Disasters

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....

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....

On the night of February 18, 1952, during one of the worst winter storms that New England has ever seen, two oil tankers just off the shore of Cape Cod were torn in half by the force of the storm....

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.

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....

Learn about Tornado Alley, the area in the United States where tornadoes are most frequently formed and often cause the most damage.

The Great Fire of 1871 was one of the most colossal disasters in American history - with damage so profound that few people believed the city could ever rise again....

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....

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.

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....

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....

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....

On August 25, 2005, one of the deadliest and most destructive hurricanes in history hit the Gulf of Mexico. High winds and rain pummeled coastal communities, including the City of New Orleans, which was left under 15 feet of water in some areas after the levees burst....

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....

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....

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....

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....

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

Book six in the True Rescue series for young listeners, this pulse-pounding account of disaster and survival at sea follows the HMS Bounty whose fateful course through Superstorm Sandy would lead to one of the most heroic Coast Guard rescue missions ever....

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

When Mount St. Helens began releasing steam, nearby residents were told to get off the mountain....

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....

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

Buckle up and embark on a journey through some of the notable weather phenomena and natural disasters that occur on our planet....

Dutch Shepherd puppy Halo has spent almost her whole life preparing for one job: finding people who are trapped in disaster zones. Her bond with her human partner, Fire Captain Cat, is unshakeable, and together, they can overcome any obstacle....