Peg Toland and her father think they’ve found the perfect vacation spot: a beautiful, uninhabited Mexican island in the sparkling Sea of Cortez. Unfortunately, the locals who live on the coast do not agree. “That is no place to go,” they tell the Tolands with alarm. They will not explain why. Peg and her father should have listened to these mysterious warnings. Shortly after they arrive on the island and set up camp, the untamed landscape and isolation turn into a terrifying and deadly trap. Someone else is on the island. Someone who slashes the Toland’s inflatable boat, steals their supplies, and stalks them day and night. With her diabetic father growing weak and sick from lack of insulin, 15-year-old Peg has no choice but to hunt the stalker down-to the death, if necessary. Realistic and chilling, Sweet Friday Island is nerve-jangling adventure from Theodore Taylor, the award-winning author whose novels have thrilled millions of young people.

The winner of the Scott O’Dell Award, The Bomb is a powerful history lesson and a gripping tale of suspense that no listener will ever forget. In 1946, sixteen-year-old Sorry Rinamu watches as U.S. Navy warships appear off the coast of Bikini Island. The U.S. Government wants to test the deadly power of the atomic bomb-and Sorry’s island has been chosen as the test site. The young man knows he must stop the Americans from dropping the bomb-even if it means defying orders from the U.S. Government and risking his own life.

For fans of Hatchet and Island of the Blue Dolphins comes Theodore Taylor’s classic bestseller and Lewis Carroll Shelf Award winner, The Cay.
   Phillip is excited when the Germans invade the small island of Curaçao. War has always been a game to him, and he’s eager to glimpse it firsthand–until the freighter he and his mother are traveling to the United States on is torpedoed.
   When Phillip comes to, he is on a small raft in the middle of the sea. Besides Stew Cat, his only companion is an old West Indian, Timothy. Phillip remembers his mother’s warning about black people: “They are different, and they live differently.”
    But by the time the castaways arrive on a small island, Phillip’s head injury has made him blind and dependent on Timothy.

“Mr. Taylor has provided an exciting story…The idea that all humanity would benefit from this special form of color blindness permeates the whole book…The result is a story with a high ethical purpose but no sermon.”—New York Times Book Review
 
“A taut tightly compressed story of endurance and revelation…At once barbed and tender, tense and fragile—as Timothy would say, ‘outrageous good.’”—Kirkus Reviews
 
* “Fully realized setting…artful, unobtrusive use of dialect…the representation of a hauntingly deep love, the poignancy of which is rarely achieved in children’s literature.”—School Library Journal, Starred
 
“Starkly dramatic, believable and compelling.”—Saturday Review
 
“A tense and moving experience in reading.”—Publishers Weekly
 
“Eloquently underscores the intrinsic brotherhood of man.”—Booklist
 
“This is one of the best survival stories since Robinson Crusoe.”—The Washington Star

· A New York Times Best Book of the Year
· A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
· A Horn Book Honor Book
· An American Library Association Notable Book
· A Publishers Weekly Children’s Book to Remember
· A Child Study Association’s Pick of Children’s Books of the Year
· Jane Addams Book Award
· Lewis Carroll Shelf Award
· Commonwealth Club of California: Literature Award
· Southern California Council on Literature for Children and Young People Award
· Woodward School Annual Book Award
· Friends of the Library Award, University of California at Irvine

When a small pod of killer whales surfaces just offshore of Lumber Landing-a small British Columbia fishing community-it’s more that just the fish that don’t know what to do. The whales’ arrival coincides with a fishing magazine ad offering $100,000 for a killer whale in good condition for an American theme park. Jamie Tidd, a 14-year-old boy, and his father Perry thought it would be nearly impossible to capture a whale. However, it’s after they easily trap one on Wilwilli Cove that difficulties arise. Do they release the whale to take part in salmon season-the most financially rewarding season of the year-or do they keep it and hope to cash in? Newbery Award-winning author Theodore Taylor has written more than 30 books for young people. His book, The Cay, won eleven literary awards, including the Lewis Carrol Shelf Award.

Friar Tuck, a big golden Labrador, is young Helen’s inseparable companion. She still remembers the sunny day three years ago when her father dumped the fat, wriggling puppy into her surprised arms and said, “All yours, Helen.” Since then, her dog has grown into a wonderful friend for the lanky, red-haired girl. No one knows exactly when Tuck began to go blind. By the time Helen and her parents notice the symptoms, the dog is knocking over chairs and can no longer chase squirrels. Afraid that Tuck is doomed to a life of being tied up, Helen desperately looks for a way to let her frisky dog keep the freedom he has always known. Where can she find the help Tuck needs? Award-winning author Theodore Taylor began his writing career as a cub reporter when he was thirteen. Working his way from a Portsmouth, Virginia newspaper to newsrooms in Washington, D.C. and New York City, he was an NBC network sportswriter by the time he was nineteen. His popular books for young readers include Timothy of the Cay and The Hostage. You’ll also enjoy the exciting sequel to Tuck’s adventures in Tuck Triumphant.

They call him the Weirdo. No one knows much about the 17-year-old bear tracker with the horribly scarred face-except that he lives in the eerie swamp where Samantha Sanders found a dead body. But one night Samantha wanders into the dark swamp and meets the Weirdo. She listens to his shocking story, looks into his gentle soul, and becomes his friend. And when she stumbles across another body, Samantha knows that the Weirdo is the only one who can help her. Together, they begin a search for the killer who is stalking innocent victims through the murky waters and dangerous marshes of the swamp. For over 25 years, Theodore Taylor has thrilled millions of young adults with his brilliantly crafted, chilling novels of suspense. The Weirdo is one of Taylor’s best-an Edgar Award-winning mystery that combines heart-thumping suspense, realistic characters, and unforgettable images of the North Carolina swamplands.

In the novel The Cay, a young white boy and an old black man are stranded on a small sandy cay in the Caribbean Sea following a shipwreck. Eleven-year-old Phillip was blinded by flying debris when a torpedo struck the SS Hato, and old Timothy has taught him how to survive. This prequel-sequel tells the rest of their tale in alternating chapters–the compelling story of two very different people who share the courage and tenacity to turn their dreams into reality.

This heartwarming story will be especially meaningful to any child dealing with issues of cross-cultural adoption or physical disabilities. Fourteen-year-old Helen Ogden tells the story of the miraculous friendship that grows between her blind dog Tuck and her adopted brother Chok Do, a deaf Korean orphan.