess Ethne with her lover, and invents sails.

Baya, Baya, Lulla-by-a

The baya bird of India weaves its nest of grasses and flowers. In this dramatic yet lulling lullaby of a book, such a bird also saves a baby girl’s life.

The Time Thief

When an attempt to bring Peter and Kate back to their own time is bungled, Peter finds himself stranded in 1763 while The Tar Man, a villainous eighteenth-century criminal, returns with Kate to twenty-first-century London.

Marooned: The Strange But True Adventures of Alexander Selkirk

In 1704, Alexander Selkirk was voyaging across the South Pacific when, after arguing with the ship’s captain, he was put ashore—alone—on an uninhabited island. Equipped with little more than a musket and his wits, Selkirk not only survived in complete solitude for more than four years, but came to be quite comfortable and happy. After being rescued by a British privater in 1709, he took a leading role in several dramatic captures of merchant ships. Although he returned to civilization a rich man,he couldn’t find a place in society and always longed to return to the paradise of his island. Selkirk’s well-documented adventures so inspired Daniel Defoe that they became the basis for his perennial classic, Robinson Crusoe. Author’s note, glossary, bibliography,index.

Night of the Howling Dogs

Dylan’s Scout Troop goes camping in Halape, a remote spot below the volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. The only thing wrong with the weekend on a beautiful, peaceful beach is Louie, a tough older boy. Louie and Dylan just can’t get along. That night an earthquake rocks the camp, and then a wave rushes in, sweeping everyone and everything before it. Dylan and Louie must team up on a dangerous rescue mission. The next hours are an amazing story of survival and the true meaning of leadership.

Forging Freedom: A True Story of Heroism during the Holocaust

Jaap Penraat can’t understand the Germans’ hatred of his Jewish neighbors in his hometown of Amsterdam. As the restrictions multiply and the violence escalates, Jaap knows he must take action to help his friends. He begins by using his father’s printing press to forge identification cards and papers for Jewish neighbors and refugees, but as the Nazi grasp tightens, he is forced to take a more drastic path leading twenty Jews on the dangerous first leg of a journey to Paris, the start of the underground pipeline to safety.This initial group of twenty men is only the beginning; the number eventually grows to over four hundred Jews saved from certain death by Jaap Penraat’s heroic efforts, brought to life in this vivid retelling.

Manjiro: The Boy Who Risked His Life for Two Countries

In 1841, Japan had been closed to the outside world for 250 years, and anyone who tried to return to the country after leaving it could be executed. So when the small fishing boat on which 14-year-old Manjiro was working was shipwrecked, he despaired of ever returning to his village. The captain of the American whaling ship that rescued Manjiro took a special interest in him, inviting him to come live in Massachusetts. There, Manjiro was treated like Captain Whitfield’s son, and he began to feel as though Massachusetts was his second home. Still, he never gave up his dream of finding a way to return to Japan and see his mother again. Watercolor illustrations bring to life the true story of a determined and resourceful young man whose intimate knowledge of two cultures later led him to play an important role in the opening of Japan to Western trade and ideas.

Blade Of Fire: The Icemark Chronicles

Many years have passed since Queen Thirrin and her allies defended the Icemark against a brutal invasion. But now General Bellorum is back, along with his bloodthirsty spawn, twin sons even more vicious than him. Thirrin and Oskan also have a family: two girls and three boys. But darkness lurks within the House of Lindenshield: Medea, the couple’s cold-hearted, fifteen-year-old daughter, who’s just coming into her magical powers, may be the downfall of the kingdom. It’s up to her brother, Charlemagne, crippled by polio as a child, to return from exile and rescue the land he loves.

Double or Die: A James Bond Adventure

James Bond is no ordinary boy. In a north London cemetery, a professor is kidnapped at gunpoint. Then, a suspicious letter crammed with cryptic clues arrives at Eton. To decipher the deadly mystery, James Bond must take a series of dangerous gambles. Once the code is cracked he has just forty-eight hours to save the professor from the dark forces that threaten to destroy them both. And if they can’t escape, it’s not only their future under threat.