On May 19, 1942, during WWII, a U-boat in the Gulf of Mexico stalked its prey fifty miles from New Orleans. The submarine set its sights on the freighter Heredia. Most onboard were merchant seamen, but there were also civilians, including the Downs family: Ray and Ina and their two children. Fast asleep in their berths, the Downs family had no idea that two torpedoes were heading their way. When the ship exploded, chaos ensued - and each family member had to find their own path to survival. This inspiring historical narrative tells the story of the Downs family as they struggle against sharks, hypothermia, drowning, and dehydration in their effort to survive the aftermath of this deadly attack off the American coast. For fans of Refugee and Unbroken.

Seventy-foot waves batter a torn life raft 250 miles out to sea in one of the world's most dangerous places, the Gulf Stream. Hanging on to the raft are three men: a Canadian, a Brit, and their captain, JP de Lutz, a dual citizen of the United States and France. Their capsized forty-seven-foot sailboat has disappeared below the tempestuous sea. The giant waves repeatedly toss the men out of their tiny vessel, and JP, with nine broken ribs, is hypothermic and on the verge of death.
Trying to reach these survivors before it's too late are four brave Coast Guardsmen battling hurricane-force winds in their Jayhawk helicopter. With waves reaching an astounding eighty feet, lowering the helicopter into such chaos will be extremely dangerous. The pilots wonder if they have a realistic chance of saving the sailors or even retrieving their own rescue swimmer. Soon the rescuers find themselves in almost as much trouble as the survivors, facing one life-and-death moment after the next against the towering seas.
Also caught in the storm are three other boats, each one in a Mayday situation. Of the ten people on these boats, only six will ever see land again.
Spellbinding, harrowing, and meticulously researched, "A Storm Too Soon" is a vivid, heart-pounding narrative of survival, the power of the human spirit, and one of the most incredible rescues ever attempted.

Sequel to the author's new book, The Waters Between Us (Lyons, March, 2021), about growing up loving the woods and fields and streams of his native Massachusetts and wanting since boyhood to live like a mountain man in the woods. Having acquired a forest cabin in the course of the first book, There's a Porcupine in my Outhouse details his further adventures hunting and fishing far from other humans. PRAISE FOR THERE'S A PORCUPINE IN MY OUTHOUSE "This is the way natural history should be taught-by a good storyteller with a sense of humor." -Audubon Magazine "Tougias recounts his experiences with candor and humor. He blends the adventures of Lewis and Clark with the vision of John Muir." -Cape Cod Times "A very funny memoir. Tougias learned from his cabin experience and today he is one of New England's leading nature writers." -Book Views "This is an honest book that asks us to admit our ignorance of much of the natural process and our fears of all those unknown things that 'go bump in the night' when we visit friends in the country. Tougias tempers each small disaster with good humor and a growing love for a world that he at first finds completely foreign, but which he ultimately realizes he cannot part with." -Bill Eddy, author of The Other Side of the World Here are Michael Tougias' adventures at a tiny A-frame cabin in Northern Vermont where he learns that nature has a way of becoming our instructor. This funny, honest, and personal account is the perfect book for anyone who loves the outdoors and loves to laugh.

On September 12, 1942, the RMS Laconia was attacked by a German submarine five hundred miles off the coast of western Africa. What the Germans didn't know was that they had just attacked their allies: locked below decks on the British ship were nearly 1,800 Italian prisoners of war. When the Germans realized their mistake, they made the unprecedented decision to rescue all survivors regardless of their nationality, attempting to declare the waters a neutral zone. But when an American bomber flew over the humanitarian effort, he was ordered to drop bombs, contributing to the deaths of many Italian POWs and British civilians in the process. Some of those who remained alive endured weeks adrift at sea, fighting for survival with little water or food, and in shark infested oceans. Suspenseful and informative, this incredible true account, which includes historic photographs, is a testament to the idea that compassion can rule over conflict-even at the cruel heights of war.

Good Night Coast Guard explores different types of boats and rescue vehicles such as Coast Guard cutters, helicopters and hoist operators, C-130, Coast Guard tall ships, speedy lifeboats, buoy tenders, uniforms, a search and rescue center, boatswain, skipper, inspectors, and more. Buckle your lifejackets, it's time to sail the high seas with the men and women of the US Coast Guard! Young readers embark on a thrilling adventure while learning about the guardians of the ocean. This book is part of the bestselling Good Night Our World series, which includes hundreds of titles exploring iconic locations and exciting themes.

Michael Tougias and Adam Gamble had good lives: married with two children each, nice homes in the suburbs, jobs that paid the bills, and frequent fishing trips out on the ocean. But those comfortable lives had cracks in them and soon they found themselves hit by a rogue wave of divorce, financial hardship, addiction and career upheaval. What kept them going – and helped them navigate the rough waters of middle age – was fishing and friendship. Alone on the ocean they not only learned some of the successful secrets of striped bass fishing but they were also brutally honest in their advice for each other. They began to see their time spent on Adam’s boat, the Scout, as a way to explore new ways of thinking and dreaming big. The two not only discovered ways forward but achieved goals far beyond what they thought possible.

"The Meadows were only five miles away from our suburban Massachusetts home, but to my brother Mark and me, these low-lying acres were in a different world. It was here that our passion for the outdoors blossomed. Filled with marsh, fields, ponds and streams, the area held infinite possibilities for two young explorers. And there was mystery too. The Connecticut River, New England's largest, flowed silently, forcefully, by the edge of the Meadows, like a living being that commanded respect by its very presence. We knew little about the river; we had never been on it in a boat, never fished it, and never swam in its dark waters. It was simply too big for us. In fact, the widest point on the river's entire 409-mile length is at the Meadows. To Mark and me it was an ocean--a bit frightening, but a powerful lure nevertheless. There was one June day in particular that put the Meadows and the river in my heart forever, probably the start of the journey that led me to my quest for a cabin in the woods." So begins Mike Tougias' memoir of growing up loving the woods and waters and the fields and fauna of Massachusetts.

At once an in-depth history of this pivotal war and a guide to the historical sites where the ambushes, raids, and battles took place, King Philip's War expands our understanding of American history and provides insight into the nature of colonial and ethnic wars in general. Through a careful reconstruction of events, first-person accounts, period illustrations, and maps, and by providing information on the exact locations of more than fifty battles, King Philip's War is useful as well as informative. Students of history, colonial war buffs, those interested in Native American history, and anyone who is curious about how this war affected a particular New England town, will find important insights into one of the most seminal events to shape the American mind and continent.

From the author of the Fall 2015 Disney movie The Finest Hours, the "thrilling and perfectly paced" (Booklist) story of the sinking and rescue of Bounty--the tall ship used in the classic 1962 movie Mutiny on the Bounty--which was caught in the path of Hurricane Sandy with sixteen aboard. On Thursday, October 25, 2012, Captain Robin Walbridge made the fateful decision to sail Bounty from New London, Connecticut, to St. Petersburg, Florida. Walbridge knew that a hurricane was forecast, yet he was determined to sail. The captain told the crew that anyone could leave the ship before it sailed. No one took the captain up on his offer. Four days into the voyage, Superstorm Sandy made an almost direct hit on the ship. A few hours later, the ship suddenly overturned ninety miles off the North Carolina coast in the "Graveyard of the Atlantic," sending the crew tumbling into an ocean filled with towering thirty-foot waves. The coast guard then launched one of the most complex and massive rescues in its history. In the uproar heard across American media in the days following, a single question persisted: Why did the captain decide to sail? Through hundreds of hours of interviews with the crew members and the coast guard, Michael J. Tougias and Douglas A. Campbell create an in-depth portrait of the enigmatic Captain Walbridge, his motivations, and what truly occurred aboard Bounty during those terrifying days at sea. "A white-knuckled, tragic adventure" (Richmond Times-Dispatch), Rescue of the Bounty is an unforgettable tale about the brutality of nature and the human will to survive.

At the Pilgrim's first Thanksgiving in 1621, chief among the honored guests was Massasoit, the sachem of the Wampanoag. Fifty-five years later, in 1676, colonial soldiers would walk through Plymouth with their horrible spoils of war: the severed head of Massasoits' son, King Philip, on a stake. Philip had just been shot at the end of a bloody conflict in which at least 10 percent of the colonists had been killed and half their towns destroyed. The Native Americans suffered even more in their pivotal struggle against the English. Less than a generation after King Philip's death, devastated by disease and famine and thousands slain or sold into slavery, the native peoples of New England were all but gone. Three hundred years later, their fight for freedom is all but erased from the history books.

King Philip's Indian War provides insight into a dark and formative period of America's past, being both an in-depth history and a guide to the sites where the great ambushes, raids, and bloody battles took place. What the colonists learned from the native warriors in the swamps and woods of New England would prove invaluable in their own fight for freedom 100 years later, and the colonist's retaliation for the war would become the model for how Americans would treat Native Americans for the next three centuries.

At once an in-depth history of this pivotal war and a guide to the historical sites where the ambushes, raids, and battles took place, King Philip's War expands our understanding of American history and provides insight into the nature of colonial and ethnic wars in general. Through a careful reconstruction of events, first-person accounts, period illustrations, and maps, and by providing information on the exact locations of more than fifty battles, King Philip's War is useful as well as informative. Students of history, colonial war buffs, those interested in Native American history, and anyone who is curious about how this war affected a particular New England town, will find important insights into one of the most seminal events to shape the American mind and continent.