Young Explorer

In May 1996 the media scrambled to document the gripping story of 16-year-old Mark Pfetzer's expedition to Mount Everest. Not only was he the youngest climber ever to attempt the summit, he also witnessed the tragedy documented in Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air, in which eight climbers perished in a sudden storm. Within Reach is Mark's extraordinary account of this experience and of his triumphs over several other challenging peaks. At once triumphant and tragic, this story will be an inspiration to climbers, athletes, and armchair enthusiasts alike.

A true survival story that follows one of America's most beloved presidents, John F. Kennedy, as he fought to save his crew after a deadly shipwreck in the Pacific during World War II. In September 1941, young Jack Kennedy was appointed an Ensign in the US Naval Reserve. On August 2, 1943, Kennedy's PT 109 and two others were on a mission to ambush an enemy supply convoy when they were surprised by a Japanese destroyer. In Harm's Way tells the story of what happened next as JFK fought to save his surviving crew members who found themselves adrift in enemy waters.

Death on the River of Doubt takes listeners inside the thrilling journey that unfolded as Theodore Roosevelt and his companions navigated the Amazonian River of Doubt through an unforgiving and unpredictable jungle. With new threats at every turn, from bloodthirsty piranhas and raging rapids to starvation, disease, and a traitor in their own ranks, it seemed that not everyone would make it out alive.

In a rich tale of adventure, eight cousins sneak through forbidden treehouse doors only to discover that they are separated from each other and lost in strange worlds. In their quests to return home, they must unravel mysteries, escape snares and villains, find one another, and search for the elusive Oracle.

It is the dawn of the 18th century, when girls stay home and sew while men sail the high seas finding adventure, danger, and gold. But two unusually adventurous girls (a rich merchant's daughter, Nancy Kington, and her former plantation slave, Minerva Sharpe) take to the high seas from Jamaica on a ship the crew renames Deliverance.

Long before his finest hour as Britain's wartime leader, Winston Churchill emerged on the world stage as a brazen foreign correspondent, covering wars of empire in Cuba, India, the Sudan, and South Africa. In those far-flung corners of the world, reporting from the front lines between 1895 and 1900, Churchill mastered his celebrated command of language and formed strong opinions about war.

Follow the intrepid 12-yeard old Nikki Van Wyck on her fantastic adventure in New York City's Central Park where wildly magical things happen after dark. Nikki will have to use her vast knowledge of the urban oasis in an epic contest to choose the next king for the curiously strange creatures who call Central Park their home.

A young girl is suddenly all alone and on the run from the Nazis in her hometown in Poland. Having survived an aktion that was intended to completely rid Czestochowa of all the Jews, she and her father try to make their way back to their home during the late hours of the night.

As Frank Kusy turns 27, he is unexpectedly put in charge of an old people's home in Clapham, South London. Driven to distraction by a crazy cast of characters, he seeks solace in Buddhism, only to find himself up to his ears in plasticine pigs and marathon chanting sessions. Will he make his mum happy by holding down a 'proper' job? Will he make her unhappy by becoming a writer? Will he get to share cheese sandwiches with Kevin in Kathmandu? And will he be forced to exchange his underpants in Japan?

In Unsinkable, you will follow Abby into the depths through a gripping and evocative firsthand account that starts prior to her departure, travels through her daring (and sometimes near-death) encounters on the open sea, to her dramatic rescue in the remotest part of the Indian Ocean. Today, when the most productive thing a teenager may do is play videogames, Abby's courage and tenacity shows us all what can happen when we choose to challenge our own limits, embrace faith, and aim for what our critics say is impossible.

A group of bored, teenage Army brats begin Urban Exploring and discover an underwater munitions dump inhabited by extraterrestrials. When the town's teenagers mysteriously disappear and return carrying pieces of alien technology, the Urban Explorers realize they may be the only hope of delivering a magnificent gift from the stars to all of humanity.

Vanessa Veselka grew up a child in motion. After her parents split, she'd lived in nine states by the age of seven, eventually landing with her mother in 1970s Greenwich Village. Along the way she became enthralled with a distant part of her identity: her father's ceremonial adoption into the Tlingit, an Alaskan native people of legendary martial prowess. As an adult her childhood memories of Tlingit warrior tales would transform into a quest to understand her own connection to a distant people and their history.

Bei einem Tropengewitter stürzt ein peruanisches Flugzeug über dem Dschungel aus 3000 Metern Höhe ab. Nur die siebzehnjährige Juliane überlebt. Mit ein paar Schrammen, ohne Brille, mit nur einer Sandale und einem Tütchen Fruchtbonbons schlägt sie sich durch den Urwald. Fast elf Tage ist sie unterwegs, bis sie auf Einheimische trifft... Das Mädchen, das vom Himmel fiel; der Segler, der ein dramatisches Schiffsunglück überlebte; die Frau, die im eisigen Wasser unter einer Eisschicht eingeschlossen war und die doch vier Stunden später von Rettungssanitätern wiederbelebt werden konnte.

Recruited by the US Army and Navy from small towns and elite colleges, more than 10,000 women served as codebreakers during World War II. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them. A strict vow of secrecy nearly erased their efforts from history; now, through dazzling research and interviews with surviving code girls, best-selling author Liza Mundy brings to life this riveting and vital story of American courage, service, and scientific accomplishment.

Gary Paulsen takes listeners along on his maiden voyage, proving that ignorance can be bliss. Also really stupid and incredibly dangerous. He tells of boats that owned him, good, bad, and beloved, and how they got him through terrifying storms that he survived by sheer luck. His spare prose conjures up shark surprises and killer waves as well as moonlight on the sea, and makes listeners feel what it’s like to sail under the stars or to lie at anchor in a tropical lagoon where dolphins leap, bathed in silver.

Kia was tormented by chaotic nightmares. They were always the same. She was in the woods. She was being chased but she always heard him calling for her. She didn't know who he was or what he looked like but she knew she needed him.

On a rainy day in July 1999, 21 young people lost their lives in the infamous Saxetenbach Gorge Swiss Canyoning Disaster. I should have been one of them. The flash flood swept down the mountain with impossible force, sweeping the victims’ bodies miles downstream. It would take days to recover them all. Many were only identifiable from dental records. But I survived. From little girl lost to lioness. Brave Enough Now is a gripping story of courage, survival, friendship, and transformation.

Do you know how it feels to run for 1,900 miles? Or to look down at the Earth from a space station? Or to swim alongside a hungry shark? Fantastic Female Adventurers by Lily Dyu is a collection of 14 exciting and inspirational stories about the women that do. Follow them on their incredible journeys around the globe.

The story of a child's journey in Kenya from being lost on the streets to being rescued and reunited with his family, with references to substance abuse (glue sniffing) and God's grace and love.

Tales of brave and selfless deeds used to be part of every boy's education. We grew up sharing stories with our fathers, uncles, and grandfathers of how other men had lived their lives, met their challenges, reached their goals, and faced their deaths. Becoming a man was about comradeship and standing by your friends whatever the circumstances. And it meant that sometimes it was more important to die a hero than live a coward's life. Through Neil Oliver's vivid, stirring accounts we can rediscover the stories that inspire men to perform acts greater than themselves.