480 BC: At a bleak pass in a far-flung corner of eastern Greece, three hundred Spartan warriors faced the army of King Xerxes of Persia, a massive force rumoured to be over a million strong. Their orders were simple: to delay the enemy for as long as possible in order to buy time for the main Greek armies to mobilize. For six days the Spartans held the invaders at bay. In the final hours - their shields broken, swords and spears shattered - they fought with their bare hands before being overwhelmed... It was battle that would become synonymous with extraordinary courage, heroism and self-sacrifice. It was a battle called Thermopylae.

Against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution and World War I Europe, Zoya, young cousin to the Tsar, flees St. Petersburg to Paris to find safety. Her entire world forever changed, she faces hard times and joins the Ballet Russe in Paris. And then, when life is kind to her, Zoya moves on to a new and glittering life in New York. The days of ease are all too brief as the Depression strikes, and she loses everything yet again. It is her career, and the man she meets in the course of it, which ultimately save her, as she rebuilds her life through the war years and beyond. And it is her family that comes to mean everything to her. From the roaring twenties to the 1980's, Zoya remains a rare and spirited woman whose legacy will live on.

When sixteen-year-old orphan Tessa Fell's older brother suddenly vanishes, her search for him leads her into Victorian-era London's dangerous supernatural underworld, and when she discovers that she herself is a Downworlder, she must learn to trust the demon-killing Shadowhunters if she ever wants to learn to control her powers and find her brother. Suggested level: secondary.

Where does the story of the Owens family begin? With a baby abandoned in a snowy field in the 1600s. Under the care of Hannah Owens, little Maria learns about the Unnamed Arts. Hannah recognizes that Maria has a gift and she teaches the girl all she knows. When Maria is abandoned by the man she loves, she follows him to Salem, Massachusetts. Here she invokes the curse that will haunt her family. And it's is here that she learns the rules of magic and the lesson that she will carry with her for the rest of her life. Love is the only thing that matters.

In a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. But when her scheming mistress discovers the lump of a servant cowering in the kitchen is actually hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to better the family's social position. What begins as simple amusement for the bored nobility takes a perilous turn when Luzia garners the notice of Antonio Pérez, the disgraced secretary to Spain's king. Still reeling from the defeat of his armada, the king is desperate for any advantage in the war against England's heretic queen--and Pérez will stop at nothing to regain the king's favor. Determined to seize this one chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a world of seers and alchemists, holy men and hucksters, where the lines between magic, science, and fraud are never certain. But as her notoriety grows, so does the danger that her Jewish blood will doom her to the Inquisition's wrath. She will have to use every bit of her wit and will to survive--even if that means enlisting the help of Guillén Santangel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.

"In 1987, Miri Ammerman returns to her hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey, to attend a commemoration of the worst year of her life. Thirty-five years earlier, when Miri was fifteen, and in love for the first time, a succession of airplanes fell from the sky, leaving a community reeling. Against this backdrop of actual events that Blume experienced in the early 1950s, when airline travel was new and exciting and everyone dreamed of going somewhere, Judy Blume imagines and weaves together a haunting story of three generations of families, friends, and strangers, whose lives are profoundly changed by these disasters. She paints a vivid portrait of a particular time and place -- Nat King Cole singing "Unforgettable," Elizabeth Taylor haircuts, young (and not-so-young) love, explosive friendships, A-bomb hysteria, rumors of Communist threat. And a young journalist who makes his name reporting tragedy. Through it all, one generation reminds another that life goes on."--Goodreads.com.

"In a village in a medieval fiefdom buffeted by natural disasters, a motherless shepherd boy finds himself the unlikely pivot of a power struggle that puts all manner of faith to a savage test, in a spellbinding novel that represents Ottessa Moshfegh's most exciting leap yet Little Marek, the abused and delusional son of the village shepherd, never knew his mother; his father told him she died in childbirth. One of life's few consolations for Marek is his enduring bond with the blind village midwife, Ina, who suckled him when he was a baby, as she did so many of the village's children. Ina's gifts extend beyond childcare: she possesses a unique ability to communicate with the natural world. Her gift often brings her the transmission of sacred knowledge on levels far beyond those available to other villagers, however religious they might be. For some people, Ina's home in the woods outside of the village is a place to fear and to avoid, a godless place. Among their number is Father Barnabas, the town priest and lackey for the depraved lord and governor, Villiam, whose hilltop manor contains a secret embarrassment of riches. The people's desperate need to believe that there are powers that be who have their best interests at heart is put to a cruel test by Villiam and the priest, especially in this year of record drought and famine. But when fate brings Marek into violent proximity to the lord's family, new and occult forces upset the old order. By year's end, the veil between blindness and sight, life and death, the natural world and the spirit world, will prove to be very thin indeed"--

When the massive metal tank filled with sticky brown molasses that rises up over her crowded North End neighborhood explodes, young Carmen must fight for her life, as a tsunami of molasses rushes through the streets.

It was 1964 in the brand-new state of Alaska, a vast land of staggering beauty and heart-stopping dangers. Eleven-year-old Jack had grown up living happily with his parents in an off-the-grid cabin, miles from their closest neighbors. Grizzlies and wolves outnumbered people, and dark winter days were 30 degrees below zero. Jack had always thought of himself as strong--"Alaska tough". But then the most powerful earthquake in American history--the Good Friday Earthquake--struck. The 9.2 magnitude quake lasted nearly five minutes, destroying downtown Anchorage and sending 30-foot tsunamis into coastal cities, wiping out entire communities. Its vibrations were felt around the world. In the end, it caused billions of dollars in damage and the death of 129 people. New York Times bestselling author Lauren Tarshis tells the story of the disaster that changed our understanding of earth science--and tested one boy in ways he never could have imagined. Includes a section of nonfiction backmatter with more facts and photos about the real-life event.

"The Dust Bowl of the 1930s was the worst environmental disaster in American history, a time when 'black blizzards' of dust, some hundreds of miles wide, swept across the southern plains. Hundreds of people were killed. Thousands of farms were buried. Millions of refugees fled starvation and sickness in the plains only to face hatred and prejudice in California. ... The thrilling story of an eleven-year-old boy who risks his life to save his family and friends during the worst dust storm of all, an event that would become known as 'Black Sunday.' Includes a section of nonfiction back matter with more facts and photos about the real-life event." -- Provided by publisher.

Traces the story of a boy who moves across the country to rural northern California, where his efforts to adjust are challenged by a fast-moving firestorm that places family homes and lives at risk.

"The Black Death was a pandemic of unimaginable proportions, taking the lives of 75 - 200 million people worldwide. Lauren Tarshis's story of one girl surviving the plague pulses with terror, action, and hope. The deadliest disease in the history of the world ... Elsie dreams of becoming a brave warrior like her father, who is an archer fighting in England's war against France. But life isn't fair in 1348 Europe. Peasant girls like Elsie can't be archers or knights or anything exciting. Then one day in the forest, Elsie and her best friend, Humphrey, discover a chest filled with stolen treasures--and a dangerous secret. At last Elsie has a chance to prove that she's as brave as any knight. Little does she know that a deadly illness -- the Black Death--has begun its attack on England. It's already killed millions around the world. And now it's come for Elsie"--Provided by the publisher.

"It was a battle that would change the course of World War II ... Eleven-year-old Paul's French village has been under Nazi control for years. His Jewish best friend has disappeared. Food is scarce. And there doesn't seem to be anything Paul can do to make things better. Then Paul finds an American paratrooper in a tree near his home. The soldier says the Allies have a plan to crush the Nazis once and for all, but the soldier needs Paul's help. This is Paul's chance to make a difference. Soon he finds himself in the midst of the largest invasion in history. Can he do his part to turn horror into hope?"--Back cover

The battlefield was soaked in blood. Screams of injured soldiers rang through the air. Eleven-year-old Nathaniel Knox knelt behind a rock, his gun clutched in his shaking hands. Nate had been heading to New York City to find his father. But now he was trapped in a terrible gunfight between American and British troops. -- But King George was like a snake with America gripped in his fangs - and he didn't want to let go. So now it was war - brutal, bloody war. And America was being crushed by the mighty British army. Thousands of American troops were either dead or dying in filthy British prison ships. General George Washington's army was in tatters. All Nate wanted was to find his father ... and to get out of here alive.

When notorious rake Anthony Bridgerton announces that he has chosen a prospective bride, he faces unexpected opposition when his intended's meddlesome sister Kate decides to protect her innocent sister from the wicked aristocrat.

Go beyond the original Shondaland series on Netflix, Queen Charlotte, with this lushly romantic Bridgerton prequel novel written by New York Times bestselling authors Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhimes as the marriage of Queen Charlotte and King George of England leads to an unexpected love story and a union that transforms society. In 1761, on a sunny day in September, a King and Queen met for the very first time. They were married within hours. Born a German Princess, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was beautiful, headstrong, and fiercely intelligent... not precisely the attributes the British Court had been seeking in a spouse for the young King George III. But her fire and independence were exactly what she, and her King, needed. Because George has secrets... secrets with the potential to shake the very foundations of the monarchy. Thrust into her new role, Charlotte must navigate the intricate politics of the court--with the newly-titled Lady Danbury at her side--all the while guarding her heart, because she is falling in love with the King...even as he pushes her away. Now, Charlotte must learn to rule, and to understand that she has been given the power to remake society, fulfilling her destiny as Queen. But she also has to fight for the love growing between her and George as people first, royals second. As she says to him: "Fight with me! Fight for me!"

Fleeing his violent master at the side of abolitionist John Brown at the height of the slavery debate in mid-nineteenth-century Kansas Territory, Henry pretends to be a girl to hide his identity throughout the raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859 ; Henry is a young slave living in the Kansas Territory in 1857. When his master has a violent argument with John Brown, the legendary abolitionist, Henry is forced to leave town with Brown, who believes he is a girl. Concealing his true identity as he struggles to stay alive, Henry is swept up in the events at the historic raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859 ; "Henry Shackleford is a young slave living in the Kansas Territory in 1857, when the region is a battleground between anti- and pro-slavery forces. When John Brown, the legendary abolitionist, arrives in the area, an argument between Brown and Henry's master quickly turns violent. Henry is forced to leave town--with Brown, who believes he's a girl. Over the ensuing months, Henry--whom Brown nicknames Little Onion--conceals his true identity as he struggles to stay alive. Eventually Little Onion finds himself with Brown at the historic raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859--one of the great catalysts for the Civil War. An absorbing mixture of history and imagination, and told with McBride's meticulous eye for detail and character, The Good Lord Bird is both a rousing adventure and a moving exploration of identity and survival." -- Publisher's description

A bestseller that takes readers on a journey to New York of the Belle Epoque, where Peter Lake attempts to rob a Manhattan mansion only to find the daughter of the house at home. Thus begins the love between the middle-aged Irishman and Beverly Penn, a young girl who is dying. “This novel...is a gifted writer’s love affair with the language” (Newsday).

It was the maiden voyage of the Titanic , the greatest ship ever built, and in one fatal, unforgettable night, the sea shattered the lives and future of an extraordinary family, the Winfields. Edwina Winfield, returning from her engagement trip to England with her fiance and her family, instantly loses her parents, the man she loved and her dreams. Without even time to mourn, she courageously defies convention to run her family's California newspaper and care for her five younger siblings. Unable to forget her fiance Charles, she is determined never to marry, to hkeep her family together, and to fight to survive as a woman alone. But Phillip, her beloved oldest brother, sets out for Harvard and tragically betrays her trust. Madcap brother George turns to the excitement of Hollywood during its magical days, not to the Winfield publishing empire. And lovely Alexis, who narrowly escaped death when the Titanic went down, grows into a troubled runaway whom even Edwina's love may not be able to save. The two youngest, Fannie and Teddy, remain with Edwina at home. Compelling and deeply moving, No Greater Love questions a woman's choices and the price she must pay for making them. And in an unforgettable climax, it offers an answer--as Edwina confronts the ghosts haunting her and take an extraordinary risk for her future and her heart. From the Paperback edition.