New Releases by Theodore Taylor

From New York Times bestselling illustrator Theodore Taylor III comes a vibrant ode to street art, a picture book about a child discovering all of the beauty—and art—her new neighborhood has to offer. Shapes moving in every direction, letters weaving in and out, bright colors jumping off of the wall. It was like a language from another planet that only I could understand. Graffiti. In this bright, colorful, and movement-filled picture book Off the Wall, a young girl moves with her family from the big city to a small town. She feels odd and out of place until a stroll down the street hits her with echoes from home: vibrant graffiti splashed against the wall. But when it''s painted over that sense of belonging is lost, until an afternoon''s adventure shows her that street art can be found everywhere—as well as a sense of home. In his exceptional author-illustrated debut, Theodore Taylor III has crafted an ode to street art, a stunning celebration of a much-maligned art form and all the beauty it brings to a neighborhood.

"First-class . . . more than the biography of a great aviator and military leader. It also is a detailed and lively history of naval aviation." — The New York Times Air Adm. Marc Mitscher is a legend in military circles for developing an entirely new concept of war at sea. His skills as both a carrier tactician and genius for leading men rank him with the best World War II combat commanders. However, because Mitscher shunned publicity and destroyed his private papers shortly before his death in 1947, his accomplishments are not widely known. In this outstanding biography, Theodore Taylor traces the aviator''s brilliant career from its beginnings and makes clear the major role played by the admiral in developing the Navy''s air program, providing a lively and detailed history of the progress of naval aviation. "The likable personality and day by day achievements of Mitscher shine through to lift this above the run of the mill military biography." — Kirkus Reviews

This biography of America''s first African American naval aviator is a "compelling portrait of a quiet hero [and] the racial climate between 1926 and 1959" ( Booklist). "In the late 1940s, when every aspiring black pilot had heard of the army''s Tuskegee program, Jesse Leroy Brown set his sights on becoming a navy aviator. An outstanding student and top athlete, the 17-year-old''s ambition was met with a combination of incredulity and resistance. Yet, at a time when Jim Crow laws were rampant, Brown managed to break the color barrier to become the first black U.S. Navy pilot. Taylor puts his considerable narrative skills to good use in tracing Brown''s path from his youth in poverty-stricken Palmer''s Crossing, Miss., to his eventual induction into the heady and dangerous world of carrier aviation. Taylor based much of his research on interviews with those who knew Brown and on personal letters from more than a half-century ago [and] doesn''t skimp on the indignities Brown suffered. . . . An engaging and intimate glimpse of a young pioneer who desperately wanted to earn his aviator''s wings." — Publishers Weekly "More than a biography, this is a thrilling story of naval aviation and combat." — School Library Journal

"A comic about beats and aliens"--From form submitted by creator.

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When during World War II a freighter is bombed, a twelve-year-old white boy, blinded during the disaster, is stranded on an island with an old black man. The boy acquires courage and love from his old companion.

Available for the first time in a Yearling edition, the classic, inspiring story of a dog who triumphs against all odds, by the bestselling author of The Cay. Helen adored her beautiful golden Labrador from the first moment he was placed in her arms, a squirming fat sausage of creamy yellow fur. As her best friend, Friar Tuck waited daily for Helen to come home from school and play. He guarded her through the long, scary hours of the dark night. Twice he even saved her life. Now it''s Helen''s turn. No one can say exactly when Tuck began to go blind. Probably the light began to fail for him long before the alarming day when he raced after some cats and crashed through the screen door, apparently never seeing it. But from that day on, Tuck''s trouble--and how to cope with it--becomes the focus of Helen''s life. Together they fight the chain that holds him and threatens to break his spirit, until Helen comes up with a solution so new, so daring, there''s no way it can fail.

In 1945, when the Americans liberate the Bikini Atoll from the Japanese, 14-year-old Sorry Rinamu does not realize that the next year he will lead a desperate effort to save his island home from a much more deadly threat, in this long-out-of-print novel by the acclaimed author of "The Cay."

In 1942, America’s most crucial mission was to provide arms and supplies to our English and Russian allies. Theodore Taylor, who served in the merchant marines in World War II, tells the tragic tale of a convoy of 33 ships that sailed from Iceland to Russia in an effort to bring the Soviets needed tanks, trucks, airplanes, and ammunition. In vivid detail, Taylor follows one of the ships through the frigid waters of the Arctic as it battles Nazi bombers and submarines--and as its crew helplessly watches many of their companion ships perish in the mad dash to safe port.

This YA Western adventure imagines an alternate fate for the famous outlaw: " Readers will hang on anxiously and eagerly as the plot gallops [forward]" ( Publishers Weekly, starred review). William H. Bonney Jr., better known as Billy the Kid, isn''t afraid to take risks. But when a train passenger recognizes him in the middle of a heist near his hometown, it seems like the odds have finally caught up with him. Fed up with Billy''s bad ways, The Law sends its best man to bring him in: Sheriff Willis Monroe, Billy''s own cousin and former best friend. But Willis isn''t the only one on Billy''s tail. The Kid''s back-stabbing partners are hunting him, too—and a conniving posse wants Billy (and the sheriff!) dead. This fictional tale of real-life legend Billy the Kid imagines William Bonney''s fate had his life of crime taken a very different turn. This edition includes an author''s note about the real Billy the Kid.

Chip Clewt, known simply as the weirdo, lives like a hermit in the Powhatan Swamp, a National Wildlife Refuge that is at the center of a heated controversy between local hunters and environmentalists. A hunting ban on the Powhatan is about to expire. The environmentalists want to protect the wildlife; the hunters are oiling their guns. Then someone completely unexpected comes forward to spearhead the conservation effort--the weirdo. Includes a reader''s guide.

The year is 1868, and fourteen-year-old Alika and his younger brother, Sulu, are hunting for seals on an ice floe attached to their island in the Arctic. Suddenly the ice starts to shake, and they hear a loud crack--the terrible sound of the floe breaking free from land. The boys watch with horror as the dark expanse of water between the ice and the shore rapidly widens, and they start drifting south--away from their home, their family, and everything they''ve ever known. Throughout their six-month-long journey down the Greenland Strait, the brothers face bitter cold, starvation, and most frightening of all, vicious polar bears. But they still remain hopeful that one day they''ll be rescued. This thrilling new adventure story from bestselling author Theodore Taylor is a moving testament to the bond between brothers--and to the strength of the human spirit. Includes a map, a glossary of Inuit words and phrases, and an author''s note..

Ben and Teetoncey take to the sea--he, to find his brother, and she, to escape a forced return to England. But can they survive storms, harsh ship life, and a relentless pursuer?

In this first novel of a trilogy, eleven-year-old Ben rescues an English girl from a shipwreck off the Outer Banks of North Carolina; and, though she becomes part of his family, she never speaks.

In 1935, living at a lighthouse near San Francisco, a lonely nine-year-old boy inadvertently summons a magician who teaches him the secret of flying.

In bestselling novelist Taylor''s story, a 16-year-old boy must take charge of his family''s wildlife preserve while his parents are away. But the job gets harder when one of the preserve''s biggest tigers is kidnapped.

Evan Bryant, an eleven-year-old boy in 1914 whose strict father has little time for him, is delighted when his long-lost Grandfather Pentreath returns, relates his many sea adventures, and hobbles around like Evan who has a club foot. Reprint.

Vacationing on what they think is an uninhabited island, fifteen-year-old Peg and her father find their adventure turned into a fight for survival.

Fourteen-year-old Helen, her blind dog Friar Tuck, and her family face some dramatic challenges when they discover that the Korean boy they have adopted is deaf. Sequel to The Trouble with Tuck.

In a chilling tale of revenge and retribution, a father tracks the man responsible for the sexual abuse and murder of his daughter, a criminal protected by diplomatic immunity, family power and influence, and his own crafty ingenuity

To save her home, feisty teenage orphan Susan Carlisle makes a harrowing journey from Iowa to California to sell her sheep to gold miners and falls in love with Clay Carmer, in an adventure set in the 1850s.

When the freighter on which they are traveling is torpedoed by a German submarine during World War II, an adolescent white boy, blinded by a blow on the head, and an old black man are stranded on a tiny Caribbean island where the boy acquires a new kind of vision, courage, and love from his old companion.

The subject of this book is the sinking of the battleship Bismarck by the English navy.

An account of the June, 1942, air battle between American and Japanese forces which proved a decisive defeat for the Japanese and the turning point of the war in the Pacific.