War Animals

A leading dog-blogger offers a tour of military working dogs' extraordinary training, heroic accomplishments, and the lasting impacts they have on those who work with them. Maria Goodavage here tells heartwarming stories of modern soldier dogs and the amazing bonds that develop between them and their handlers. Beyond tales of training, operations, retirement, and adoption into the families of fallen soldiers, Goodavage talks to leading dog-cognition experts about why dogs like nothing more than to be on a mission with a handler they trust.

Ramree Island, Burma, February, 1945 As World War Two raged like an inferno across the globe, Captain Ryoichi of the Imperial Japanese Army could feel the cancer growing inside of him, like the roots of a plant reaching into the darkness, clawing at his lungs, growing larger each day. Not wanting to end his life in a hospital bed, the Captain longed to die in battle; a glorious, honourable death. The British were coming and they would soon provide the opportunity for immortality. But after a terrible defeat, fate would lead the Captain and his men, most of them injured, near starving, and ...

The author of the heartwarming Craig and Fred tells the deeply emotional and inspiring story of the next phase of their lives together: working closely with prison inmates in Maine who raise and train puppies to become service dogs. Second Chances poignantly shows that no life is irredeemable and that each of us can make a difference if given the opportunity.

There are winged horses that live in the mirrors of Briar Hill hospital. In the mirrors that line its grand hallways, which once belonged to a princess. In those that reflect the elegant rooms, now filled with sick children. It is her secret. One morning, when Emmaline climbs over the wall of the hospital's abandoned gardens, she discovers something incredible: a white horse with broken wings has left the mirror-world and entered her own.

From the green countryside of England and the gray canyons of Wall Street come two unlikely heroes: one a pigeon and the other a soldier. Answering the call to serve in the war to end all wars, neither Cher Ami, the messenger bird, nor Charles Whittlesey, the army officer, can anticipate how their lives will briefly intersect in a chaotic battle in the forests of France, where their wills will be tested, their fates will be shaped, and their lives will emerge forever altered.

Klawde and Raj are back! As summer turns to fall, our favorite warlord cat remains in his pitiful exiled existence. But Raj has an even scarier prospect than cosmic exile: starting at a new school. If things didn't seem complicated enough, both cat and human are confronted with two figures from their past they did not expect to pop up in Elba, Oregon....

Her Korean name was Ah-Chim-Hai, meaning Flame-of-the-Morning. Af our-year-old chestnut-colored Mongolian racehorse with a white blaze down her face and three white stockings, she once amazed the crowds in Seoul with her remarkable speed. But the star racer was soon sold to an American marine and trained to carry heavy loads of artillery shells up and down steep hills under a barrage of bullets and bombs. The marines renamed her Reckless. Reckless soon proved fearless under fire, boldly trekking alone through the fiery gauntlet, exposed to explosions and shrapnel.

Thundergiver has never known a world beyond his pack’s solitude, but that all changes when he stumbles upon a legend that could alter the fate of their war-torn land: the myth of the Stone of Tranquility, a relic said to grant the power to end all conflict. Together with his quick-witted friend Tempest, Thundergiver embarks on a daring quest, deciphering ancient maps, uncovering secrets of the lost ShadowCaster tribe, and defying the dangers lurking in forbidden territories. As they inch closer to the truth, they realize they may be part of something much larger than themselves—a ...

From Newbery Honor author Kirby Larson comes the moving story of a young boy who, with a dad fighting in Europe and a sister working at the Higgins Boat factory, longs to have a dog of his own. Fish has a knack for inventing. His annoying neighbor, Olympia, has a knack for messing things up. But when his latest invention leads Fish to Liberty, a beautiful stray dog who needs a home, he and Olympia work together to rescue her.

When a body washes up outside Deception Cove, Washington, Jess Winslow - once a US Marine, now a trainee sheriff's deputy - is assigned to investigate. But when she realizes it's "Bad" Brock Boyd, a hometown celebrity lately fallen from grace, things become complicated. The last person seen with Boyd was her own boyfriend, Mason Burke. An ex-convict and newcomer in town, Mason is one of the only people who can understand Jess' haunting memories of her time in Afghanistan - and her love for Lucy, her devoted service dog.

In a realm painted gold by sun and storm, one lion’s roar weaves the law of survival and the melody of unity. He is King—a sovereign whose dawn proclaims dominion and whose mercy tempers might. Follow his journey through challenges of pride, purpose, and peril, from the first crack of dawn to the hush of starlit vigil. Discover a world where every heartbeat echoes in the grass, and every roar shapes the destiny of a kingdom. KING is the epic saga of leadership etched in claws and compassion. In the vast savanna, a mighty lion claims his throne—not through ruthless conquest alone, but ...

Gray is already bigger than all the other sharks in his clan, or shiver. He can’t stop growing, and when his hunger gets him into trouble, he’s banished from the reef. Luckily his best friend Barkley comes with him…but their hunt for food forces them to journey deep into the dangerous Big Blue. Then Gray and Barkley accidentally swim into Goblin Shiver territory. They have no choice but to join the shiver. They’ll help fight against the rival sharks of Razor Shiver in return for training, protection, and food. But who can Gray and Barkley trust?

At the outbreak of World War I, Joey, young Albert's beloved horse, is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France. He's soon caught up in enemy fire, and fate takes him on an extraordinary odyssey, serving on both sides before finding himself alone in no man's land. But Albert cannot forget Joey and, still not old enough to enlist, he embarks on a treacherous mission to the trenches to find him and bring him home.

In August 1939, 30-year-old Hetty Cartwright arrives at Lockwood Manor to oversee a natural history museum collection whose contents have been taken out of London for safekeeping. She is unprepared for the scale of protecting her charges from party guests, wild animals, the elements, the tyrannical Major Lockwood and Luftwaffe bombs. Most of all, she is unprepared for the beautiful and haunted Lucy Lockwood.

It’s 1940, and Joseph has been packed off to stay with Mrs F, a gruff woman with no great fondness for children. To Joseph’s amazement, she owns the rundown city zoo where Joseph meets Adonis, a huge silverback gorilla. Adonis is ferociously strong and dangerous, but Joseph finds he has an affinity with the lonely beast. But when the bombs begin to fall, it is up to Joseph to guard Adonis’ cage should it be damaged by a blast. Will Joseph be ready to pull the trigger if it comes to it?

In book six of the Klawde series, our feline warlord has begun his reign as emperor of the universe! His headquarters? The litterbox command center in the Banerjee family basement. But be careful what you wish for - as Klawde finds out, even the lord of all living matter has to follow the rules, even if they're designed to squelch evil dreams. What's more, plots to overthrow him are rampant, and Klawde needs allies. Who can he turn to?

Before he became an archmage to topple an empire, before he met the legendary Eradicator Xal, Saghir was born a free ratkin, living on the streets of Gateway, a perilous desert city at the edge of the Blasted Lands. Each month, the free laborers must pay their tithe in coin, or blood. Every ratkin in Saghir's tribe searches for something of value, lest their whole people be enslaved. Ruthless Corax, carnivorous scarabs, and worse infest the city. There are countless ways for a rat to die, and all it takes is one mistake. There are no second chances.

Love and hope often arrive in the strangest places and in the strangest ways. During his tour of duty in Iraq, Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman of the U.S. Marines endured the emotional stress common for those involved in bloody battles for freedom. Although the rules forbid pets, Kopelman and his comrades adopted an abandoned puppy left behind after the battle for Fallujah. The dog (named Lava) befriended the Marines and journalists, and was eventually smuggled out of Iraq.

Noah is sent out with a CIA agent to bring in information vital to National Security, but something goes wrong. Noah is wounded and captured, and the man they get back is nothing like the Camelot they knew. Allison finds herself forced to decide whether Noah can be salvaged at all, while Sarah and his team are left in the dark. Can they save him, or is this the very end of the line for Team Camelot...and for Noah Wolf?

She ran to save her life. Now the man she once betrayed is her only hope. Home to both the Resting Warrior Ranch and Pawsitive Connections, Garnet Bend, Montana is a small town full of big heroes. Anyone would want to live there. Anybody but Piper Matthews. She swore she’d never come back after what her father did to the town and what she did to Sheriff Lachlan Calloway. But desperation has a way of rewriting promises. With a baby in her arms and nowhere left to run, Piper returns to the only place that ever felt like home. Lachlan never expected to see Piper again—especially not with a...