Hooked on History!

Lily and the Great Quake

Veeda Bybee

Lily is a twelve-year-old Chinese American girl living in San Francisco's Chinatown when an earthquake destroys her home and sets her neighborhood on fire. Separated from her parents, Lily must help her younger brother and neighbor escape San Fr ancisco. As the city burns, Lily struggles to keep her group close as they face peril and racism. Will Lily be reunited with her parents and make it across the bay to the safety of Oakland? Readers can learn the real story of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake from the nonfiction backmatter in this Girls Survive story.

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Escape from . . . Pompeii

Benjamin Richmond

Mount Vesuvius is ready to erupt, threatening to destroy the city of Pompeii and everyone who lives there. Will new friends Thalia and Felix be able to escape, or are they destined to be buried under rock and ash? Thalia is excited to visit the bustl ing city of Pompeii, while Felix longs to leave it. As Thalia prepares to perform with her traveling troupe of actors, Felix is searching for a life of adventure away from his strict, politician father. Despite living such different lives, when their paths cross, they quickly become friends. Meanwhile, deep in the heart of Mount Vesuvius, a lethal fire is brewing. In its shadow, Pompeii awaits total destruction. The ground shakes, and the mountain rumbles. But when the volcano roars and clouds of ash rain down upon the city, will Thalia and Felix manage to escape one of the deadliest natural disasters in history?

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Melody: No Ordinary Sound

Denise Lewis Patrick

Melody Ellison can't wait to sing her first solo at church, and she wants to pick a song that's special. She gets advice from her big brother, who has his sights set on becoming a Motown star, and inspiration from her older sister, who' ;s home from college with new ideas about marches and protests and making things fair. When Melody experiences discrimination for herself, she decides to stand up and speak out about civil rights, too. As her solo approaches, an unimaginable tragedy leaves her silent. Can Melody find her voice to speak up for those who can't?

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Rescue on the Oregon Trail

Kate Messner

Meet Ranger! He's a time-traveling golden retriever who has a nose for trouble . . . and always saves the day! Ranger has been trained as a search-and-rescue dog, but can't officially pass the test because he's always getting distracte d by squirrels during exercises. One day, he finds a mysterious first aid kit in the garden and is transported to the year 1850, where he meets a young boy named Sam Abbott. Sam's family is migrating west on the Oregon Trail, and soon after Ranger arrives he helps the boy save his little sister. Ranger thinks his job is done, but the Oregon Trail can be dangerous, and the Abbotts need Ranger's help more than they realize!

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I Survived The Great Molasses Flood, 1919

Lauren Tarshis

100 years ago, a killer wave of molasses struck a crowded Boston neighborhood. Discover the story of this strange disaster in the next book in the New York Times bestselling I Survived series.

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Sailing for Gold

Deborah Hopkinson

Gold Rush! Seattle, July 1897 Ever since his mother died, Davey has had a secret plan: He's saving his money so he can run away to Alaska to find Uncle Walt, the only relative he has. No one is going to stop him -- not even mean Mrs. Tinker, who owns the Seattle boardinghouse where Davey lives and works. When gold is discovered in the Klondike, Davey is convinced that's where he'll find his uncle. But then Davey's money disappears, and with it his hopes of finding his uncle -- until Davey comes up with a new, much more dangerous plan.

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Stealing the Sword!

Wendy Mass

At the flea market nine-and-a-half-year-old Chase and his younger sister Ava acquire an old suitcase filled with rows of carefully packed strange objects, and when they handle one of the objects (a dragon-headed doorknob) they find themselves in King Arthur's castle, on a mission to save the King--and pursued by a strange man whom they first saw at the flea market, who is after their suitcase.

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Dinosaurs Before Dark

Mary Pope Osborne

Where did the tree house come from? Before Jack and Annie can find out, the mysterious tree house whisks them to the prehistoric past. Now they have to figure out how to get home. Can they do it before dark…or will they become a dinosaur’s dinner ?

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