Teen Nature Fiction

Cracker is one of the U.S. Army's most valuable weapons: a German shepherd trained to sniff out bombs, traps, and the enemy. Rick is headed to Vietnam to prove to everyone who didn't think he was cut out for war that they were wrong. When Cracker is paired with Rick, she isn't so sure about this new owner. He's going to have to prove himself to her before she's going to prove herself to him. They need to be friends before they can be a team, and they have to be a team if they want to get home alive.

World War II has just ended when Mikhail finds a dying man and his German shepherd, Zasha, in the woods. It’s dangerous — some say traitorous — to own a German dog after Germany attacked Russia, so Mikhail must keep Zasha a secret to keep her alive. But Mikhail’s rival, Katia, is determined to find the dog she is sure he’s hiding. At the same time, a soldier named Dimitri is breeding a new Russian dog at a nearby farm....

Normally, Olivia spends all year looking forward to her family's summer vacation in Florida. But not this year. Not when her parents have recently separated, and her father has to stay behind in Colorado. Olivia doesn't know what she'll do all summer without him. They've always been a pair, and she's never felt the same bond with her mother or younger sister. So Olivia plans to spend the summer laying low, and trying to ignore the hurt gnawing at her heart. Then she learns that the local sea turtle population is in serious risk of dying because of her neighbor's poorly designed house.

At 23, Jane Goodall made her first voyage to Africa and began her determined steps to achieve her goal of studying animals by living among them. In My Life with the Chimpanzees, she shares the remarkable journey which took her from her childhood in London to the realization of her dream in the wilds of Gombe, Tanzania.

For Henry Huggins and his friends Robert and Murph, a clubhouse is a place where they can do as they please, without being bothered by girls. The sign that says "No Girls Allowed - This Means You" especially means Ramona Quimby. Lately, Ramona has been following Henry on his newspaper route, embarrassing him in front of Henry's customers. The day Ramona follows Henry to the clubhouse, she wants to teach him girls aren't so bad, but she almost puts an end to his newspaper career forever.

The globetrotting naturalists of the 18th century were the geeks of their day: innovators and explorers who lived at the intersection of science and commerce. Foremost among them was Carl Linnaeus, a radical thinker who revolutionized biology. In What Linnaeus Saw, Karen Magnuson Beil chronicles Linnaeus's life and career in readable, relatable prose.

Lacey Chu has always dreamed of working as an engineer for MONCHA, the biggest tech firm in the world and the company behind the "baku" - a customizable "pet" with all the capabilities of a smartphone. But when Lacey is rejected by the elite academy that promises that future, she's crushed. One night, Lacey comes across the broken form of a highly advanced baku. After she repairs it, the cat-shaped baku she calls Jinx opens its eyes and somehow gets her into her dream school. But Jinx is different than any other baku she's ever seen.... He seems real.

Lizzie St. Claire wants to be invisible. Forced to move out of her home, she and her mom now live in a transitional housing shelter, Good Hope, until they can get back on their feet. She just wants to keep her head down at Good Hope and her new school so that she doesn’t have to admit the real reason she and her mom lost everything. But at the nearby Birchwood Stables, some new friends - along with the arrival of a frightened pony named Fire - help Lizzie to open up and accept help from those around her, even if it means she’ll have more to lose if things change again.

Hope Jahren is an award-winning scientist, a brilliant writer, a passionate teacher, and one of the seven billion people with whom we share this earth. In The Story of More, she illuminates the link between human habits and our imperiled planet. In concise, easy-to-understand chapters, she takes us through the science behind the key inventions—from electric power to large-scale farming to automobiles—that, even as they help us, release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere like never before.

Kann Feuer den DonnerClan retten, wie es die alte Prophezeiung sagt? Oder wird es ihn vernichten? Feuerherz hat es geschafft! Der junge Krieger ist der neue Zweite Anführer des DonnerClans. Nicht alle Katzen trauen dem ehemaligen 'Hauskätzchen' diese Aufgabe zu. Doch dann trifft eine Katastrophe den DonnerClan und plötzlich geht es nur noch ums nackte Überleben. Wird es Feuerherz gelingen, seinen verstörten Clan in ein neues Leben zu führen?

Growing up without parents and without schooling, 14-year-old Cloyd is trouble - trouble to himself and everyone else. Sent by his tribe to a home for Indian boys, he is alone and half-wild in remote Utah canyons. As his feeling of isolation turns to desperation, he runs away to find even more trouble. When Cloyd is found and taken to live with an old rancher, he begins to explore the countryside.

Out in the mountains, Zack and his friend, Uta, discover what they think is a large fossilized dinosaur egg. This could make their fortune! Zack takes it home to keep it safe. Only the egg isn't fossilized - it's hatching! And there's an angry mother dinosaur out there, who wants her baby back. Includes a full lenght fascinating interview with the author, Paul Zindel.

Meet Kevin Pugh, 12-year-old couch potato. Now meet Cromwell, his part beagle, part potato chip dog. Kevin’s looking forward to spending his summer doing as little as possible. Unfortunately, Kevin’s father, former Chicago Bears star player/super-sports fanatic, Howie Pugh, feels differently. So does Cromwell, who has suddenly and mysteriously developed a fascination with agility competitions: Running up seesaws, leaping over hurdles, soaring through hoops (sometimes).

Watchmaker Hermux Tantamoq is a hardworking mouse who is thankful for ordinary things: donuts, coffee, peaceful evenings at home with his pet ladybug. But his quiet life takes a dramatic turn when Ms. Linka Perflinger, dashing daredevil aviatrix and adventuress, bursts into his watch shop, drops off a broken watch and steals his heart.

Cats are disappearing and Sammy is finding some of them in neighborhood garbage cans - dead! Miss Kitty, a local psycho cat lady, blames Sammy. Meanwhile, there's something fishy going on with one of the students from Slammin' Dave's Pro Wrestling School that just opened up next door to Sammy's friend Holly.

These entertaining stories of nature, with a moral lesson thrown in for good measure, are fun as well as thought provoking.

Coyote Peterson's Brave Adventures: Wild Animals in a Wild World chronicles some of the wildest encounters Coyote Peterson has had over the course of his travels.

Our story begins in the depths of a winding labyrinth, the domain of a fearsome Minotaur who threatens all who live on Mount Olympus. Can Zeus the Mighty save the day? The critters are back and on the quest of a lifetime! Join Zeus the overconfident hamster, Athena the wise cat, Ares the treat-loving pug, Poseidon the proud pufferfish, and Demeter the loyal cricket in this laugh-out-loud adventure.

A civil war rages between the Glorious Path - a militant religion based on the teachings of a former US soldier - and what's left of the US government. Fifteen-year-old Callum Roe and his younger brother, James, were captured and forced to convert six years ago. Cal has been working in the Path's dog kennels, and is very close to becoming one of the Path's deadliest secret agents.

"Don't move a muscle!" shouts a strangely clad crook in the act of robbing a bank. But of course somebody does. That somebody is Dave Sanchez, and the crook is none other than the dastardly Damien Black, fresh out of prison and back to his villainous ways. But Dave and his gecko sidekick, Sticky, are on the case, and this time they have a trick up their sleeve - literally! It's an Aztec wristband that give its wearer powers like invisibility and flight. Asombroso, right?