Disaster Strikes

When disaster strikes, the only thing you can count on is yourself! It had seemed like the perfect California day. But as Joey Flores walked home from the skate park with his friends, the ground began to tremble, and Joey knew they were headed for trouble....The earthquake that followed devastated their neighborhood, collapsing a nearby overpass with Joey and Fiona on one side and Kevin and Dylan on the other. Now Joey and his friends must rescue each other, endure the aftershocks, and find a new way home as the earth cracks beneath their feet. Praise for Disaster Strikes #1: Earthquake Shock:"Full of action and realistic friend dynamics...this holds strong appeal for both girls and boys and features a diverse cast of characters. A rare find in transitional chapter books, this one also works for older, struggling readers thanks to its real-life survival element and 10-year-old protagonist."-Booklist Marlane Kennedy is the author of ME AND THE PUMPKIN QUEEN and THE DOG DAYS OF CHARLOTTE HAYES. She has lived through one tiny earthquake, the blizzard of 1978, and a tornado that swept through Wooster, Ohio, where she lives with her husband and daughter. Though she is having a blast writing about disasters, she is hoping not to add any more to this list! You can find her online at www.marlanekennedy.com. From DISASTER STRIKES #1: EARTHQUAKE SHOCKAll at once, Joey heard an earsplitting boom. A jolt knocked him forward and he stumbled off his board. He looked over at Fiona. She was still on her board, but she looked as if she'd felt the jolt, too. Had a car run into the wall behind them? As he turned to look, the sidewalk shifted under his feet. He tried to keep his balance, but the sidewalk began to roll like a fun-house floor. Joey heard an awful rumbling and the sound of cracking concrete, and suddenly he knew exactly what was happening. It was an earthquake. Joey had lived through several minor ones, but this one felt different. They had to get out from underneath the highway.Fiona had jumped off her board now, but she stood paralyzed. Joey grabbed her arm, yanking her. "You have to run," he shouted. "Now!" Her voice trembled. "I d-don't know if I c-can." "You have to!" Joey shouted as he dragged her forward.But it was near impossible to run with the ground rising and falling every which way. They both fell several times and had to keep dragging each other back up as small chunks of concrete and dust rained down from above. The sun, oblivious to the earthquake, was cheerfully beating down only a few feet away. "Just a few more feet," Joey screamed at Fiona. They lurched forward, holding hands. Crashing concrete columns chased them, like some awful monster ready to swallow them whole. "Ow!" Something hard and heavy slammed into Joey's shoulder. But they couldn't afford to stop moving. Praise for Disaster Strikes #1: Earthquake Shock: "Full of action and realistic friend dynamics...this holds strong appeal for both girls and boys and features a diverse cast of characters. A rare find in transitional chapter books, this one also works for older, struggling readers thanks to its real-life survival element and 10-year-old protagonist."-Booklist

When disaster strikes, the only thing you can count on is yourself! Wyatt Anderson isn't thrilled that his prissy cousin is visiting his family's Oklahoma ranch. But it turns out Wyatt has bigger problems to deal with when a pair of dueling tornadoes lock the prairie in their sights....Wyatt, Alison, and neighbors Joshua and Jackson have nowhere to run. And when the old barn is battered by the tornadoes' ferocious winds, the animals that live inside are in danger. Will Wyatt and his friends risk their own lives to protect them? Marlane Kennedy is the author of ME AND THE PUMPKIN QUEEN and THE DOG DAYS OF CHARLOTTE HAYES. She has lived through one tiny earthquake, the blizzard of 1978, and a tornado that swept through Wooster, Ohio, where she lives with her husband and daughter. Though she is having a blast writing about disasters, she is hoping not to add any more to this list! You can find her online at www.marlanekennedy.com. From DISASTER STRIKES #2: TORNADO ALLEYWyatt looked westward, the direction the storm had come from, and saw something so surreal and terrifying on the horizon that he had to do a double take to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. For a moment he stood absolutely still, awestruck by the enormous funnel cloud that kicked up swirling columns of dust in the distance. There was something hypnotizing about it. Part of Wyatt wanted to stand there and watch, but soon his common sense took over. "Tornado!" Wyatt screamed. "Get to the storm cellar!" He pointed at the doors by the side of the house. "We have to get to shelter. Run!"For a split second, the others froze in their tracks, startled by Wyatt's outburst, until they, too, saw the tornado. The wind picked up and whipped around the them, pushing away the stillness, and all four kids bolted, making a bee line for safety.Wyatt was surprised to see Alison outrun them all. She was fast and reached the cellar doors first, quickly followed by long legged Jackson. They heaved open the doors revealing a staircase down to the cellar, and paused for a moment, waiting for Wyatt and Joshua to catch up."Don't wait. Get inside!" Wyatt yelled. Jackson and Alison obeyed his command and disappeared down the steps, with Joshua scrambling in close behind them. Phew! We're all safe, Wyatt thought as he darted down the first few steps and reached to close the doors. But before he could get a hold of it, a flash of pink streaked by."Duncan is in the barn," Alison shouted as she rushed back up the steps. "I have to go get him and bring him to the cellar!""Are you nuts? Get back here!" Wyatt lunged for her, but she slipped out of his grasp. "There's no time!" he yelled after her with desperation and fury in his voice.Allison turned and looked at him briefly with panicked eyes. The wind flung her long dark hair every which way. And then in a flash she was gone. Running away from them. Away from safety. And into the path of a monster.

When disaster strikes, the only thing you can count on is yourself! A winter trip in the remote Michigan wilderness seemed like the perfect way for Jayden to get to know his new foster family. Though he doesn't have much in common with siblings Maggie and Connor, he's hoping they'll get to like each other over snow mobile races and steaming mugs of cocoa.But when the snow really starts to come down, the family van crashes and the three kids must go out into the bleak, white storm to search for help. Soon the wind is howling and night is starting to fall. Jayden, Maggie, and Connor will have to think fast, find shelter, watch out for bears, and somehow stay warm if they don't want to end up frozen in their tracks.... Praise for THE DOG DAYS OF CHARLOTTE HAYES"Even for certified non-dog lovers, the familiar family and friendship issues andsatisfying resolution make this an agreeable read."--Booklist"[Kennedy's] first-person, present-tense voice captures perfectly the emerging moral awareness of young teens as it comes up against the impotence of late childhood. Another fine effort."--Kirkus Reviews"A sweet, gentle story."--School Library Journal Marlane Kennedy is the author of ME AND THE PUMPKIN QUEEN and THE DOG DAYS OF CHARLOTTE HAYES. She has lived through one tiny earthquake, the blizzard of 1978, and a tornado that swept through Wooster, Ohio, where she lives with her husband and daughter. Though she is having a blast writing about disasters, she is hoping not to add any more to this list! You can find her online at www.marlanekennedy.com. Praise for THE DOG DAYS OF CHARLOTTE HAYES"Even for certified non-dog lovers, the familiar family and friendship issues andsatisfying resolution make this an agreeable read."--Booklist"[Kennedy's] first-person, present-tense voice captures perfectly the emerging moral awareness of young teens as it comes up against the impotence of late childhood. Another fine effort."--Kirkus Reviews"A sweet, gentle story."--School Library Journal

When disaster strikes, the only thing you can count on is yourself! Noah and Emma Burton have traded the sand and surf of their Hawaiian home for a chilly stay in Alaska, and Noah isn't happy about it. His father may be a volcano expert, but why did they have to travel to the coldest, grayest place on earth when there are millions of volcanoes near Honolulu? Noah thinks he's in for the most boring vacation of his life.He couldn't have been more wrong! A day trip to a remote island turns deadly when a once-dormant volcano suddenly sputters to life in an eruption of epic proportions. Now Noah, Emma, and their new neighbor Alex must fight to survive rivers of molten lava and clouds of toxic ash if they want to make it off the island alive.... Praise for THE DOG DAYS OF CHARLOTTE HAYES"Even for certified non-dog lovers, the familiar family and friendship issues and satisfying resolution make this an agreeable read."--BOOKLIST"[Kennedy's] first-person, present-tense voice captures perfectly the emerging moral awareness of young teens as it comes up against the impotence of late childhood. Another fine effort."--KIRKUS REVIEWS"A sweet, gentle story."--SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL Marlane Kennedy is the author of ME AND THE PUMPKIN QUEEN and THE DOG DAYS OF CHARLOTTE HAYES. She has lived through one tiny earthquake, the blizzard of 1978, and a tornado that swept through Wooster, Ohio, where she lives with her husband and daughter. Though she is having a blast writing about disasters, she is hoping not to add any more to this list! You can find her online at www.marlanekennedy.com. Praise for THE DOG DAYS OF CHARLOTTE HAYES"Even for certified non-dog lovers, the familiar family and friendship issues and satisfying resolution make this an agreeable read."--BOOKLIST"[Kennedy's] first-person, present-tense voice captures perfectly the emerging moral awareness of young teens as it comes up against the impotence of late childhood. Another fine effort."--KIRKUS REVIEWS"A sweet, gentle story."--SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL