Animal Stories For Adults

Sam Gribley is terribly unhappy living in New York City with his family, so he runs away to the Catskill Mountains to live in the woods - all by himself. With only a penknife, a ball of cord, 40 dollars, and some flint and steel, he intends to survive on his own. Sam learns about courage, danger, and independence during his year in the wilderness, a year that changes his life forever.

For Vega and her family, salmon is life. And Vega is learning to be a salmon finder, preparing for the day when she will be her family’s matriarch. But then she and her brother Deneb are separated from their pod when a devastating earthquake and tsunami render the seascape unrecognizable. Vega must use every skill she has to lead her brother back to their family. The young orcas face a shark attack, hunger, the deep ocean, and polluted waters on their journey. Will Vega become the leader she’s destined to be?

When 11-year-old Jack Martel crawls out of his pup tent on the first morning of his camping trip with his mom in Acadia National Park, he notices right away that something isn’t right. Where is his mom’s tent, and their rental car? And where is his mom? Any other kid might panic, might even go to the police. But Jack isn’t like other kids. And his mom isn’t like other moms. Jack knows that it’s up to him to find his mom before someone figures out what’s happened and separates them forever.

Raised together in a small German circus town, a boy and an elephant formed a bond that would last their entire lives, and would be tested time and again: through a near-fatal shipwreck in the Indian Ocean, an apprenticeship with the legendary Mahout elephant trainers in the Indian teak forests, and their eventual rise to circus stardom in 1940s New York City. As the African Sun-Times put it, Modoc is "heartwarming...probably the greatest love story ever told".

Josie Shilling’s family is too big, their cramped city house is too small, and she feels like no one’s ever on her side. Then, on Thanksgiving Day, her older brother, Tom, brings home a pink, squirmy bundle wrapped in an old football jersey - a piglet he rescued from a nearby farm. Her name is Hamlet. The minute Josie holds Hamlet, she feels an instant connection. But there’s no room for Hamlet in the crowded Shilling household. And whoever heard of keeping a pig in the city? So, it’s up to Josie to find her a forever home.

Lily is the smallest puppy in her litter and the only girl. Her brothers are bigger and stronger and like to push her around. When Lily meets a girl named Maggie Rose at the animal shelter, Lily discovers things are not so bad. Lily's size means that she can help other animals who are in trouble. It's Lily to the rescue!

Andrew Sean Greer can’t wait to get home to San Francisco after a writer’s residency in Kansas. But when his mother, Sandra, decides to come along for the ride, he has a new goal: get her to crack a smile at every stop, whether breathtaking or breathtakingly kitschy. He’s always known his mother to be as efficient and serious as a chemist (which she happens to be), always in gray, eyebrow cocked, and handling challenges with grace. To mix things up, Andrew develops an elaborate itinerary of planned chaos.

On Valentine’s Day 2019, someone stole Steven Carino’s dog, Oliver, from his car. Having lost his mother at 13 and grown up with an alcoholic father, he could always count on his dogs for comfort and company. But now, with his beloved Oliver missing, Steven felt utterly alone. Then, the miracle. In a series of near-impossible coincidences, people from different walks of life crossed paths with Oliver and with Steven.

For hundreds of years, humans and animals have had special bonds with each other. We've lived side-by-side through thick and thin - these relationships are not just about raising pets and farm animals. In Animal Kind, Emma Lock of YouTube fame shares stories of the incredible ways that animals keep us healthy and happy, physically and mentally. You'll be inspired by the tales of remarkable recovery, from vision-impaired individuals who have gained independence with the help of seeing-eye dogs, to the woman who found new life as an equestrian champion after an arm amputation.

McKenna Barney is trying to hide her worsening eyesight and has been isolating herself for the last year. But at the request of her little sister, she signs up for a commemorative mail run race in the Canadian wilderness - a race she doesn't know if she can even see to run. Winning would mean getting her disease - and her sister's - national media coverage, but it would also pit McKenna and her team of eight sled dogs against racers from across the globe for three days of shifting lake ice, sudden owl attacks, snow squalls, and bitterly cold nights.

It’s 1944. Elizabeth's father is fighting with the German army on the eastern front. Her mother works at Dresden zoo, where her favourite animal is a young elephant named Marlene. When the zoo director tells her the dangerous animals must be shot to prevent them running amok when the town is bombed, Elizabeth's mother moves Marlene into the back garden to save her… and then the bombs start to fall.

An incredible story that will always stay with the listener, The Incredible Journey is a moving tale of unshakable faith, loyalty and a companionship so strong that it defies the odds of nature. Instinct told them that the way home lay to the west. And so the doughty young Labrador retriever, the roguish bull terrier and the indomitable Siamese set out through the Canadian wilderness.

Dogs have masters; cats have staff. That old saying reflects the conventional wisdom about our favorite pets. Cats are described as independent and aloof. But that stereotype clashes with the reality of untold cat companions, who know that their felines can be just as affectionate, devoted, and trainable as any dog. Like Henry who rescued lost cats. Or Basil, a licensed therapist who comforts hospital patients and staff, hospice-care residents, and trauma victims. Or Belle, who repaid being rescued from a sewer in Costa Rica by becoming a devoted nurse during his caretaker's lengthy illness...

Love That Dog shows how one boy named Jack finds his voice with the help of a teacher, a pencil, some yellow paper, and, of course, a dog. Written as a series of free-verse poems from Jack's point of view, and with classic poetry included in the back matter, this novel is perfect for kids and teachers, too. Jack hates poetry. Only girls write it and every time he tries to, his brain feels empty. But his teacher, Miss Stretchberry, won't stop giving her class poetry assignments - and Jack can't avoid them.

It all started with the dreams. But Cassie didn't pay much attention to them. She and her friends have been having nightmares ever since they acquired the power to morph. But when Cassie discovers that Tobias has been having dreams too - the exact same dreams - about the ocean, and a voice that's calling to them for help, she decides it's time to start listening. Now, she and the others have to figure out if the dreams are a message, or a trap.

It was bad when Jake found out his brother was one of them. A Human-Controller. A slave. But that was nothing compared to this. When the Animorphs decide to visit the Yeerks' new base, it seems simple. But then they get caught, and Jake falls - just for a moment - into the Yeerk pool. Now they're out, and his friends can't see it. To them, he's just like normal. But Jake is screaming for help. His worst fear has finally come true. He's become the enemy.

Love is love... no matter what! Emily was born with a rare condition that has given her bunny ears. She's bullied at school and comes home most days in tears. However, her best friend, Amanda, is the light in the darkness for her. Receiving a ferret named Spring for her birthday is also a bright spot for Emily, until tragedy strikes. When Emily is attacked by a pack of vicious butterflies, more secrets are revealed, and Emily begins to fear for her life. The threats don't end there. A boy at school, Luke, vows to hurt Emily. When he finally acts on his promise, will Emily and Amanda ...

Traditional values abound in these hilarious stories from Appalachia: friendship, family, orderliness, humor, and delight in an especially inventive practical joke. In "Rainy Weather", a hound dog with more heart than sense wins everyone's admiration. "Uncle Frank Learns to Speak Polish" finds Davis' famous Uncle Frank making the most of a little foreign language. And, in "Uncle Frank Clean Up the Post Office", cleanliness is next to godliness, and it's also next to hilarity.

Hope Jahren is an award-winning scientist, a brilliant writer, a passionate teacher, and one of the seven billion people with whom we share this earth. In The Story of More, she illuminates the link between human habits and our imperiled planet. In concise, easy-to-understand chapters, she takes us through the science behind the key inventions—from electric power to large-scale farming to automobiles—that, even as they help us, release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere like never before.

Toby is a beagle who doesn't seem to have a purpose. While all of his littermates are adopted right away, Toby is left behind because he's not as energetic as they are. But because he is so quiet, he is adopted by a girl named Mona and her mother, who works at a nursing home. As Toby comforts the residents of the home, he discovers that his purpose may be the most important of all!