Scott Dawson

Ten-year-old Leo loves being a newsboy in San Francisco --but early one spring morning in 1906 Leo's world is shaken, when he finds himself stranded in the middle of San Francisco as it crumbles and burns to the ground.

"No one in the bustling city of Pompeii worries when the ground trembles beneath their feet. The beast under the mountain Vesuvius, high above the city, wakes up angry sometimes--and always goes back to sleep, but Marcus is afraid. He knows something is terribly wrong--and his father, who trusts science more than mythical beasts, agrees. when Vesuvius explodes into a cloud of fiery ash and rocks fall from the sky like rain, will they have time to...

When John Hale's parents moved from Chicago to a farm in the Dakota Territory in the late 1880s, he was not happy (too hot in summer, too cold in winter, and that is just the beginning); but after a year, and now eleven, he has settled in and made some friends at school--but when a sunny day in January 1888 turns abruptly into a deadly blizzard he will need all his strength and courage to survive what became known to history as The Children's Blizzard....

For eleven year-old Hugo Ballard, flying on the Hindenburg is a dream come true. Hugo, his parents, and his four-year-old sister Gertie, are making the thrilling four thousand mile journey across the Atlantic in a zeppelin as big as the Titanic. But as the zeppelin gets ready to land, a blast rocks the Hindenburg and fire consumes the ship. The entire disaster lasts a mere thirty-two seconds, but in those few seconds, Hugo finds himself separated...

In 1863, child slave Thomas and his sister Birdie journey north and meet up with Union soldiers who have orders to fight at Gettysburg.

Josh and his mom are escaping a crisis back home when they fly across the country to stay with their cousins in California. It's a strange time for Josh. But he and his cousin Holly become fast friends as they explore the huge forest surrounding Holly's house. Then one day the cousins find themselves in the path of a fast-moving firestorm, a super-heated monster that will soon destroy millions of acres of wilderness and possibly much more. Josh...

A young boy struggles to survive during the 2011 tornado in Joplin, Missouri.

On May 18, 1980, eleven-year-old Jessie Marlowe and her best friends, Eddie and Sam, are in a forest near Mount St. Helens when the months of wondering whether the volcano will erupt are finally answered--all three are badly burned, but it is up to Jessie to protect the boys as best she can and hope that somebody comes to rescue them.

When the massive metal tank filled with sticky brown molasses that rises up over her crowded North End neighborhood explodes, young Carmen must fight for her life, as a tsunami of molasses rushes through the streets.

Excited to board the Titanic with his aunt and little sister, ten-year-old George begins to explore the ill-fated ship's first-class storage cabin when the ship is rocked by a collision with an iceberg and begins to sink.