Master storyteller Todd Strasser reimagines the classic tale of Moby Dick as set in the future—and takes readers on an epic sci-fi adventure.When seventeen-year-old Ishmael wakes up from stasis aboard the Pequod, he is amazed by how different this planet is from the dirty, dying, Shroud-covered Earth he left behind. But Ishmael isn’t on Cretacea to marvel at the fresh air, sunshine, and endless blue ocean. He’s here to work, risking his life to hunt down great ocean-dwelling beasts to harvest and send back to the resource-depleted Earth. Even though easy prey abounds, time and again the chase boat crews are ordered to ignore it in order to pursue the elusive Great Terrafin. It’s rumored that the ship’s captain, Ahab, lost his leg to the beast years ago, and that he’s now consumed by revenge. But there may be more to Captain Ahab’s obsession. Dark secrets and dangerous exploits swirl around the pursuit of the beast, and Ishmael must do his best to survive—if he can.

In this second book of the God Chronicle trilogy Thomas God's Last Prophet realizes that the only way to beat Lucifer and prevent Armageddon is by stopping the birth of the Antichrist.

Antale (pronounced An-tal-ee) is an allegory. Written in the tradition of Animal Farm, though with no political message, it explores humanity's challenge at the start of the 21st century to find the collective spiritual enlightenment that has eluded us through the millennia of known history. Antale is the world of the ants. It is a delicate, precious place-a crater world surrounded by the vastness of the Rim, an endless expanse of desolate rock across which faint signals of intelligence reach in tantalizing, mysterious wavelengths, detectable by listeners on Mount Opportunity. Antale is not a peaceful world, though several leaders of its major colonies have dedicated their lives to creating a peaceful federation. These efforts fall apart when aggression and treachery spearheaded by the Red Ants plunge the whole world into a Great War. This conflict rages through most of the first year of the three year period covered by the story. In the second year, when wisdom should have grown out of experience, an uneasy tension envelops the collective consciousness. Technology and expansionism begin to push the ant civilization to its limits. A probe sent across the Rim looking for guidance from beyond the known world, is lost. The one dim light of hope lies in a bold attempt to raise a new generation filled with a new consciousness, born in the whisperings of the universal life force carried through the biology of the Queens in the great brood chambers of the nests. In Year 3, the world of Antale is pushed to the brink of collapse as social folly and natural order exact an unremitting toll. A message from beyond the Rim confirms that consciousness alone contains the life force of the future. This message arrives just in time to strengthen the fledgling spiritual renaissance that steps forward at the end into its rightful place, and allows the crumbling leadership of the old order to find new light. Commentary It might well be asked: Why write an allegory using the social systems of ants to illuminate the human condition? The answer is that it sheds a light with greater resolution, in much the same way as a halogen lamp provides clearer illumination than its incandescent counterpart. Judiciously used, the allegorical format gives greater freedom to the writer-and reader-to see and understand life at a deeper level than the analytical, deeper even than the traditional conventions of literary fiction permit. Why ants? Because their social behaviour so much parallels our own. One need take only a very little license to achieve a telling effect. Beyond its carefully measured message, Antale is a crackling good story, moving along swiftly through tension filled events created by the highs and lows of characters whose predispositions to greatness and folly are readily recognizable. In this one short text the remarkable events of the century just ended, and the great potential of the one now beginning, come alive in a way as fresh as only human imagination can make them.

Fans of How to Train Your Dragon will love this whimsical tale, the first in a series, by a Newbery Honor winner, featuring charming illustrations and pet "training tips" in each chapter. Crusty dragon Miss Drake has a new pet human, precocious Winnie. Oddly enough, Winnie seems to think Miss Drake is her pet—a ridiculous notion! Unknown to most of its inhabitants, the City by the Bay is home to many mysterious and fantastic creatures, hidden beneath the parks, among the clouds, and even in plain sight. And Winnie wants to draw every new creature she encounters: the good, the bad, and the ugly. But Winnie’s sketchbook is not what it seems. Somehow, her sketchlings have been set loose on the city streets! It will take Winnie and Miss Drake’s combined efforts to put an end to the mayhem . . . before it’s too late. This refreshing debut collaboration by Laurence Yep, a two-time Newbery Honor winner and a Laura Ingalls Wilder Award winner, and Joanne Ryder features illustrations by Mary GrandPré.     Praise for A Dragon's Guide to the Care and Feeding of Humans*“Warm humor, magical mishaps, and the main characters’ budding mutual respect and affection combine to give this opener for a planned series a special shine.” –Booklist, Starred “Aternately comical, suspenseful and sometimes sweetly emotional.” –Kirkus Reviews “With a black-and-white spot illustration opening most chapters, an engaging narrator, and a consistently fluid writing style, this title makes a fine dragon choice for readers.” –School Library Journal “In this series launch, Yep and Ryder conjure up a world where dragons and humans interact, and the results are heartwarming and quite funny.” –Publishers Weekly “A clever and amusing novel that imagines a magical world that nestles right up against our own and sometimes crosses over.” –The Bulleting of the Center for Children’s Books Praise for A Dragon’s Guide to Making Your Human Smarter"Yep and Ryder keep the magic coming with their whimsical fantasy, enhanced by Grandpré's sweet drawings. The story positively vibrates with fun." —Kirkus Reviews" Lighthearted episodes of unusual school lessons and field trips, illustrated by GrandPré’s winsome spot art, are grounded by Miss Drake’s more serious encounters with the goons...a gratifying development as this buoyant, fantastical series continues."—The Horn Book Review