True Disasters

Whether it's being lost in a cave or caught in a collapsed mine, being trapped underground can be terrifying. You may be cold, wet, hungry, and stuck in absolute darkness. Even worse is not knowing if anyone will ever find you. Find out how people survived their ordeal in these true stories of those who were trapped underground in this book from the Fighting to Survive series.

Award-winning author and illustrator Rosalyn Schanzer’s book Witches! was named a School Library Journal Best Book and a Chicago Public Library Best of the Best. Witches! recounts, in electrifying detail, the true events of the 17th-century witch trials in Salem Village, Massachusetts. After two girls exhibit strange behavior, the colonial town’s doctor concludes their symptoms are the result of witchcraft. The chilling events of this period remain one of the most disturbing passages of U.S. history.

Angie Orth should have had at least 2.5 kids by now—everyone else back home did. Despite a successful PR career in New York, Angie was failing at the roles she was born to play—those of submissive wife and grandchild incubator. Without a potential husband in sight or the hope of a photogenic brood to show off, she was beginning to wonder if God forgot about her.

In the best-selling tradition of The Devil in the White City, award-winning author Brian Hicks tells the explosive story of the Morro Castle, the elegant luxury liner that burned off the coast of New Jersey on September 7, 1934. The captain died under mysterious circumstances seven hours before his ship caught fire off the New Jersey coast.

The story takes place in a world much like ours, but at the same time not at all like ours, in which Vlad Luxor - capricious, vain, infantile tyrant - rules over a town with an iron fist. He's an emperor with no clothes, but woe is the person who points that out - they could wind up turned into a squirrel or lizard or who knows what! For in this world, the evil leader also has magic, which he uses to punish anyone who speaks out against him. But in every classic tale with a despicable villain, there must also be a truly noble hero - in this case, four of them!

On December 3, 1999, the call crackled in to the men of the Worchester, Massachusetts Fire Department: a three-alarm warehouse blaze in a six-story windowless colossus of brick and mortar. What happened next - and how their lives and community were changed forever - offers an unprecedented look at these heroic men whose job it is to rush into burning buildings when everyone else just wants out.

Chef José Andrés arrived in Puerto Rico four days after Hurricane Maria ripped through the island. The economy was destroyed, and for most people there was no clean water, no food, no power, no gas, and no way to communicate with the outside world. Andrés addressed the humanitarian crisis the only way he knew how: by feeding people, one hot meal at a time.

Drawing on historical documents and contemporary accounts and on exclusive interviews with Carlsen's family, Delaney opens a window into the world of the merchant marine. With deep affection, and respect, for the weather and all that goes with it, he places us in the heart of the storm, a "biblical tempest" of unimaginable power. He illuminates the bravery and ingenuity of Carlsen and the extraordinary courage that the 37-year-old captain inspired in his stalwart crew.

On the morning of May 9, 1980, harbor pilot John Lerro was guiding a 600-foot freighter, the Summit Venture, into Tampa Bay. Directly in the ship's path was the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Suddenly, a violent weather cell reduced visibility to zero at the precise moment when Lerro attempted to direct the 20,000-ton vessel underneath the bridge. Unable to stop or see where he was going, Lerro drove the ship into a support pier.

Tall tales, all true, about guns, bombs, car chases, spiders, exotic locales, men in uniform, and dancing girls - with deadpan delivery and a social conscience. "I remember the advertisement to join the Army. It asked for guys who were fit, committed, tough, volunteer parachutists, comfortable in the ocean, and mature. As a surfer, that sounded like me - except for the mature bit."

A century of the industrial age saw unprecedented leaps in technology and engineering, from the first flight of an airplane to the first flight of humans to the moon. But alongside these awe-inspiring achievements were horrible disasters caused by faulty engineering or careless judgement. Catastrophes and Heroes explores eight such disasters and recognizes the unheralded heroes who stepped up to save others in times of great danger.

In this collection of true-life survivor tales, people from all walks of life - a freelance writer, a crew member of the Lynyrd Skynyrd band, a naval flight surgeon, a teenager, and a newlywed on her honeymoon, among others - recount their traumatic narrow escapes as engines stalled, fuel ran out, hazardous weather conditions descended, and landings did not go according to plan.

Rife with captivating details of survival in an icy wilderness, this reimagining of the famous 1910 expedition to the South Pole, told in Cherry's voice, is an unforgettable tale of courage and camaraderie.

Pearl Harbor: Final Judgement reveals all of the eye-opening details of Clausen's investigation and is a damning account of massive intelligence failure. To this day, the story surrounding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor stokes controversy and conspiracy theories. This book provides conclusive evidence that shows how the US military missed so many signals and how it could have avoided the events of that fateful day.

On October 23, 2012, with Superstorm Sandy fast approaching, Captain Robin Walbridge made the fateful decision to sail the HMS Bounty from New London, Connecticut, to St. Petersburg, Florida, believing the wooden ship, a replica of the original, famous Bounty, would fare better at sea than at port. He told the crew that anyone who did not want to come on the voyage could leave the ship and there would be no hard feelings. No one took the captain up on his offer, and this decision would have fatal consequences.

The occult is many things to many people. For some, it is a path to enlightenment. Others find it a source of personal transformation. And still others consider it a doorway to the devil. While distinctions can be drawn and argued all day, what can't be argued is this: the occult is dangerous. It opens channels that are best left closed. It attracts entities that don't play by the rules. And it demands more - always more - than what was bargained for.

Drawing on historical documents and contemporary accounts and on exclusive interviews with Carlsen's family, Delaney opens a window into the world of the merchant marine. With deep affection, and respect, for the weather and all that goes with it, he places us in the heart of the storm, a "biblical tempest" of unimaginable power. He illuminates the bravery and ingenuity of Carlsen and the extraordinary courage that the 37-year-old captain inspired in his stalwart crew.

Forty million people in the US have tried Internet dating, which means 40 million people have probably gone on some pretty crappy dates. Not a Match: My True Tales of Online Dating Disasters is about one guy who experienced more than his fair share. Brian Donovan, a writer and comedian whose work has appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, NPR, and Chapelle's Show, has been on over 100 Internet dates in a genuine search for love and happiness.

Brittany and Ladarius had been together their whole lives and got married shortly after their high school graduation. She was willing to go to the ends of the earth for her man but he wasn't willing to do the same. Ladarius left Brittany for another woman and her world came tumbling down. They say when trouble comes, it comes in threes and they couldn't have been more right. One devastating event after another sends Brittany spiraling out of control. Will she straighten up and fly right or self-destruct?

The Esperanza Fire started October 26, 2006, in the San Jacinto Mountains above the Banning Pass near Cabazon, California. It destroyed 41,000 acres and dozens of homes and cost the taxpayers $16 million dollars. But by far the highest costs of the conflagration were the lives of the five-man crew of Engine 57, the first engine crew ever killed fighting a wildland blaze. Fire and superheated gases had erupted in a freak "area ignition," sending flames racing across three-quarters of a mile in mere seconds, engulfing the crew and the house they were defending.