Disasters

When a forty-seven-foot sailboat disappears in the Gulf Stream in the throes of a disastrous storm, it leaves behind three weary passengers struggling to stay alive....

An unusually warm winter day resulted in 2.3 million gallons of molasses flooding the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The disaster killed twenty-one people and injured 150 others....

Rodman Philbrick presents a gripping yet poignant novel about a 12-year-old boy and his dog who become trapped in New Orleans during the horrors of Hurricane Katrina....

PBJ Decks Smokin Gun (Gunner) is an American Paint Horse, one of the many of Heather Lott Goodwin's herd, and a valuable show animal that won the World Championship Paint Horse title. When Hurricane Katrina passed over the Goodwin property, it took with it the fences, the cattle, and several horses.

Tornadoes are funnel-shaped clouds that can cause massive destruction on the ground. Their winds can swirl faster than 260 miles per hour....

At 800 feet in length, the Hindenburg was the largest airship ever built - just slightly smaller than the Titanic! Also of a disastrous end, the zeppelin burst into flame as spectators watched it attempt to land in Lakehurst, New Jersey, on May 6, 1937....

Walter Isaacson’s #1 New York Times bestselling history of our third scientific revolution: CRISPR, gene editing, and the quest to understand the code of life itself, is now adapted for young listeners....

This true story took place at the emergency farm-labor camp immortalized in Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Ostracized as "dumb Okies," the children of Dust Bowl migrant laborers went without school—until Superintendent Leo Hart and 50 Okie kids built their own school in a nearby field.

Did the Great Chicago Fire really start after a cow kicked over a lantern in a barn? Find out the truth in this addition to the What Was? series....

This is the incredible true story of the 12 boys trapped with their coach in a flooded cave in Thailand and their inspiring rescue. Award-winning author Marc Aronson brings us the backstory behind how this astounding rescue took place....

The panic-filled summer of 1916, when multiple deadly shark attacks shocked the nation, is chronicled in this gripping addition to the New York Times Best-Selling What Was? series....

Imagine a force that can toss boats around like toys, wash away bridges, and create waves as high as 18 feet. With fierce winds and torrential rains, hurricanes can do all of these things....

From best-selling author Kenneth C. Davis comes a fascinating account of the Spanish influenza pandemic 100 years after it first swept the world in 1918....

In this addition to the What Was? series, kids will experience what it was like to be in San Francisco in 1906 when the ground buckled in a major, catastrophic earthquake....

On May 12, 2008, XiXi, a giant panda, escaped from the destroyed Wolong Panda Reserve when a 7.9 earthquake rocked Northern China. After the quake, mother and cub run....

In this young readers edition of the New York Times bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning The Sixth Extinction, Elizabeth Kolbert tells us why and how human beings have altered life on the planet in a way no species has before....

Learn about the treacherous journey across the Sierra Nevada mountain range that isolated and trapped a group of pioneers heading to California for an entire winter in this latest addition to the New York Times Bestselling What Was? series....

Wildfires have been part of the American landscape for thousands of years. Forests need fire—it's as necessary to their well-being as soil and sunlight. But some fires burn out of control, destroying everything and everyone in their path....

Learn about the deadly and unexpected blizzard that slammed the Midwestern United States in 1888 and doomed many young lives in this addition to the New York Times Bestselling What Was? series....

Tornadoes tear through the land, skipping over one street and devastating the next....

Rhinos in Nebraska tells the story of the Ashfall Fossil Beds, where more than 200 perfectly preserved fossils have been found....

Surprising facts will hook children and adults alike as they uncover the mysteries of extreme weather - some they never even knew existed....

In Whistler, British Columbia, dogs can be found riding chairlifts, perched on skiers' shoulders, and even descending from helicopters - all in the race against time to save people caught in the path of an avalanche....

This audiobook examines how scientists study volcanic eruptions. With fun facts and discussion topics, this short audiobook provides an exciting look at the science of disaster detection....

Wildfires are one of nature's most frightening forces. In this exciting and historical account of many of the worst fires in American history, all the terror, destruction and human tragedy are vividly retold....