Nonfiction True

On May 19, 1942, during World War II, a German submarine, a U-boat, in the Gulf of Mexico stalked its prey 50 miles from New Orleans. The submarine set its sights on the freighter Heredia. Most onboard were merchant seamen, but there were also civilians, including the Downs family: Ray and Ina and their two children. Fast asleep in their berths, the Downs family had no idea that two torpedoes were heading their way. When the ship exploded, chaos ensued - and each family member had to find their own path to survival.

Fue la mujer encargada de limpiar el apartamento que se alquilaba por días en el barrio de Gràcia de Barcelona, quien la mañana del 21 de febrero del 2008 descubrió el cuerpo sin vida de Ana María Páez Capitán. La joven, de treinta y seis años, estaba completamente desnuda sobre un sofá y llevaba atada una bolsa de plástico en la cabeza. Junto al cadáver, los investigadores de los Mossos d'Esquadra solo encontraron una peluca y un par de botas negras. En los primeros momentos, los policías del Grupo de Homicidios se plantearon la hipótesis de una muerte por asfixia sexual.

On the night of February 18, 1952, during one of the worst winter storms that New England has ever seen, two oil tankers just off the shore of Cape Cod were torn in half by the force of the storm. This middle-grade adaptation of an adult nonfiction book tells the story of the shipwreck and a harrowing Coast Guard rescue when four men in a tiny lifeboat overcame insurmountable odds and saved more than thirty stranded sailors.

Before Alex Marzano-Lesnevich begins a summer job at a law firm in Louisiana, working to help defend men accused of murder, they think their position is clear. The child of two lawyers, Alex is staunchly anti-death penalty. But the moment convicted murderer Ricky Langley’s face flashes on the screen as Alex reviews old tapes—the moment they hear him speak of his crimes—they are overcome with the feeling of wanting him to die. Shocked by their reaction, Alex digs deeper and deeper into the case.

Viola Desmond was an accidental game changer. She built a career as a beautician and businesswoman. But her one act of defiance triggered a revolution in which the Black people of Nova Scotia began to stand up for their rights. Back in the days, there was an unspoken rule on segregation based on color. Viola challenged that rule when she stood in court.

On September 5th, 1934, a young beachcomber made a gruesome discovery on the shores of Cleveland’s Lake Erie: the lower half of a female torso, neatly severed at the waist. The victim, dubbed “The Lady of the Lake,” was only the first of a butcher’s dozen. Over the next four years, twelve more bodies would be scattered across the city. The bodies were dismembered with surgical precision and drained of blood. Some were beheaded while still alive.

PBJ Decks Smokin Gun (Gunner) is an American Paint Horse, one of the many of Heather Lott Goodwin's herd, and a valuable show animal that won the World Championship Paint Horse title. When Hurricane Katrina passed over the Goodwin property, it took with it the fences, the cattle, and several horses. Heather and her family lived in their horse trailer for six weeks and considered themselves lucky to have safe, comfortable shelter. After the storm, they searched for the animals and recovered many of them. But three months passed before they located Gunner, a hundred miles away.

Jim was a South African railway inspector in the late 1800s who lost his legs in an accident while at work. Unable to perform all his tasks with his disability but desperate to keep his job, Jim discovered a brilliant solution, a baboon named Jack. Jim trained Jack to help him both at home and at the depot.

Widely known in the criminal underworld as the 'Black Widow', Linda Calvey spent the first half of her life running with the UK's top gangsters, robbing banks and rubbing shoulders with the Kray twins. That is, until, in 1990, her lover Robbie Cook was murdered at point-blank, and she found herself falsely convicted. Linda was sent away for decades, and would go on to become Britain's longest-serving female prisoner. This is her story of life inside, and how she learnt to survive the many years she spent behind bars.

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.

Discover some of the most captivating mysteries of all time. Humanity has come so far and explored so much. As a species, we have more, or less conquered the entire Earth and all of its resources. We have built towering structures, intricate systems, and settled everywhere - from the tallest peaks to the deepest valleys. We have now entered what many like to think of as the enlightened, scientific era - where old superstitions and fears have been abolished, and the mysteries of the past have been solved. Basically, many of us like to think we have figured it all out.

Who are you? How do the identities you hold—like your racial or gender identity—impact you every day? How do they impact others? These big and important questions are key to understanding ourselves. Part of being your true self means learning about group identities and how they affect our experience of the world. With kid-friendly explanations of key ideas and relevant scenarios, this text will help young kids explore their identities and how it shapes their experience.

They’re furry and funny. They’re tracked and tricky. What are they? Animal mysteries, of course! Get ready to crack the cases and the real animal info wide open. You might need your camouflage for this one.

They’re explosive and invisible. They’re extinct and never-ending. What are they? Science mysteries, of course! Get ready to crack the cases and the real science info wide open. You might need your goggles for this one.

Fritz Kleinmann was fourteen when the Nazis took over Vienna. Kurt, his little brother, was eight. Under Hitler’s brutal regime, their Austrian-Jewish family of six was cruelly torn apart. Taken to Buchenwald concentration camp, Fritz and his Papa, Gustav, underwent hard labor and starvation. Meanwhile, Kurt made the difficult voyage, all alone, to America, to escape the war.

As featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary Crip Camp, and for fans of I Am Malala, one of the most influential disability rights activists in US history tells her story of fighting to belong.

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.

In the midst of the Blizzard of 1978, the tanker Global Hope floundered on the shoals in Salem Sound off the Massachusetts coast. When the Coast Guard heard the Mayday calls, they immediately dispatched a patrol rescue boat. But within an hour, the Coast Guard rescue boat was in as much trouble as the tanker - both paralyzed in unrelenting seas. Enter Captain Frank Quirk, who was compelled to act. Gathering his crew of four, Quirk plunged his 49-foot steel boat, the Can Do, into the blizzard.

In the early 1980s on a remote part of the Sudanese coast, a new luxury holiday resort opened for business. Catering for divers, it attracted guests from around the world. Little did the holidaymakers know that the staff were undercover spies, working for the Mossad - the Israeli secret service. Providing a front for covert night-time activities, the holiday village allowed the agents to carry out an operation unlike any seen before. What began with one cryptic message pleading for help, turned into the secret evacuation of thousands of Ethiopian Jews....

Amid the constant rain of German bombs and the escalating violence of World War II, British parents by the thousands chose to send their children out of the country: the wealthy, independently; the poor, through a government relocation program called CORB. In September 1940, passenger liner SS City of Benares set out in a convoy of 19 ships sailing for Canada. On board were 90 CORB children, chaperones, and crew, along with paying passengers. When the war ships escorting the Benares to safe waters peeled off, a German submarine attacked and torpedoed the Benares.