"There’s bad news and good news about the Cutter High School swim team. The bad news is that they don’t have a pool. The good news is that only one of them can swim anyway. A group of misfits brought together by T. J. Jones (the J is redundant), the Cutter All Night Mermen struggle to find their places in a school that has no place for them. T.J. is convinced that a varsity letter jacket–exclusive, revered, the symbol (as far as T.J. is concerned) of all that is screwed up at Cutter High–will also be an effective tool. He’s right. He’s also wrong. Still, it’s always the quest that counts. And the bus on which the Mermen travel to swim meets soon becomes the space where they gradually allow themselves to talk, to fit, to grow. Together they’ll fight for dignity in a world where tragedy and comedy dance side by side, where a moment’s inattention can bring lifelong heartache, and where true acceptance is the only prescription for what ails us."
"Mafatu's name means "Stout Heart," but his people call him a coward. Ever since the sea took his mother's life and spared his own, he has lived with deep fear. And even though his father is the Great Chief of Hikueru–an island whose seafaring people worship courage–he is terrified, and consequently, he is severely scorned.
By the time he is twelve years old, Mafatu can bear it no longer. He must conquer his fear alone. . . even if it means certain death.
This classic tale of a young boy's hidden strength has been a favorite of readers of all ages since its 1940 publication–now this exclusive audio preserves its original poignancy and splendor, and brings Mafatu to life for future generations of listeners."
"Two boys, separated by the canyons of time and two vastly different cultures, face the challenges by which they will become men.
Coyote Runs, an Apache boy, takes part in his first raid. But he is to be a man for only a short time.
More than a hundred years later, while camping near Dog Canyon, 15-year-old Brennan Cole becomes obsessed with a skull that he finds, pierced by a bullet. He learns that it is the skull of an Apache boy executed by soldiers in 1864. A mystical link joins Brennan and Coyote Runs, and Brennan knows that neither boy will find peace until Coyote Runs' skull is carried back to an ancient sacred place.
In a grueling journey through the canyon to return the skull, Brennan confronts the challenge of his life."
"Bubber, a lemming, and his family are getting ready. It is the morning of the great march west and the leap into the sea. Bubber is excited— until his friend Crow starts asking questions. Bubber struggles with the decision to participate in what appears to be an insane death walk, only to be told constantly by family and friends that this is just the way things are.
In this allegory about conformity, Bubber is faced with following his entire race to self-induced extinction. Will he give in to fear and propaganda? Will Bubber follow tradition or think independently and make his own reasoned decision before the day is over? A superb lesson on conformity, critical thinking, and personal accountability, this young-adult novel is read by the story' s author, Oscar-winning actor and author Alan Arkin."
