Identifies weird creatures in caves, the desert, and the arctic before presenting a creature that's so weird you have to ask "Is It Alive?"
Find out which type of shark you most do not want to meet in the water and where to poke a shark if you're attacked. In "Swimming with Sharks," readers learn not to bleed when there are sharks around.
Explains what to do if you see a shark in the water, examines poisonous creatures of the sea, and explains how tsunamis and giant waves are made. "Shark Attack!" talks about the dangers faced by divers when they explore a sunken boat.
Science fiction stories are about things that seem impossible, but might be possible one day. Explore aliens, time travel, and more before reading "The City" and seeing how the future might not be a great place to live.
What is a plague? Where do plagues come from? Investigate some historic and modern plagues before reading "The Lost Village."
Learn about famous magic tricks, witches and wizards, and one of the greatest magicians before reading "The Disappearance," a scary story about being a magician's assistant--a job that might cost you your life!
Learn about animals we have lost to extinction as well as modern animals at risk before reading "The Last Mammoth."
With themes of STEM, Science, TERL Boosters offer expansion opportunities for your Teen Emergent Reader Libraries. Each Booster level supports a TERL library. Boosters can also stand alone and are excellent hi-lo classroom books.
Featuring real-life stories of people who have found hope and meaning in the midst of life’s struggles, Heads Up: Changing Minds on Mental Health is the go-to guide for teenagers who want to know about mental health, mental illness, trauma and recovery. This book shines a light on the troubled history of thinking about and treating mental illness and tells the stories of courageous pioneers in the field of psychiatry who fought for more compassionate, respectful and effective treatments. It provides a helpful guide to the major mental health diagnoses along with ideas and resources to support those who are suffering. The book also explores how mental health is more than just “in our heads” and includes the voices of Indigenous people who share a more holistic way of thinking about wellness, balancing mind, body, heart and spirit. Highlighting innovative approaches such as trauma-informed activities like yoga and hip-hop, police mental health teams, and peer support for youth,
Gone is Gone looks at why species become endangered, how scientists are learning about endangered wildlife, what people are doing to conserve species and ways young people can help. The book is richly illustrated with unique photos that Isabelle has taken over many years of observing endangered species in the field alongside the people who work to conserve them. Throughout, the author shares enchanting encounters and personal field stories: watching narwhals socialize in the Canadian Arctic, getting close to a Laysan albatross raising chicks on a remote Hawaiian island, spotting a rhinoceros on safari and even swimming with sea lions in the Galápagos Islands. Gone is Gone will inform, intrigue and inspire readers to take small steps toward big changes for endangered species around the world.
In the northwest corner of British Columbia, between the Alaska–BC border and the northern tip of Vancouver Island, lies a land of forest green and sparkling blue. From massive whales to tiny herring, spirit bears to sea wolves, an incredibly diverse array of wildlife calls this land home. Part of the largest coastal temperate rainforest in the world, the Great Bear Rainforest is one the last untouched places on Earth. Learn about the people who make their home in the Great Bear Rainforest and are committed to preserving and protecting it. Hear how Indigenous youth are coming together and taking responsibility for this place they call home. Learn more at greatbearrainforest.com
This gorgeously illustrated picture book is a celebration of summer vacation and West Coast island life. Every day is different on Gran's island in the Salish Sea as granddaughter climbs big-leaf maples, eats blackberries, explores tide pools and sandstone caves and examines ancient middens and petroglyphs. She and Gran watch harbor seals sunning themselves and Gran's neighbor carving an eagle out of a piece of cedar while drinking fresh nettle tea. And on her way home, our young narrator sees a pod of orcas, breaching, tail lobbing and spy-hopping as she says goodbye to the island for another summer.
In the developed world, if you want a drink of water you just turn on a tap or open a bottle. But for millions of families worldwide, finding clean water is a daily challenge, and kids are often the ones responsible for carrying water to their homes. Every Last Drop looks at why the world’s water resources are at risk and how communities around the world are finding innovative ways to quench their thirst and water their crops. Maybe you’re not ready to drink fog, as they do in Chile, or use water made from treated sewage, but you can get a low-flush toilet, plant a tree, protect a wetland or just take shorter showers. Every last drop counts!
Earthquakes are a terrifying yet fascinating force of nature. Seismologist Johanna Wagstaffe takes you through her own journey of understanding the earth beneath our feet. Along the way you’ll learn the science behind what makes the earth rumble and hear from kids around the world who have experienced the wonder, and terror, of an earthquake.
The climate crisis is the issue of our time. Scientists have warned for over 100 years that burning fossil fuels and destroying nature will warm the earth's atmosphere and affect the climate in adverse ways: more severe and intense storms, prolonged heat waves, drought, flooding, wildfires, rising sea levels and ocean acidification. Urgent Message from a Hot Planet: Navigating the Climate Crisis outlines the science behind global heating and its root causes, provides ways to take action and honors the efforts of the millions of youth and adult allies from around the world working tirelessly to make a difference. Their powerful message: do something now!
Thirteen-year-old Quinn and her friends can't believe their luck when spring break is extended an extra two weeks—even if it's because of some virus. But when the impact of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic becomes apparent, everyone, not just the students, has to learn to adjust to their new reality. Quinn’s father is an ER doctor and has to self-isolate to protect his family from the virus. Isaac’s mother is the chief of police and now has to enforce new physical-distancing bylaws. Reese can’t visit her grandmother in her care home anymore. And their entire school has moved to online classes. Sacrifices have to be made to keep everyone safe, but there’s more to life than rules and scary news reports. In an effort to find some good in all this uncertainty, Quinn comes up with an idea that she hopes will bring the entire community together.
With many jurisdictions considering whether or not to implement new assisted-death legislation, Choosing to Live, Choosing to Die is a timely look at the subject for teen readers who may not yet have had much experience with death and dying. Readers are introduced to the topic of assisted dying through the author's own story. The issue continues to be hotly debated in families, communities and countries around the world, and there are no easy answers. Choosing to Live, Choosing to Die looks at the issue from multiple perspectives and encourages readers to listen with an open mind and a kind heart and reach their own conclusions.
We're all connected to the ocean, and the ocean to us. The ocean provides half the oxygen we breathe; it feeds us, creates our weather and provides us with water. But we haven't been as kind to the ocean in return. The problems are many: pollution, overfishing, rising seas and acid waters. What can be done? Don't despair; take action. Dive In! explores our intimate connection with the ocean and provides every reader with an achievable set of actions that can help improve ocean health for our sake and the sake of the millions of marine plants and animals that share the planet with us. Filled with colorful photos and positive stories, Dive In! is as informative as it is inspirational.
Most of us see trees every day, and too often we take them for granted. Trees provide us with everything from food, fuel and shelter to oxygen and filtered water. Deep Roots celebrates the central role trees play in our lives, no matter where we live. Each chapter in Deep Roots focuses on a basic element—water, air, fire and earth—and explores the many ways in which we need trees to keep our planet healthy and livable. From making rain to producing fruit to feeding fish, trees play an integral role in maintaining vibrant ecosystems all over the world. Facts about trees and hands-on activities throughout help readers discover ways to get to know our giant neighbors better.
What you choose to wear becomes part of your identity, but it doesn't affect just you. Your clothing sends a message to the world, whether you want it to or not! And often we don't know what that message really is. Can Your Outfit Change the World? looks at how and where clothes are made, how the people who make the clothes are treated and how the companies who sell the clothes affect the health of our planet. Armed with information, you can follow the book's guide to spending your fashion dollars in a responsible and eco-friendly way. Your outfits have more power than you might realize!
Teen astronaut Houston Williams is finally headed into outer space. Houston Williams was thrilled to win a scholarship to attend a space program at NASA. What he didn’t realize was that organizers were recruiting people for a cutting-edge research project aimed at studying how space travel affects people of different ages. Now, after months of intense training, Houston is blasting off into space! He and his new friend and former rival, Ashley, are on their way to the International Space Station (ISS) where, along with veteran astronaut Colonel Sanderson, they will be subjected to a variety of experiments. Meanwhile, back on Earth, the politics of space travel are getting complicated. Many feel the money being spent on Mars exploration should be redirected to address issues such as access to clean water and global warming. A planned mission to Mars may be accelerated before funding is canceled, and there is talk of repurposing the ISS crew. Houston doesn't dare say out loud what he's thinking: Is there a chance he could actually be going to Mars? This is the second book in the Teen Astronauts series, following Houston, Is There A Problem?
Did you know that cars can run on french-fry grease or that human poop can be used to provide power to classrooms? Brilliant! is about what happens when you harness the power of imagination and innovation: the world changes for the better! Kids in Mexico help light up their houses by playing soccer, and in the Philippines, pop-bottle skylights are improving the quality of life for thousands of families. Full of examples of unusual (and often peculiar) power sources, Brilliant! encourages kids to look around for new and sustainable ways to light up the world.
Cyrus and Rudy spend the last days of summer selling dahlias, blackberries and tomatoes at their roadside stand. When a neighbor drops off a bin full of red wigglers, California earthworms that break down compost into fertilizer, Rudy and Cyrus become worm moguls as they discover just how in demand the Eisenia fetida are. Black Gold is the third book featuring Cyrus and Rudy’s adventures on the farm, following Not for Sale and Blackberry Juice.
Billy Stuart is a young raccoon who aspires to be just like his grandfather, a globe-trotting adventurer who knows no fear. When he learns that his grandfather has found a way to travel through time and is leaving on another great voyage, he sets out to see him off (and maybe sneak along). Billy Stuart follows his grandfather's puzzling clues through a maze of caves and caverns to find him before he leaves, trailed by his Scout pack, the Zintrepids. What Billy doesn't know is that once they go down the fateful path his grandfather has taken, there will be no turning back. Brightly illustrated and enhanced with games and puzzles throughout, Billy Stuart and the Zintrepids is Billy's first adventure and is sure to amuse readers of all ages.
Wild horses are legendary, but today their very existence is under threat from a changing environment, politics and less protected spaces to roam free. These animals live all over the world, including the iconic mustangs in North America—a symbol of freedom and the American West. Today what we thought we knew about the history of wild horses and where they came from is changing. What makes a horse wild? Where do they live and how did they end up there? What is the relationship between wild horses and Indigenous Peoples? How are governments and citizens working for or against them? In this book, readers discover the history, biology and ecology of wild horses and the key role young people are playing in protecting wild horse populations to keep them running free for generations to come.
