Showing results by narrator "John Kroft" in All Categories

On the night of December 2nd, 1943, the Luftwaffe bombed a critical Allied port in Bari, Italy, sinking 17 ships and killing over a thousand servicemen and hundreds of civilians. Caught in the surprise air raid was the John Harvey, an American Liberty ship carrying a top-secret cargo of 2,000 mustard bombs to be used in retaliation if the Germans resorted to gas warfare. After young sailors began suddenly dying with mysterious symptoms, Lieutenant Colonel Stewart Alexander, a doctor and chemical weapons expert, was dispatched to investigate. 

To Joseph Friedman, middle school might as well be the Running of the Bulls. He's friendless and puny, with ADD to boot, so he spends most of his time avoiding class bully Charlie Kastner and hiding out in the Resource Room, a safe place for misfit kids like him. But then, on the first day of seventh grade, two important things happen. First, his Resource Room teacher, Mrs. T, encourages (i.e., practically forces) him to join the school track team, and second, he meets Heather, a tough, athletic new girl who isn't going to be pushed around by Charlie Kastner.

Jimmy, David, and Henry are psyched. It's summer, school's out, and they are on their way to California, where they will be able to do some major skating. But on the plane, the unthinkable happens: They are hijacked by terrorists. As frightened as they may be, they take action and they succeed. Sort of. They may have beaten the terrorists, but now their plane has crashed in the middle of nowhere and all of a sudden, their summer vacation is about finding food, shelter, and a rescue. Can three normal 12-year-old boys find a way to get by without fast food and skate parks?

Nina Idi - a third child in a society where families are allowed only two children - has been betrayed by the boy she loved and arrested by the Population Police for exposing other alleged third children. Angry and confused, Nina knows only one thing for sure: She is innocent of the charges. But now she is faced with the most difficult choice of her life: Get three other prisoners to admit they are shadow children and be spared herself, or refuse to cooperate and be killed. The options are clear. The choice, Nina discovers, is not.

Luke Garner is an illegal third child. All his life has been spent in hiding. Now, for the first time, Luke is living among others. He has assumed a deceased boy's identity and is attending Hendricks School for Boys, a windowless building with cruel classmates and oblivious teachers. Luke knows he has to blend in, but he lives in constant fear that his behavior will betray him. Then one day, Luke discovers a door to the outside. He knows that beyond the walls of Hendricks lie the secrets he is desperate to uncover. What he doesn't know is whom he can trust....

Clare, one of the oldest women in Rhode Island, believes that all the painful secrets of her long life have been laid to rest, until an unexpected encounter with a piece of her past forces her to realize the time has come to tell her story. Ben, a shy, precocious six-year-old being gently raised by a devoted mom, witnesses a terrible crime and is taken to the hospital, bewildered and alone. Lucy, an overworked resident physician in Providence, meets Ben when he's brought into the ER. But between all-night shifts and trying to pick up the pieces of her failing marriage, she doesn't know how to help. 

Luke Garner, an illegal third child, spent his first 12 years in hiding. For the past four months, Luke has lived among others, using the identity of Lee Grant, at the Hendricks School for Boys. But just as things are finally starting to go right, Lee's little brother, Smits, arrives at the school, and Luke finds himself caught in a tangle of lies that gets more complex with every passing day. Can Luke trust Smits to keep his secret? And can he trust Smits' menacing bodyguard, Oscar?

Talent is great if you have it, and luck is fine if you can find it, but Alex Kazemi learned it would take something more to make his dreams come true. It would take magick - a real, spiritual force that anyone can learn to harness. You have the power within you. Magick isn’t a treasured secret for a privileged few. It’s meant for everyone. It’s meant for you. Are you ready to bend reality? Do you want to get out of The Simulation? Do you want to unlock your creative potential? Do you hunger for a more balanced, awakened life? Magick offers this and more. 

When recent high school graduate Cameron Carter lands an internship with Congressman Billy Beck in Washington, DC, he thinks it is his ticket out of small town captivity. What he lacks in connections and Beltway polish he makes up in smarts, and he soon finds a friend and mentor in fellow staffer Ariel Lancaster. That is, until she winds up dead. As rumors and accusations about her death fly around Capitol Hill, Cameron's low profile makes him the perfect candidate for an FBI investigation that he wants no part of.

Luke Garner is a third-born in a restrictive society that allows only two children per family. Risking his life, he came out of hiding to fight against the Population Police laws. Now, in the final volume of Margaret Peterson Haddix's suspenseful Shadow Children series, Luke inadvertently sets off a rebellion that results in the overthrow of the government. The people are finally free. But who is in charge now? And will this new freedom be everything they had hoped? 

Matthias, an illegal third child, is caught in the crossfire between rebels and the Population Police. When he unwittingly saves a Population Police officer, Matthias is brought to Population Police headquarters to train as an officer himself. There he meets Nina, another third-born who enlists his help in a plot to undermine the Population Police. But Matthias is under constant scrutiny, and he has no idea whom he can trust. What can one boy do against a wicked bureaucracy?

Trey may have saved Luke's life, but he still thinks of himself as a coward who can barely stand to be outdoors. Now Trey finds out Luke has been taken prisoner at Population Police headquarters. Trey is terrified, but he knows that if he doesn't rescue his friend, no one will. At police headquarters, Trey impersonates an officer to try getting to Luke. But just when it looks like he's close, Trey suddenly finds himself in danger of exposing not just himself but all shadow children. 

In the late 1930s, legendary financier, philanthropist, and society figure Alfred Lee Loomis gathered the most visionary scientific minds of the 20th century at his state-of-the-art laboratory in Tuxedo Park, New York. He established a top-secret defense laboratory at MIT and personally bankrolled pioneering research into new, high-powered radar detection systems that helped defeat the German Air Force and U-boats. With Ernest Lawrence, he pushed Franklin Delano Roosevelt to fund research in nuclear fission, which led to the development of the atomic bomb. 

Ben is the sole survivor of a crime that claims his mother and countless others. He’s just six years old, and already he must find a new place for himself in the world. Lucy, the doctor who tends to Ben, is grappling with a personal upheaval of her own. She feels a profound connection to the little boy who has lived through the unthinkable. Will recovering his memory heal him or damage him further? 

“Kadohata’s slapshot is the heart-swelling narrative of a father and son …Truly powerful.”—Jason Reynolds “A deeply poignant story about a boy sorting out his priorities.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “A vivid, memorable portrayal of a boy within his family, his sport...

Wendy Mass tells the story of Beauty and the Beast as never heard before!

It's not easy being Princess Rose. Especially when a fairy curses you and you find yourself avoiding all sharp objects...and then end up pricking your finger anyway, causing you to slumber for a hundred years or so. And it's not easy being The Prince. Especially when your mother has some ogre blood and tends to chow down at the most unfortunate moments. A walk in the woods would help, you think. Until you find a certain hidden castle...and a certain sleeping beauty. Happily ever after? Not until the prince helps the princess awaken...and brings her home to Mother.