Rising Water: The Story of the Thai Cave Rescue


Marc Aronson - 2019
    A rainy season downpour flooded the tunnels, trapping them as they took shelter on a shelf of the dark cave. Eight days of searching yielded no signs of life, but on July 2 they were discovered by two British divers. The boys and their coach were eventually rescued in an international operation that took three days. What could have been a terrible tragedy became an amazing story of survival. Award-winning author Marc Aronson brings us the backstory behind how this astounding rescue took place. Rising Water highlights the creative thinking and technology that made a successful mission possible by examining the physical, environmental, and psychological factors surrounding the rescue. From the brave Thai Navy SEAL who lost his life while placing oxygen tanks along the passageways of the cave, to the British divers that ultimately swam the boys to safety, to the bravery of the boys and their coach, this is the breathtaking rescue that captivated the entire world.

A March to Madness: A View from the Floor in the Atlantic Coast Conference


John Feinstein - 1998
    It's the book that takes us inside the intensely competitive Atlantic Coast Conference & paints a portrait of how college baskettball is coached & played at the highest level. It's the book that takes us onto the courts, into the locker rooms, & inside the high-pressure world of the talented coaches who have helped make the ACC's nine colleges - Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Virginia, Maryland, Wake Forest, & Florida State - world-renowned for their championship basketball teams. The author's afterword to this edition will recap the ACC's current season & preview the 1998-99 rivalries.

Only One Year


Andrea Cheng - 2010
    Di Di, her two-year-old brother, is being taken to China to spend a year with their grandparents. Why can’t he go to day care or be watched by a babysitter when Mama goes back to work? Sharon wonders. But her parents say it is better for relatives to take care of little children.After Di Di first leaves, Sharon and her younger sister, Mary, pore over the photographs their grandma sends, trying to keep their little brother fresh in their minds. As the year passes, the girls become involved with school, friends, and hobbies. They think of Di Di less often. Then one day he is home again, and it feels as if a stranger has entered their lives. The children struggle to sort out their mixed emotions but soon discover that the bonds among siblings hold strong.

Luca


Gina Whitney - 2015
    Damon Luca, or Luca as they called him. I thought of him more as Damien, the fucking devil within these walls that now is my life. Dark, broody, and deadly to any woman. Mind-blowing, soul-shaking, raw sex appeal. He was a tall statured boy with broad shoulders and a pair of green eyes that set my soul on fire. His inky black hair framed his hard, chiseled features. He had the type of body that had no business being on a seventeen-year-old. I knew that once he fully developed, he'd be nothing short of drop-dead gorgeous. As I said...deadly on the eyes...and dangerous for your heart. My name is Allison. I met Luca through an unfortunate event when we were younger. I’m now twenty-four, and this is my story. My fucked up life. It's not a pretty one. Then again, the most interesting ones aren't...are they? This isn't your usual love story. Anything but. There are no blue skies, rainbows, or unicorns. Only him...my own personal arsonist. He had the ability to set my panties on fire, leave my body smoldering, and turn my heart into burning embers. He scared the hell out of me, made me feel. He opened my eyes to the world of twisted love. But love no less. This scary, beautiful man stole my heart from a young, tender age and refused to give it back. Here’s our story… This story is deep, dark, and deals with real scars and growth because of them.*****Cliffhanger*****

Lucky Strike


Bobbie Pyron - 2015
    She doesn't care what names the other kids call them. She cares about being right, about saving the turtles of Paradise Beach, and she cares about Nate. Then, on his birthday, at the Goofy Golf mini-golf course, Nate is struck by lightning -- and survives! Suddenly baseballs are drawn to his bat - popular kids want HIM on their side. It seems the whole town of Paradise Beach thinks Nate has the magic touch. But is there room for Gen in Nate's lucky new world?Lucky Strike tells the unforgettable story of two vulnerable outsiders and what luck is really all about.

Hoop Dreams


Ben Joravsky - 1995
    25 photos.

The Elephant Thief


Jane Kerr - 2017
    As he rides Maharajah from Scotland to his new home in England, even Queen Victoria follows their journey with delight.But a rival zookeeper wagers on their failure, and soon Danny's shady connections threaten to overturn the mission ...

Wed Wabbit


Lissa Evans - 2017
    You've been hurled into a strange world. You have three companions: two are unbelievably weird and the third is your awful cousin Graham.You have to solve a series of nearly impossible clues.You need to deal with a cruel dictator and three thousand Wimbley Woos (yes, you read that sentence correctly). And the whole situation - the whole, entire thing - is your fault.Wed Wabbit is an adventure story about friendship, danger and the terror of never being able to get back home again.

Beanball


Gene Fehler - 2008
    Center fielder Luke "Wizard" Wallace steps up to the plate--and is hit by a beanball, a wild pitch that shatters his skull, destroys the vision in his left eye, and changes his life forever.In this riveting novel, the events surrounding this pivotal moment are recounted through free-verse monologues by 28 different voices, including those of Luke and his Oak Grove teammates; the pitcher, Kyle Dawkins, and other Compton players; the two coaches; Luke's family members and teachers; and Sarah Edgerton, a new classmate who seems more affected by Luke's injury than his girlfriend is.With its unusual format, gripping subject matter, and economy of language, Beanball is a thought-provoking, fast-paced read.

Shooting Stars


LeBron James - 2009
    United by their love of the game and their yearning for companionship, they quickly forged a bond that would carry them through thick and thin (a lot of thin) and, at last, to a national championship in their senior year of high school.They were a motley group who faced challenges all too typical of inner-city America. LeBron grew up without a father and had moved with his mother more than a dozen times by the age of ten. Willie McGee, the quiet one, had left both his parents behind in Chicago to be raised by his older brother in Akron. Dru Joyce was outspoken, and his dad was ever present; he would end up coaching all five of the boys in high school. Sian Cotton, who also played football, was the happy-go-lucky enforcer, while Romeo Travis was unhappy, bitter, even surly, until he finally opened himself up to the bond his teammates offered him.In the summer after seventh grade, the Shooting Stars tasted glory when they qualified for a national championship tournament in Memphis. But they lost their focus and had to go home early. They promised one another they would stay together and do whatever it took to win a national title.They had no idea how hard it would be to fulfill that promise. In the years that followed, they would endure jealousy, hostility, exploitation, resentment from the black community (because they went to a “white” high school), and the consequences of their own overconfidence. Not least, they would all have to wrestle with LeBron’s outsize success, which brought too much attention and even a whiff of scandal their way. But together these five boys became men, and together they claimed the prize they had fought for all those years—a national championship.Shooting Stars is a stirring depiction of the challenges that face America’s youth today and a gorgeous evocation of the transcendent impact of teamwork.

Young, Rich & Black: An Afterwards Novella


Nia Forrester - 2017
    and the campus revolutionary, Zora Diallo have an unexpected and powerful encounter just before winter break, no one could have been more surprised than they were. While they’re home for the holiday, what started as a temporary fling continues and strengthens. But will their new bond survive their return to campus? Back at school, Deuce’s reputation as a wealthy and directionless player, and Zora’s as a young-woman-to-watch mean that their friends, priorities and maybe even their values might be sharply at odds. Can the power of their newfound passion for each other withstand their differences? Zora is looking to change the world, but Deuce is just enjoying being young, rich and Black. And ultimately, maybe the pull of their divergent paths will be stronger than the pull toward each other ...

Two Truths and a Lie: It's Alive!


Ammi-Joan Paquette - 2017
    But not all of them are real. Just like the old game in this book’s title, two out of every three stories are completely true and one is an outright lie. Can you guess which? It’s not going to be easy. Some false stories are based on truth, and some of the true stories are just plain unbelievable. And they’re all accompanied by dozens of photos, maps, and illustrations. Amaze yourself and trick your friends as you sort out the fakes from the facts!

How to be a Person: 65 Hugely Useful, Super-Important Skills to Learn Before You're Grown Up


Catherine Newman - 2020
    Jam-packed with tips, tricks, and skills — all illustrated in an graphic-novel style — this book shows kids just how easy it is to free themselves from parental nagging and become a more dependable person — and they’ll like themselves better, too! They’ll learn how to deal with dirty rooms, care for pets and cactuses, stick up for somebody, and fold a T-shirt. They’ll even get a crash course on using the kitchen (including how to turn a 33-cent package of ramen into dinner) and a boot camp for lending a hand outside the house (mowing, shoveling, and fixing something loose).

Math-terpieces: The Art of Problem-Solving


Greg Tang - 2003
    Keeping an open mind, looking for unusual number combinations, using multiple skills (like subtracting to add) and looking for patterns, will guarantee any child success in math. In MATH-TERPIECES, Tang continues to challenge kids with his innovative approach to math, and uses art history to expand his vision for creative problem-solving.

What's in Your Pocket?: Collecting Nature's Treasures


Heather L. Montgomery - 2021
    Observing, sorting, and classifying their finds taught these kids scientific skills--and sometimes led to groundbreaking discoveries. Author Heather Montgomery has all the science flair of a new Bill Nye. Book includes the Heather's tips for responsible collecting.