Science Myths

In Gem Forest, there's no stronger elf than John Henry. With a single swing of his hammer, he can carve out a perfect mining tunnel. So when a sales-gnome says he has a machine that digs better than any miner, John Henry is ready to prove him wrong. But as the contest begins, the device shakes the mountain—and awakens a nest of vicious orcs! Can John Henry defeat the creatures and the gnome's contraption?

Santos Paola Santiago has recently returned from Oregon, where she defeated the Hitchhiker ghost and saved her father from the vengeful spirit that was possessing him. The poor girl deserves a rest! But first she has to rescue Dante from the void, where he's been imprisoned by some unknown force. Paola's prophetic dreams seem to have dried up, so she has to find other ways to locate a new rift where she can enter the void. Signs point to Texas—but how is she going to get there from Arizona?

When Stephanie Kiser moves to New York City after college to pursue a career in writing, she quickly learns that her entry-level salary won't cover the cost of living. But there is one in-demand job that pays enough to allow Stephanie to stay in the city: nannying for the 1%. Desperate to escape the poverty of her own childhood, Stephanie falls into a job that hijacks her life for the next seven years: a glorified personal assistant to toddlers on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Kodyn expected hardships along his journey to return a kidnapped girl to her father. Yet harsh deserts and cutthroat bandits prove far less lethal than the foes that await him in Shalandra, the City of the Dead. In the shadows of golden spires carved from mountain stone, currents of corruption and vice run deep. Priests of the god of death rule with an iron fist, imposing a rigid caste system that elevates some to a life of privilege and condemns others to miserable squalor.

When Petunia, the youngest of King Gregor's 12 dancing daughters, is invited to visit an elderly friend in the neighboring country of Westfalin, she welcomes the change of scenery. But in order to reach Westfalin, Petunia must pass through a forest where strange two-legged wolves are rumored to exist. Wolves intent on redistributing the wealth of the noble citizens who have entered their territory.

Is mind reading a real skill? What about being able to move things with just your mind? Listeners will be captivated by claims of psychic powers while also learning the facts about each story. Which tales could be true, and which myths are busted?

Shalandra has fallen. Monsters of legend have risen from their graves to claim the City of the Dead. Kodyn and Evren have only one hope of stopping the evil Iron Warlord: break into the holiest, most secure stronghold in the city and steal ancient relics imbued with world-shattering magics. Issa joins the ranks of Shalandra's elite warriors in a desperate clash against the nightmare hordes flooding the streets and slaughtering every man, woman, and child.

The fate of a kingdom rests on the shoulders of three young wizards. Bakari is a brilliant scholar wizard who's more at home in a library than a battlefield. Alli is a beautiful young battle wizard whose grace in battle is both enchanting and deadly. Roland is a counselor wizard with a seemingly limitless depth of untapped power - and the ego to match it. As the magical barrier protecting the kingdom of Alaris from dangerous outsiders begins to fail, and a fomenting rebellion threatens to divide the country in a civil war, the three wizards are in the middle....

For most kids, catching fireflies is a fun summer activity. For twelve-year-old Serwa Boateng, it's a matter of life and death. That's because Serwa knows that some fireflies are really adze, shapeshifting vampires from the forests of Southeastern Ghana. Adze prey on the blood of innocents, possessing their minds and turning them into hulking monsters, and for generations, slayers like Serwa and her parents have protected an unknowing public from their threats.

From the dark, haunted cave comes a man's plea. He’s a stuck climber in a hidden chamber inside the mountain. But as we travel to his rescue, things continue to deteriorate. Sick, hurt, and now deep underground, my worst nightmare is finally here. I’m trapped, with the dead lurking everywhere. Who can save me from ghosts? Who can heal my broken body? Who can make me never be defenseless again? Something in the dark can. Something inhuman. Something that wants to live in me, corrupting who I am. And if I want to survive, I have to let this monster live in my body.

Griffins, cyclopes, monsters, and giants - these fabulous creatures of classical mythology continue to live in the modern imagination through the vivid accounts that have come down to us from the ancient Greeks and Romans. But what if these beings were more than merely fictions? Through careful research and meticulous documentation, Adrienne Mayor convincingly shows that many of the giants and monsters of myth did have a basis in fact - in the enormous bones of long-extinct species that were once abundant in the lands of the Greeks and Romans.

When eight-year-old Kirstie brings home a strange egg from the Scottish shore, her family never expects it to hatch. But the next day, Kirstie discovers a baby sea monster swimming in her bathtub! Part horse, part toad, part turtle and part crocodile, he's the oddest-looking creature Kirstie's family has ever seen. Only Kirstie's grandfather knows what the beastie really is: a Water Horse! This lovable creature is the perfect pet. The only trouble is, he can't stop growing.

With The Hound of Rowan, Henry H. Neff launches a scintillating series featuring ancient lore and a young boy thrust into a world of unimaginable possibility. Max McDaniels is visiting an art museum with his dad when he spies a mysterious Celtic tapestry - and is soon visited by a Recruiter who wants to whisk Max away to the fantastical Rowan Academy.

What magical beings inhabit Earth’s waters? Some are as almost-familiar as the mer-people; some as strange as the thing glimpsed only as a golden eye in a pool at the edge of the Great Desert Kalarsham, where the mad god Geljdreth rules; or the unknowable, immense Kraken, dark beyond the darkness of the deepest ocean, who will one day rise and rule the world. Here are seven tales from the remarkable storytellers Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson. Vividly imagined and written, they transform the simple element of water into something very powerful indeed.

Part lawman, part tracker and part magician, the Wardens are monster-hunters - tasked with protecting the people from the various, nightmarish creatures that have invaded the world of men. However, despite being descended from a long line of Wardens, 16-year-old Errol Magnus believes it to be the absolute worst job on the planet: How could a single occupation simultaneously be the most boring, abominably stupid, and extraordinarily dangerous profession imaginable?

When Chantella's mother died, she thought it couldn't get much worse. But now she is bullied by her stepfamily, and her dad has done nothing about it! Her one chance out is a singing competition. Chantella has a beautiful singing voice, but her stepsiblings are jealous.

Why were Prometheus and Loki envisioned as chained to rocks? What was the Golden Calf? Why are mirrors believed to carry bad luck? How could anyone think that mortals like Perseus, Beowulf, and St. George actually fought dragons, since dragons don't exist? Strange though they sound, however, these "myths" did not begin as fiction.

When twelve-year-old Milly Martin stumbles upon a golden-threaded shawl tucked away in her mother’s wardrobe, she has no idea it holds an ancient power. But when her beloved dog, Louie, leaps into its fabric and vanishes, Milly follows—only to find herself transported to a world where myths and legends come to life. One moment, she’s immersed in her favorite computer game, strategizing alongside virtual warriors. The next, she’s living it. The Shawl of Athena, a relic of immense power, has pulled her into a realm where gods, warriors, and ancient forces battle for control.

It’s finally summer break, and twelve-year-old Yumi is headed to Korea with her older sister, Minji, for the very first time. She can’t wait to explore the city of Seoul together—but Minji has other plans. The moment they land, Minji ditches Yumi to hang out with their cousins, who are more fashionable, better at soccer, and all-around cooler than Yumi. Lost and alone, Yumi is stuck at home painting with her grandfather. Everything changes when she finds an intriguing ink brush in a neighborhood art shop.

After years as a court magician and interdimensional hero, Skeeve needed a rest. So he took some time off to study magic and relax. When a few months later several members of the M.Y.T.H. Inc. Team each ask him to train some talented, young magicians in "practical magic", he has to agree. But after the assassins attack and a manticore tries to eat them, the Khlad mage soon discovers that there is more going on than learning. His students are preparing for a very deadly magical game, and you won't believe where.