Disasters

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.

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....

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....

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....

When a forty-seven-foot sailboat disappears in the Gulf Stream in the throes of a disastrous storm, it leaves behind three weary passengers struggling to stay alive....

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....

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....

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

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....

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

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....

In this addition to the What Was? series, kids will experience what it was like to be in San Francisco in 1906 when the ground buckled in a major, catastrophic earthquake....

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....

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

In this fascinating audiobook, narrator Andrew Baldwin answers all these questions and more as he talks us through over 100 amazing facts about the world's deadliest natural disasters....

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....

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....

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....

The Chernobyl power plant was the hope for energy in the Ukraine. Years after the 1986 meltdown, Ukraine is still feeling the effects of its radiation....

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

On January 28, 1886 the space shuttle Challenger exploded just 73 seconds after lift-off. This unexpected disaster took the lives of seven people....

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....

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....