In the tradition of The War That Saved My Life and Stella By Starlight, this poignant novel in verse based on true events tells the story of a boy’s harrowing experience on a lifeboat after surviving a torpedo attack during World War II.With Nazis bombing London every night, it’s time for thirteen-year-old Ken to escape. He suspects his stepmother is glad to see him go, but his dad says he’s one of the lucky ones—one of ninety boys and girls to ship out aboard the SS City of Benares to safety in Canada. Life aboard the luxury ship is grand—nine-course meals, new friends, and a life far from the bombs, rations, and his stepmum’s glare. And after five days at sea, the ship’s officers announce that they’re out of danger. They’re wrong. Late that night, an explosion hurls Ken from his bunk. They’ve been hit. Torpedoed! The Benares is sinking fast. Terrified, Ken scrambles aboard Lifeboat 12 with five other boys. Will they get away? Will they survive? Award-winning author Susan Hood brings this little-known World War II story to life in a riveting novel of courage, hope, and compassion. Based on true events and real people, Lifeboat 12 is about believing in one another, knowing that only by banding together will we have any chance to survive.

Have you ever wished you could go back in time? Where would you go? What would you see? What if you had the power to alter history, to manipulate events and make yourself rich, famous, or powerful? Kristi Connors is too miserable in the present to care about history. Shipped off to boarding school in the midst of her parents' divorce, Kristi wants nothing more than to run home and find her mom and dad together again. In hopes of being kicked out, Kristi causes chaos throughout George Washington Prep, and especially enjoys harassing her brash, ill-tempered history teacher, Dr. Xavier Arnold, with endless pranks. Ty Jordan just wants to be left alone. Sent to GWP by his English stepfather after the sudden death of his mother, Ty dreams of disappearing into the pages of the books he reads, far away from the bullies who torment him at every turn. When the two unlikely friends find themselves in Dr. Arnold’s detention dungeon, they make a startling discovery—their teacher has invented a working time machine! The next thing they know, Kristi and Ty are jettisoned back in time to the Revolutionary War as part of Dr. Arnold’s scheme to change American history in favor of his infamous ancestor and the country’s greatest traitor, General Benedict Arnold. They soon realize their lives in the twenty-first century, a time of cell phones, flat screens, and iPods, weren’t as bad as they’d imagined. But to get home, they must thwart their teacher’s mad scheme while evading slave catchers, surviving bloody battles, and serving as nurses for sick and wounded soldiers. Follow Kristi and Ty on their trek through time in TIME TRAITOR.

It is 1936 and Lieutenant Commander Toshio Miyazaki of the Imperial Japanese Naval Intelligence (INJI) Directorate and member of the secret Black Dragon Society receives a new mission. He is to steal the secret US Naval radio codes that keep American communications secure. Miyazaki is pleased as the mission provides another opportunity to kill Nick Grant. Nick's family moves to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, out of the reach of Miyazaki and the Black Dragons. In Rio, Nick is reunited with his old boss, Bill Grooch. But Grooch is really there to recruit Nick into the US Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI). ONI has missions for Nick under the guise of being a Pan American pilot. The duo fly to Stratford, Connecticut, to pick up a new Sikorsky S-43 amphibian and fly it to Alameda. Meanwhile, Miyazaki has arrived in San Francisco. He steals the US Naval codes and escapes on a French passenger ship headed for Shanghai, China. Grooch comes up with a mad plan: Fly ahead to Shanghai and use Nick as bait to trap Miyazaki. If the Black Dragon bites, Nick and Grooch will recover the stolen codes. It's risky but Nick has sworn to make Miyazaki pay for murdering both Mac, his mentor, and Roger Tanaka, his friend. Join Nick on his most dangerous mission to date, where he risks all to settle an old score.

An Indie Next List Pick “Filled with kindness and hope, but also with the harsh realities of the horrors of war, this heartbreaking book is a necessary reminder of what many people live through every day.” —Booklist (starred review) Nadia’s family is forced to flee their home in Aleppo, Syria, when the Arab Spring sparks a civil war in this timely coming-of-age novel from award-winning author N.H. Senzai.Silver and gold balloons. A birthday cake covered in pink roses. A new dress. Nadia stands at the center of attention in her parents’ elegant dining room. This is the best day of my life, she thinks. Everyone is about to sing “Happy Birthday,” when her uncle calls from the living room, “Baba, brothers, you need to see this.” Reluctantly, she follows her family into the other room. On TV, a reporter stands near an overturned vegetable cart on a dusty street. Beside it is a mound of smoldering ashes. The reporter explains that a vegetable vendor in the city of Tunis burned himself alive, protesting corrupt government officials who have been harassing his business. Nadia frowns. It is December 17, 2010: Nadia’s twelfth birthday and the beginning of the Arab Spring. Soon anti-government protests erupt across the Middle East and, one by one, countries are thrown into turmoil. As civil war flares in Syria and bombs fall across Nadia’s home city of Aleppo, her family decides to flee to safety. Inspired by current events, this novel sheds light on the complicated situation in Syria that has led to an international refugee crisis, and tells the story of one girl’s journey to safety.