Lightning Catcher

The first book of a funny fantasy and adventure series about three friends who discover they have the ability to control the weather. It's Storm Chasers meets The 39 Clues, in a story that Booklist called "fascinating . . . mixing serious science with full-on fantasy." Eleven-year-old Angus's world is turned upside down when he is mysteriously whisked away to become an apprentice at the Perilous Exploratorium for Weather and Vicious Storms. At Perilous, the world's most dangerous weather is studied to protect mankind from its ravages. There, Angus discovers that his parents aren't boring government workers after all-they are actually famous Lightning Catchers, and they've been kidnapped. With the help of two loyal new friends, Angus intends to find them. This fast-paced, action-packed, funny story of friendship, adventure, science, and mayhem begins a high-octane four-book series.

The funny, fast-paced second book in The Lightning Catcher series! Science, weather, and the fantastical combine for a school adventure story, part Storm Chasers and part Percy Jackson, about twelve-year-old Angus and his dangerous gift of predicting catastrophic weather.Angus has a lot on his plate. He's attending the Perilous Exploratorium for Violent Weather and Vicious Storms, learning how to battle all sorts of extreme weather. He's a Storm Prophet-one of the rare people with the ability to predict catastrophic weather. His parents-world renowned Lightning Catchers themselves-have been kidnapped. And now Perilous has been slammed by a ferocious winter storm, artifacts from the Great Fire of 1666 have been stolen, and the evil Scabious Dankheart has released deadly spores called Ice Diamonds to plague the population. Angus and his friends must find the legendary Lightning Heart-a bloodred, heart-shaped stone of great power-in order to put everything right. Action-packed, lighthearted, and perfect for reluctant readers!

The comedian, actor, television host, podcast king, and New York Times bestselling author of President Me, Not Taco Bell Material, and In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks now lays down the law on the plight of the modern parent. Parents, do you often think that if your kids had to grow up the way you did-without iPads, 70-inch flat screen TVs, American Girl dolls, and Wi-Fi in the climate controlled minivan-that they might actually be better off? Do you feel underappreciated or ignored? Do you worry you're raising a bunch of spoiled softies who will never know how to do anything themselves-because you do everything for them? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need Daddy, Stop Talking. Adam rips parenthood a new one, telling it straight about what adults must do if they don't want to have to support their kids forever. Using his own crappy childhood as a cautionary tale, and touting the pitfalls of the kind of helicopter parenting so pervasive today, Daddy, Stop Talking is the only parenting book you should ever read. Here, too, is sage advice to Adam's own kids-and to future parents-on what matters most: dating; drinking and drugs; buying your first house and car; puberty; and what kind of assholes his kids (and yours) should avoid becoming. Even if his own son and daughter pretty much ignore everything he says, you shouldn't. And you're welcome. Again.

In the fast-paced conclusion to The Lightning Catcher quartet, storm prophet Angus McFangus makes one final attempt to rescue his parents and save his school from the villainous Scabious Dankhart. This school adventure series is a mix of Storm Chasers and The Mysterious Benedict Society. Action-packed, lighthearted, and perfect for reluctant readers, with black-and-white illustrations by Newbery Honor author Victoria Jamieson! Halfway through their second year at the Perilous Exploratorium for Violent Weather and Vicious Storms, Angus McFangus and his two best friends, Indigo Midnight and Dougal Dewsnap, are being heatedly pursued by Scabious Dankhart. In an attempt to foil Dankhart, who is already holding Angus's parents as prisoners, Angus and his friends fake their own deaths and go into hiding within the Exploratorium itself. When they discover the existence of blue-dragon scales that allow a storm prophet to control multiple fire dragons at once, the trio goes on a quest to locate all four scales. As the single living storm prophet, Angus is the only person who can control the dragon scales and use them to defeat Dankhart and his powerful lightning tower.