Everyone’s heard stories about ghost ships. But they’re just stories…Right? On the hunt for a missing friend, Marcus and Solomon find a massive black ship in the unexplored regions. Now they have to find a way to save their trapped friend and defeat a galaxy threatening danger. It won’t be easy, but that won’t stop Marcus. He never leaves a friend behind and this time won’t be any different. Children of the Black Ship is the thrilling fourth novel in the Rogue Star Sci-Fi series.
A follow up to Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror, this is another creepy middle grade story collection with a chilling frame. This time, the stories are all tales of the sea: pirates and plagues and storms a plenty...
For Greek myth fans, those who can’t get enough of the D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths, and readers who have aged out of Rick Riordan, this classroom staple and mythology classic is perfect for learning about the ancient myths! As the gods and goddesses of Olympus scheme, the ancient world is thrown into turmoil when Helen, the most beautiful woman in all of Greece, is stolen away by her Trojan love. Inflamed by jealousy, the Greek king seeks lethal vengeance and sends his black war ships to descend on the city of Troy. In the siege that follows, history’s greatest heroes, from Ajax to Achilles to Odysseus, are forged in combat, and the brutal costs of passion, pride, and revenge must be paid. In the end, the whims of the gods, the cunning of the warriors, and a great wooden horse will decide who emerges victorious. Homer's epic poem, The Iliad, is one of the greatest adventure stories of all time and Rosemary Sutcliff's retelling of the classic saga embodies all of the astonishing drama, romance, and intrigue of ancient Greece. Don’t miss The Wanderings of Odysseus, the companion to Black Ships Before Troy, and follow Odysseus on his adventure home. This book has been selected as a Common Core State Standards Text Exemplar (Grades 6-8, Stories) in Appendix B.
This spine-tingling novel has more than enough fear factor for the most ardent fan of scary stories. Uncle Montague lives alone in a big house, but regular visits from his nephew, Edgar, give him the opportunity to recount some of the frightening stories he knows. As each tale unfolds, an eerie pattern emerges of young lives gone awry in the most terrifying of ways. Young Edgar begins to wonder just how Uncle Montague knows all these ghastly tales. This clever collection of stories-within-a-story is perfectly matched with darkly witty illustrations by David Roberts. Look for the other spine-tingling book in Chris Priestley's Tales of Terror series, Tales of Terror from the Black Ship!
From award-winning author Deborah Heiligman comes Torpedoed, a true account of the attack and sinking of the passenger ship SS City of Benares, which was evacuating children from England during WWII. Amid the constant rain of German bombs and the escalating violence of World War II, British parents by the thousands chose to send their children out of the country: the wealthy, independently; the poor, through a government relocation program called CORB. In September 1940, passenger liner SS City of Benares set sail for Canada with one hundred children on board. When the war ships escorting the Benares departed, a German submarine torpedoed what became known as the Children's Ship. Out of tragedy, ordinary people became heroes. This is their story. This title has Common Core connections.
In 1925, the Honourable Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher, her husband, Alec Fletcher (a Scotland Yard Detective) and their new twin infant children inherit and move to a new, larger house on the outskirts of London proper, in a stage of slight disrepair (thanks to an aged, now deceased, uncle). Set in a small circle of houses and a communal garden, it seems a near idyllic setting. That is until a dead body turns up half-hidden under the bushes of the communal garden, rumors of bootleggers, American gangsters, and an international liquor smuggling operation via black ships turn everything upside down. And it's up to Daisy - well, Alec with some help from Daisy - to find out who the dead man is, why he was murdered and who did him in!
The Ship We Built is an expertly told epistolary middle grade novel about a trans boy learning to stand up for himself--especially to those he loves--and the power of finding a friend who treasures him for all that he is. "Incredibly good; by turns raw, sweet, horrifying, tender, and hopeful."--Laurie Halse Anderson, NYT bestselling and award-winning author of Speak and SHOUT Sometimes I have trouble filling out tests when the name part feels like a test too. . . . When I write letters, I love that you have to read all of my thoughts and stories before I say any name at all. You have to make it to the very end to know. Rowan has too many secrets to write down in the pages of a diary. And if he did, he wouldn't want anyone he knows to read them. He understands who he is and what he likes, but it's not safe for others to find out. Now the kids at school say Rowan's too different to spend time with. He's not the "right kind" of girl, and he's not the "right kind" of boy. His mom ignores him. And at night, his dad hurts him in ways he's not ready to talk about yet. Then Rowan discovers another way to share his secrets: letters. Letters he attaches to balloons and releases into the universe, hoping someone new will read them and understand. But when he befriends a classmate who knows what it's like to be lonely and scared, even at home, Rowan realizes there might already be a person he can trust right by his side.
"Enid Blue Starbreaks is a Repletian who survives a mass killing of her people on the Pegasus. She is later adopted and raised by an Amphorian family. With the recent attention given to the 60s scoop of Indigenous people in Canada, the parallels in the novel are quite striking. Despite the attempt to erase Enid’s memory, and despite being integrated into the Amphorian society, the older, lingering memories of who she was shadow her, but also at the same time light a path for her across the stars. Despite the racism she experiences, she rises up the ranks of the Amphorian navy, and eventually becomes an admiral of the fourth fleet. Eventually, her uncle Leon Three Starbreaks connects with her, and her circle back to her people is complete although somewhat fractured"--Introduction by Neal McLeod.
The 1619 Project’s lyrical picture book in verse chronicles the consequences of slavery and the history of Black resistance in the United States, thoughtfully rendered by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and Newbery honor-winning author Renée Watson. A young student receives a family tree assignment in school, but she can only trace back three generations. Grandma gathers the whole family, and the student learns that 400 years ago, in 1619, their ancestors were stolen and brought to America by white slave traders. But before that, they had a home, a land, a language. She learns how the people said to be born on the water survived. And the people planted dreams and hope, willed themselves to keep living, living. And the people learned new words for love for friend for family for joy for grow for home. With powerful verse and striking illustrations by Nikkolas Smith, Born on the Water provides a pathway for readers of all ages to reflect on the origins of American identity.
