Culture Adventure

In 1767, 11-year-old Nicholas Young stowed away on Captain James Cook's "Endeavour". Cook's three-year mission was secret: he was charged by the British Navy to search for a lost continent, believed to be located between the southern tip of South America and New Zealand. Young's journal charts the voyage and with every port of call a new adventure awaits. This is the story of a great voyage of discovery seen through the eyes of a boy who was actually there.

Twelve-year-old Koby isn't like the other kids in her class. She lost her right foot in an accident four years ago, and she is keenly aware that her classmates don't know how to act around her. The only place she feels at home is in her small boat, where she can watch whales play in the ocean. When Koby discovers a stranded mother whale and her baby, she realizes that their survival depends on her ability to keep them breathing through the night. But she is alone, and help is nowhere in sight.

Whaling in the Arctic waters off Alaska’s coast was as dangerous as it was lucrative in 1897. In that particular year, winter came early, bringing with it storms and ice packs that caught eight American whale ships and about three hundred sailors off guard. The ships were imprisoned in ice with no hope of escape. With limited provisions on board the ships that hadn’t been crushed by the ice, there was little hope that these men could survive until warmer temperatures arrived at least 10 months later. Martin Sandler tells the incredible true adventure story of three men who were ordered by President McKinley to carry out an overland rescue in the dead of winter.

Wildlife expert and YouTube phenomenon, Coyote Peterson, is back with the sequel to the best-selling Brave Adventures: Wild Animals in a Wild World. Once again, Coyote and his crew voyage to new environments and encounter an even more eclectic ensemble of the planets' animals. From a slimy octopus to elusive tree climbing lizards to nomadic wolverines - this book promises to be another fast-paced, wild experience.

Rudyard Kipling's famous tale tells the story of Mowgli, the "man-cub" rescued from the tiger Shere Khan and adopted by a wolf pack. As he grows up, Mowgli learns the ways of the jungle from Baloo the bear, Bagheera the black panther, and Kaa the rock python. His life is full of adventure with the jungle creatures, but soon the time comes when he is forced to leave and take his place among his own people.

Find out about the life of rock climbers in this cool new chapter book, part of an Extreme Adventure strand featuring high-adrenaline stories about real explorers. With gripping - and TRUE - stories of incredible adventures, Rock Stars! takes readers on three amazing journeys of ultimate survival. From New York's Central Park to the towering Himalaya, no peak is too high for these extreme rock climbers! Perfect for all listeners who love exciting, real-life, adrenaline-fueled tales that will have you on the edge of your seat.

While Israel is a modern and largely secular country, it is one steeped in biblical history - a place where religion still plays an active role in public life. In 70 years, it has grown from a sparsely populated strip of land into a vigorous democracy and regional superpower. Often called the Startup Nation, Israel is a world leader in a number of high-tech industries. Its democratic institutions, despite political and social polarization in recent years, are among the most enlightened in the world.

Ten-year-old Akimbo gets to spend several days with his uncle, Peter, at his east African snake park! His uncle first takes him on a tour of the snake-filled sanctuary. Soon Akimbo learns important facts about snakes and helps his uncle with various tasks from milking cobra venom to feeding constrictors.

Generations of young readers continue to fall in love with Marguerite Henry’s “horse stories.” In one of her most famous, King of the Wind, the author traces the ancestry of the great Kentucky Derby winner, Man o’ War, whose mysterious pedigree is linked to the noble line leading from the Godolphin Arabian.

From Newbery Medalist Susan Cooper, a story of adventure and friendship between a young Native American, Little Hawk, and a colonial New England settler, John Wakely. When John is apprenticed to a barrel-maker, he sees how quickly the relationships between settlers and natives are deteriorating. His friendship with Little Hawk will put both boys in grave danger. The intertwining stories of Little Hawk and John Wakely are a fascinating tale of friendship and an eye-opening look at the history of our nation.

When young Neddie Wentworthstein is accidentally left behind by his family at a train stop in the Wild West, he suddenly finds himself at the center of a whirlwind adventure involving sinister villains and extraordinary new allies - all seeming to revolve around a little jade turtle given to him by a mysterious shaman.

Jack Gantos' rocket-paced follow-up to the Newbery Medal–winning novel Dead End in Norvelt opens in the 1960s, deep in the shadow of the Cold War and the Cuban missile crisis. But instead of Russian warheads, other kinds of trouble are raining down on young Jack Gantos and his utopian town of Norvelt in western Pennsylvania. After an explosion, a new crime by an old murderer, and the sad passing of the town's founder, twelve-year-old Jack will soon find himself launched on a mission that takes him hundreds of miles away.

The suspenseful tale of two courageous kids and one inquisitive scientist who teamed up to stop an epidemic. Eel has troubles of his own: As an orphan and a “mudlark”, he spends his days in the filthy River Thames, searching for bits of things to sell. He’s being hunted by Fisheye Bill Tyler, and a nastier man never walked the streets of London. And he’s got a secret that costs him four precious shillings a week to keep safe. But even for Eel, things aren’t so bad until that fateful August day in 1854.

The number one best-selling book series of all time celebrates 25 years with new covers and a new, easy-to-use numbering system! Jack and Annie arrive on the one continent they haven’t visited before: Antarctica! What can they hope to learn about happiness in such a barren place? Only the penguins know for sure...Jack and Annie are about to find out!

Eleven-year-old Nhamo is running for her life. When the village witch finder decrees that she must marry a cruel stranger to propitiate an evil spirit, her only recourse is to steal a fishing boat and go looking for a father she has never met. Alone on the Musengezi River, Nhamo has meager resources to help her survive loneliness, hunger, wild animals, and even land mines.

The moon watches over the dark plains of South Africa. It watches all the jungle animals as they fall asleep.

In 1980 Cathy N. Davidson traveled to Japan to teach English at a leading all-women’s university. It was the first of many journeys and the beginning of a deep and abiding fascination. In this extraordinary book, Davidson depicts a series of intimate moments and small epiphanies that together make up a panoramic view of Japan.

Alice-Miranda and her friends are off to the Australian Outback! They’re going to help an old family friend who’s found himself short staffed during cattle mustering season. The landscape is like nothing else - wide open and dusty red as far as the eye can see. It’s also full of quirky characters, like eccentric opal miner Sprocket McGinty and the enigmatic Taipan Dan.

The Magic Tree House whisks Jack and Annie off to the mountains of Africa. There, they run into a huge mountain gorilla! At first they don't know whether they should shake hands or turn tail. But the ominous-looking creature turns out to be surprisingly gentle. Not only that, the gorilla may be able to help them learn their next bit of magic, which Morgan has challenged them to do.

Huck Finn can no longer stand his life at home, so he fakes his own death. While camping, he discovers the runaway slave, Jim. Together, Huck and Jim travel down the mighty Mississippi River in a series of adventures with a cast of unforgettable characters.