Jim Whiting

Late in 1945, five U.S. Navy torpedo bombers took off from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on a routine training mission. Soon the mission became anything but routine. Flight 19, as it was known, became hopelessly lost. Then the planes vanished. No one ever found a trace of them or the 14 men who had been aboard. Starting five years later, people began to notice a pattern of disappearances of ships and airplanes similar to Flight 19. These disappearances...

The Roman emperor Nero is one of the most notorious figures in history. He is most famous for fiddling while Rome burned, then blaming Christians for setting the fire and beginning a series of persecutions against them. He even ordered the murder of his own mother. Find out why the Romans declared him a public enemy, and what happened when he tried to run away.

Many scholars regard Plato as the greatest philosopher of all time. Yet he was much more than a man with his head in the clouds. Plato grew up in a turbulent era. A violent civil war divided the Greeks. The turbulence carried over into his personal life. His beloved teacher, Socrates, was executed by the city of Athens. From the teachings of Socrates and his own experiences, Plato developed important theories about government, ethics, love, beauty-even...

For centuries, ordinary Russians lived under the absolute power of the czars, the country's hereditary rulers. For many, such a life involved few rights and grinding poverty. The Russian people increasingly wanted a greater voice in the way they were governed and a higher standard of living. These desires put pressure on the government of the czars. The civil unrest finally came to a head in 1917. The last czar, Nicholas II, was overthrown in what...

The most popular of all Russian composers, Peter Tchaikovsky is probably best known for his ballets. Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and Nutcracker are still performed worldwide. But a good part of Tchaikovsky s career was spent writing operas. Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades are two of his better-known works. A precocious child, Peter could read French and German by the age of six. At seven, he wrote verses in French. In school, he studied to be...

A king of a dog in a tiny body! This title includes narrative nonfiction, informational sidebars, Fun Facts, and more for readers to learn about the history of Pugs and how to take care of them today!

The stadium trembles as the Titans storm the field! Through narrative nonfiction, timelines, and Fun Facts, readers will engage with the history and superstars of the Tennessee Titans like never before.

Ordained as a priest, Antonio Lucio Vivaldi became one of Europe s most popular composers during the early part of the eighteenth century. He wrote hundreds of concertos, dozens of operas, and many sacred works before his music fell out of fashion during the latter part of his life. He died in obscurity and his work suffered a similar fate for almost two centuries. His music was rescued from oblivion in the 1930s. His most famous work, The Four Seasons,...

What better guides to help students learn about the world than teens of the world? This unique series looks at 12 countries, one of which is the Navajo Nation inside the United States, through the eyes of both expert authors and real-life teens who live in those countries. The author provides background information on the history, culture, customs, politics, and economy of the country, while the teen describes for readers their points of view on teen...

On the morning of December 1, 1955, hardly anyone in Rosa Parks' home town of Montgomery, Alabama had heard of her. By the time that night fell, she was on her way to becoming a household name all over the United States. That morning, she had refused to give up her bus seat to a white person. Rosa, who was African American, was tired of being pushed around because of the color of her skin. The news of her arrest spread like wildfire. African American...