Twelve-year-old Ann understands there is only one thing to be grateful for as a slave: having her family together. But when the master falls into debt, he plans to sell both Ann and her younger brother to two different owners. Ann is convinced her family must run away on the Underground Railroad. Will Ann's family survive the dangerous trip to their freedom in the North? This Girls Survive story is supported by a glossary, discussion questions, and...

Twelve-year-old Charlotte lives on a plantation in Richmond, Virginia, where the American Civil War is raging. All around her, citizens and the Confederate army are fighting to protect slavery - the very thing Charlotte wishes would end. When she overhears the plantation owner conspiring against the Confederates, Charlotte knows she must join forces with her. Maybe together they can help the Union win the war and end slavery. Helping a spy is dangerous...

In 1911, fourteen-year-old Lucy Morelli lives with her parents, older brother, and several youngers siblings in a crowded apartment in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Lucy dreams of going to college, but her Italian immigrant family relies heavily on her income from the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory to survive. Lucy finds the factory work boring, but the working conditions are better than many other jobs. But when Lucy and her best...

In the late summer and early fall of 1938, ten-year-old Ruth Block, along with her father, mother, and best friend, Miriam, must navigate the increasing pressure placed on the Jewish population in Frankfurt, Germany. Ruth grows more worried by the day. Her father's stationery store is shut down; she and Miriam are belittled on the street; their school is closed. Then one night in November, the family's apartment is broken into. Ruth's father is dragged...

Leah dreams of leaving behind the crowded streets of Boston's North End neighborhood to journey west. It's the only way she'll have the future she wants - one that doesn't involve her getting married or working in a factory. But then the molasses tank at the local plant explodes, sweeping through the city streets. The wave destroys everything in its path, and suddenly Leah must fight to survive if she wants to have any future at all.

In 1980s Washington state, Mt. St. Helens is rumbling. Twelve-year-old Maribel isn't concerned at first, despite officials evacuating her neighborhood. Her family is convinced it's just a precaution, even as the mountain continues to rumble. Maribel decides to disobey orders and return home for items she and her sister left behind - just as the volcano finally erupts. As ash rains down, Maribel realizes she must learn to focus if she's going to survive....

The American Revolution is raging in Philadelphia, and Rebecca is determined to do all she can to help. With her father stationed with Washington's army at nearby Whitemarsh, it's up to Rebecca to help her mother at home with her younger siblings. That includes selling vegetables to British officers stationed in wealthy houses nearby. When Rebecca intercepts a message about an impending British attack against the Patriots from one such house, she...

When her mother announces a holiday vacation to Thailand, Tara isn't thrilled. She'd rather stay home with her friends, but Mom is determined they use the girls' trip to explore their Thai heritage. Tara is reluctant to travel so far from home, especially to a country she doesn't feel connected to. But then disaster strikes. The day after Christmas, a massive tsunami sweeps through Phuket, Thailand. Tara's resort vacation suddenly becomes a fight...

London schoolgirl Hettie hears the whispers and sees the worry creeping across her parents' faces. She watches as the windows in her home are blacked out. She helps her dad build a bomb shelter. She learns how to wear a gas mask. War, led by Adolf Hitler, is stomping its feet at Great Britain's doorstep, and Hettie knows only one thing for certain: When the bombs come, it will take all the courage she has to be brave and survive.

Life in lower Manhattan is normal for Molly, her dads, and younger sister. But on September 11, 2001, everything changes. Molly and her younger sister, Adeline, are at school when the first plane hits the World Trade Center. When the Twin Towers fall, the city is thrown into chaos. Papa, a pilot, is flying, Dad can't be reached, and Gran, an EMT with the New York Fire Department, is at Ground Zero. It's up to Molly to find her sister and navigate...