Dive into this revealing portrait of Stranger Things fan favorite Lucas Sinclair and get to know Lucas like never before. The thrilling adventure of Stranger Things continues where season three left off, with fan favorite Lucas Sinclair finally telling his own story in his own words.
Lucas has been in the fight against the evil forces in his town since the beginning, but he is tired of feeling like an outsider. When the start of high school presents Lucas with options beyond D&D and being bullied, he wonders if he can be more than invisible. After connecting with one of the few other Black students at school, Lucas starts to learn more about himself apart from his friend group. And he begins to understand himself as a Black teen in Hawkins, which feels unlike anything—in this world or any other—he’s ever experienced.
Stuck in the closet and scared to pursue his own dreams, Gabi sees his parents’ shop as his future. Stuck under the weight of his parents’ expectations, Theo’s best shot at leaving Vermont means first ensuring his parents’ livelihood is secure.
From Suyi Davies Okungbowa, contributor to the New York Times bestselling Black Boy Joy, comes an exploration of love and identity within the beloved Stranger Things universe, through the eyes of Lucas Sinclair.
A good read – and that’s coming from a huge fan of the series itself. It is nice to dive into the mind of one of the main but inconspicuous characters of the story, Lucas. And also, to read about the others since I used to watch them on Netflix.
Soar into a breathtaking world of heroes and ferocious unicorns in this first book in the hotly anticipated fantasy adventure series for age 9+ fans of Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and Amari and the Night Brothers.
Thirteen-year-old Skandar Smith has only ever wanted to be a unicorn rider. To be one of the lucky few selected to hatch a unicorn. To bond with it for life; to train together and race for glory; to be a hero.
But just as Skandar’s dream is about to come true, things start to take a more dangerous turn than he could ever have imagined. A dark and twisted enemy has stolen the island’s most powerful unicorn – and as the threat grows ever closer, Skandar discovers a secret that could blow apart his world forever . . .
Get ready for unlikely heroes, elemental magic, sky battles, ancient secrets, nail-biting races and ferocious unicorns in this epic adventure series that will have your heart soaring.
Sixteen-year-old shy, socially awkward trans teen Bass reluctantly skips school and goes on a boat trip with his adventure-seeking girlfriend, Rosie. When a sudden storm smashes their boat on a rocky shore off a deserted island, Bass and Rosie struggle to make it to safety. Bruised and battling hypothermia, the pair have to seek shelter and work together to survive until they can be rescued. After a horrible night, Rosie, an experienced climber, decides to scale a steep cliff to find help. She falls and injures herself badly. Now Bass has to find the strength and courage to swim around a dangerous headland and make his way back to civilization before it’s too late.
Fourteen-year-old Blue Jasper takes his younger siblings, twins Indigo and Violet, out for a hike to give their mother a break. One moment the twins are scampering in the trees right ahead of him, and the next moment they are gone. As Blue frantically searches for them, a strange woman appears in the forest claiming to be the Faerie Queen Olea of Nearwood and the twins’ real mother. Now because of a magical pact, Blue's mother's life will be in danger if he can't find the twins before the next sunset. Blue must find his way into the magical forest known as the Crosswood and through the dangerous Faerie lands beyond it. Will he be able to find the twins in time? And will they be able to find their way out again? This is the first book in the Faerie Woods series.
Fourteen-year-old Blue (a human) should be upset that his new friends Salix (a Nixie) and Finola (a Faerie) have tricked him into going on another adventure into the Faerieland. But he's actually quite excited. Especially since their quest to find the way back to Salix's homeland takes them through the Wherewood, a magical region where lost things go. They encounter confused pets, misplaced homework assignments and mountains of odd socks. But when a misstep leads Blue into the forsaken Witherwood, he comes face to face with an old enemy. And Olea, the cursed former queen of Nearwood, will not let Blue go so easily this time. This is the second book in the Faerie Woods series, following The Crosswood.
A laugh-out-loud coming of age story of one teen’s preposterous experience in a wilderness therapy program.
Daniel grew up in the shadow of his older sister, the brash, self-assured and utterly reckless Jackie, now living with her dirtbag boyfriend and wandering through dead-end jobs. When his parents find her marijuana stash in his closet and decide they do not want him to turn out like his sister, Daniel suffers the “trickle-down parenting” effect and is sent to Quest Trail.
Surrounded by other similarly uprooted teens, Daniel endures a series of preposterous self-discovery exercises and gets caught up in a rivalry with Troy, a too-tough poser, as they vie for the attention of Vera, a charismatic California teen who grew up with too much money and not enough emotional connection.
Just as Daniel’s confidence begins to grow and things start to look up, the Quest Trail program dissolves into complete chaos.
Sometimes humorous, sometimes painful, Off Trail shows an authentic account of all the embarrassing and heart-wrenching moments of being a teen.
Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, highest, driest and most remote part of the world. It’s the world’s largest polar desert. Antarctica is a true wilderness.
Author Leilani Raashida Henry, daughter of George W. Gibbs, Jr., the first person of African descent to go to Antarctica, recounts her father’s expedition while educating readers on the incredible geography, biodiversity and history of the continent. Using diary entries from Gibbs' expedition, The Call of Antarctica takes readers on a journey to the rugged Antarctic landscape to learn its history, its present and the importance of protecting its future.
The photography and layout of this book are stunning, and the broad array of facts and stories—involving everything from penguins to the Northern Lights—is enough to entertain an armchair adventurer and science lover for days.
But what makes this tome on Antarctica really special are the interspersed diary entries from the first Black Antarctica explorer, George W. Gibbs. It puts you right there, on the ships, on the ice and in the bitter cold. The wonder, the challenges, the seafaring knowledge and yes, the racism, are a door to another era in Gibbs’ own words.
It’s hard to think of anyone who wouldn’t be drawn in by the photos, maps, sidebars, history and science, especially with that personal touch of Gibbs’ first-person observations tying it all together.
Jack is 14 going on 15. For the past seven years, he and his younger brother and sister, and his mother and father, have lived in a remote cabin on the Athabasca River west of Edmonton. It's the late 1930s, and the river is almost as wild and untamed as it was before humans began settling along the riverbanks.
The reason for the Whyte family living there has a good deal to do with Malcolm, Jack's father, and what we would call his PTSD after serving in World War One. He has never really recovered from the trauma of his experience in the trenches, and his solution has been to sweep his family into the wilderness and remain there, living off the land. But now Jack is of an age when he figures he has had enough of this life, particularly since his father is not the most understanding of parents.
Trouble is, as Jack makes his move to leave the family by canoeing away down the Athabasca, something goes wrong on the first day and he breaks his arm, and has to stay stranded, alone, unable to make any more progress. Malcolm comes after him, and somehow father and son begin to communicate in ways they never have. All of this is played out against the backdrop of a powerful river where nature is dominant and where a family manages their lives alone in the bush, with little or no reference to the world beyond.
There’s no question that the author of this novel knows about living, hunting and paddling in the Canadian wilderness, and there’s admirable authenticity in every scene of the book. It’s well paced and exciting, from the characters surviving overturned canoes in a flash flood to a narrow escape from wolves.
There’s also historical perspective, given that it takes place in the late 1930s, after the Depression drove the family to a remote location where they barely survive the day-to-day challenges. By the end, the shadow of World War II is already looming.
But even beyond the day-to-day trapping, hunting, fishing, firewood chopping and other grueling chores, the three children have to put up with an authoritarian father who suffers from shell shock, or post-traumatic stress disorder, as a result of serving in the trenches and losing most of his fellow combat mates.
Jack feels it’s time to break loose from his hard life, which involves no social outlets and a father who rarely speaks, let alone shows love. Unfortunately, he’s barely down the river when he has an accident that requires a rescue – by his father. The family is reunited but changed, with a new goal of leaving the wilderness together.
The main problem with this novel is that Jack doesn’t seem like the dominant character after the first few chapters. The third-person point of view shifts continually from Jack to his father, and to a lesser extent his mother, younger brother and sister. It begins to feel like Jack is a prop for a story about his father, and yet one can’t help but care about each of the characters, applaud their changes and root for them through their difficulties. The writing is a little lackluster but still flows, and the hopeful ending is welcome. Again, anyone who loves wilderness survival tales will enjoy this, but only if their expectations are for a novel about a family that includes a 14-year-old boy, not one focused heavily on the boy himself.
Eleven-year-old Danny was hoping to have a simple, fun summer, but his plans are derailed when developers threaten to build condos on his community’s beloved soccer field and when he cultivates an unexpected friendship with a hermit living in the nearby woods. Further uncovered secrets might just help Danny save the soccer field once and for all.
Part survival story, part animal-human friendship story and part redemption story, Clan follows the journey of Atlatl and the saber tooth cub he rescues from a dire wolf attack.
Injured as a child, Atlatl dreams of one day earning his father's respect as a hunter. But when Atlatl brings the young saber tooth to his Clan, it leads to a devastating moment of torn loyalties between Atlatl and his father--a moment that will change their lives forever.
Then an epic disaster strikes, and suddenly Atlatl has to rely on wits, ingenuity and bravery to face his biggest foe yet and try to save what remains of his Clan.