True Survival

Did Peary reach the North Pole? Was Admiral Byrd the first to fly over it? Did Frederick Cook actually make the first ascent of Mt. McKinley? Spanning 450 years of history, Great Exploration Hoaxes tells the spellbinding stories of ten men who pursued glory at any cost even the truth.

June, 1941. Eleven-year-old Shmuel Sucha is startled awake by the sound of German planes over his hometown in western Ukraine. As the Nazi shadow begins to fall on their small Jewish community, Shmuel’s parents smuggle their son away to a local farm, just on the border of the surrounding forest.

Three young Jewish sisters from Leipzig, Germany huddle together in the cold darkness of night waiting for their smugglers to rescue them and bring them to freedom in Belgium. Their mother, in a state of shock following Kristallnacht, is left behind, sedated in a psychiatric hospital. November 1938 begins the four year ordeal of the seven member Kroch family who endure unfathomable conditions in their fight for survival: imprisonment in French internment camps, hiding in a tiny tool shed, and adapting to the deplorable conditions of a Nazi prison.

God, the Mafia, My Dad, and Me shares a tale of enduring love, unwavering courage, and the unbreakable bond between a father and daughter. These are the true stories of Lori and her father, Lou Peters, a former combat Marine who attracted the attention of the Bonnano crime family and was thrust into a spotlight he never imagined for himself. You’ll learn about the strength required to protect those you love in battles no one else sees—not even the family you’re protecting. Equal parts beautiful and tragic, this gripping memoir reveals the inexplicable ties that bind.

In October 1934, the Chinese Communist Army found itself facing annihilation, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of Nationalist soldiers. Rather than surrender, 86,000 Communists embarked on an epic flight to safety. Only 30 were women. Their trek would eventually cover 4,000 miles over 370 days. Under enemy fire they crossed highland swamps, climbed Tibetan peaks, scrambled over chain bridges, and trudged through the sands of the western deserts.

That day started like any other but by lunchtime, I was fighting for my very life. A stroke is like that. You don't see it coming. There was nothing to do but let nature take its course—no guarantee I'd live much less return to full health. So, be prepared to travel through the terror and frustration of paralysis to a place of peace and gratitude where life resides with hope.

Step into Chicago during the 1960s and ’70s, when mobsters influence everyone from strip-club owners to Teamsters, aldermen, judges, and local police. It is a world where good men are corrupted by the irresistible lure of money and power and families are shattered by lies, violence, and tragedy.

This story has been shared around the world, but the most remarkable parts were missing until now. Twenty-Seconds details the real reason the author survived and continues to survive every day with barely an immune system. It's a testament to our magnificence as human beings. Amazing synchronicities throughout Twenty-Seconds highlight just how important it is to pay attention to the signs in life, perhaps just like the reason you picked up this book. How a 20-second moment can change it all.

On January 19, 2000, a fire raged through the freshman dormitory at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, killing three students and injuring 58 others. Among the victims were Shawn Simons and Alvaro Llanos, roommates from poor neighborhoods who made their families proud by getting into college. They managed to escape the fire, but both were burned terribly.

This audiobook describes the experiences of two Jewish brothers and Holocaust survivors who fled the approaching Nazi army and eventually joined up and fought with the resistance movement and ultimately helped defeat the Nazi army.

Maxwell Smart tenía solo once años cuando toda su familia fue asesinada. Pudo haber muerto también, pero su madre le ordenó salvarse. Huyó al bosque, cavó un hoyo para refugiarse y buscó comida en las granjas cercanas. Con la ropa hecha harapos y al borde de la inanición, escapó repetidamente de la muerte a manos de los nazis. Después de meses en soledad, Maxwell se encontró con otro niño que deambulaba por el bosque en busca de comida. Janek, al igual que Maxwell, era huérfano y los dos se hicieron amigos.

On March 28, 1944, six-year-old Tati and her four-year-old sister, Andra, were roused from their sleep and arrested. Along with their mother, Mira, their aunt, and cousin Sergio, they were deported to Auschwitz. Over 230,000 children were deported to the camp, where Josef Mengele, the Angel of Death, performed deadly experiments on them. Only a few dozen children survived, Tati and Andra among them.

The stunning and heartbreaking story of the young son of Rachel Nickell - who witnessed the brutal attack on his mother and whose childhood was shaped by the media storm that followed. A coming-of-age story that begins with a tragedy but ends in optimism, forgiveness and peace.

Childhood or wildhood? This collection of stories begins with a young boy whose cleverness, ability, and determination are more in line with an adult rather than the curious-minded six-year-old that we are introduced to in the first story. Normal was never to be a part of Marcel Pontbriand’s life. Orphaned at the tender young age of 14 and with only pennies to his name, you’ll listen about how he took to the ice roads of Canada and met with fear, tragedy, and obstacles that only few could even imagine.

Den Collier has a legacy to be a pilot that was handed down to him by his grandfather. When a tragic event in his life teaches him that his time on this earth is too precious to waste, he fulfills his legacy and learns to fly. After two decades away, Den is drawn to flying once again. He buys a plane in California and heads off on a flight back to Michigan. But he has no sooner gotten into the air when his legacy begins to seem more like a curse, and his childhood dream of flying collapses into a nightmare fight for survival.

A lethal fall from a remote cliff shattered the spine of eighteen-year-old Noah Messenger. Paralyzed and broken in what most would consider a hopeless situation, the next 48 hours would determine whether he'd make it out alive. This short story is a true account of a young man's will to survive. Using only his arms, he dragged himself across a treacherous, secluded landscape for two days. When most would have given up, Noah persevered.

Six days after giving birth, a polar bear named Aurora got up and walked away from her den at the Columbus Zoo, leaving her tiny squealing cub to fend for herself. Hours later, Aurora still hadn’t returned. The cub was furless and blind, and with her temperature dropping dangerously, the zookeepers entrusted with her care felt they had no choice: They would have to raise one of the most dangerous predators in the world by hand. Over the next few weeks, a group of veterinarians and zookeepers worked around the clock to save the cub, whom they called Nora.

Haunted by ghosts of the past, she was sailing directly into the eye of a storm. But fighting the challenges at sea was nothing compared with her complex personal struggles on an intense journey to find self-valuation. Determined to complete the life-changing odyssey, in book two of her Living Life Sideways series, Michelle Segrest’s focus turns to an extraordinary effort to salvage her crumbling relationship with a masterfully manipulative skipper.

A true story of courage and survival, South to Alaska carries listeners from the heartland of America to the last frontier... the hard way. Born in the dusty heart of Oklahoma in 1916, 10-year-old Melvin sees a photograph of a cabin in the Alaska wilderness in his fourth-grade geography book and dreams of living there. Nearly 50 years later he builds a 47-foot boat in his Arkansas backyard, launches it on the Arkansas River, and cruises 10,000 miles to Alaska by way of the Panama Canal. Melvin has never been south of the United States/Mexico border.

On November 18, 1958, a 623-foot limestone carrier - caught in one of the most violent storms in Lake Michigan history - broke in two and sank in less than five minutes. Four of the 35-person crew escaped to a small raft, to which they clung in total darkness, braving 30-foot waves and frigid temperatures. As the storm raged on, a search-and-rescue mission hunted for survivors, while the frantic citizens of nearby Rogers City, Michigan, anxiously awaited word of their loved ones' fates.