Childrens Earth Sciences

We hide in shadows. Our planet is lost. We are the last humans, and we must go home. Two thousand years ago, aliens destroyed Earth. Our fleets shattered. Billions died. The last humans fled a burning planet, heading to the stars. Today we are still refugees. Hungry. Afraid. Our enemies hunt us everywhere. So we hide. On distant asteroids. In rundown space stations. In deep caves on frozen worlds. And we dream. Of green hills. Blue skies. Golden fields. We dream of Earth. And for the first time, we have hope.

Critically acclaimed author Alastair Reynolds holds a well-deserved place “among the leaders of the hard-science space opera renaissance." ( Publishers Weekly). In Blue Remembered Earth, Geoffrey Akinya wants nothing more than to study the elephants of the Amboseli basin. But when his space-explorer grandmother dies, secrets come to light and Geoffrey is dispatched to the Moon to protect the family name - and prevent an impending catastrophe.

After their epic journey across Europe, Ayla and Jondalar have reached his home, the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii, the old stone-age settlement in the region known today as southwest France. Jondalar's family greet him warmly, but they are initially wary of the beautiful young woman he has brought back, with her strange accent and her tame wolf and horses.

Ayla, one of the most remarkable and beloved heroines in contemporary fiction, continues to explore the world and the people around her with curiosity, insight, and, above all, courage. As the story opens, Ayla, Jondalar, and their infant daughter, Jonayla, are living with the Zelandonii in the Ninth Cave - a shelter of stone. Ayla has been chosen as an acolyte and has embarked on the arduous task of training to become a spiritual leader.

From the small coastal town of Senjan, notorious for its pirates, a young woman sets out to find vengeance for her lost family. That same spring, from the wealthy city-state of Seressa, famous for its canals and lagoon, come two very different people: a young artist traveling to the dangerous east to paint the grand khalif at his request - and possibly to do more - and a fiercely intelligent, angry woman posing as a doctor's wife but sent by Seressa as a spy.

Ayla and Jondalar set out on horseback across the windswept grasslands of Ice Age Europe. To the hunter gatherers of their world - who have never seen tame animals - Ayla and Jondalar appear enigmatic and frightening.

I'm Aang—and this is the tale of my journey through the Earth Kingdom. I traveled there with my friends Katara and Sokka to find an Earthbending teacher. I'm not sure why, but we ran into trouble almost everywhere we went. We got chased by Prince Zuko's sister, Azula, and got caught in a sinking library. Did I mention that Appa got kidnapped by Sandbenders? There were definitely some scary moments...but I can't complain about getting stuck in the Cave of Two Lovers with Katara! All in a day's work for the Avatar, right?

The basilisks. Giant serpents from deep space. Their true name is unknown. Their homeworld is cloaked in shadow. But one thing is certain: They're killers. And they vow to kill us all.

Earth burns. After generations in exile, we returned to our long-lost planet. Scarred. Haunted. Survivors. We - the last humans - are finally home. But our enemies still crave our blood. Seven alien species unite. Seven fleets bombard our planet. Seven armies invade our beautiful world. They have one goal: To kill us all. We refuse to lose Earth again. We will resist. We will fight for every hill, every valley, every stone, and blade of grass. We will defend our planet. At any cost. Together, we will raise our voices. We will sing the song of Earth. We will tell the enemy: Earth is ours!

From the author of Apocalyptic Planet, an unsparing, vivid, revelatory travelogue through prehistory that traces the arrival of the First People in North America 20,000 years ago and the artifacts that enable us to imagine their lives and fates. This book upends our notions of where these people came from and who they were.

I'm Toph. After my father found out that I'd been competing in Earthbending tournaments, he put me under constant surveillance! So I left home. Now I'm traveling through the Earth Kingdom with Aang—he's the Avatar—and his friends Katara and Sokka, on Aang's sky bison, Appa. I'm teaching Earthbending to Aang, and man, do I have my work cut out for me! Even though we've had our differences, it's kind of nice knowing these guys will always have my back and point me in the right direction when I can't feel which way to go.

I am Azula, daughter of the Fire Lord Ozai, and I plan to one day rule the Fire Nation—and the world. But first I have to deal with my good-for-nothing brother, Prince Zuko. Well, he was good for nothing, until he led me to the Avatar! I headed to the Earth Kingdom, where, with the help of Mai and Ty Lee, we trached down the Avatar and his ragtag band. I engaged in a fierce battle with the Avatar himself! I lost that fight, but he should be forewarned: He has not seen the last of Princess Azula.

I am Prince Zuko. After being betrayed by my wicked sister, Azula, Uncle Iroh and I have sought new lives in the Earth Kingdom. It is humbling to wander as a refugee, but it has also opened my eyes to the pain the Fire Nation has inflicted on the world—as well as on me. On one hand I am proud to be a prince of the Fire Nation, but on the other hand I feel very ashamed. What is my destiny? Is it to turn my back on the Fire Nation and start anew, or is it to restore my honor and earn back my rightful place as the future Fire Lord? I have yet to find out.

'm Katara. I'm traveling through the Earth Kingdom with my brother, Sokka, and Aang, the Avatar. After Aang and I studied Waterbending at the North Pole, we set off to find him an Earthbending teacher. The journey has been kind of rough on all of us. I'm having trouble getting along with Aang's new Earthbending teacher, Toph; Aang's struggling with his Earthbending lessons; and we're being chased not only by Prince Zuko, but his sister, Princess Azula, too! But I know we'll make it through this, as long as we all stick together!

Coyote Peterson's Brave Adventures: Wild Animals in a Wild World chronicles some of the wildest encounters Coyote Peterson has had over the course of his travels.

I am Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, and I'm the "plan guy" for Team Avatar! Even though I am not a bender, I'm still an awesome fighter with my trusty boomerang. The Avatar and my sister Katara are depending on me to get them safely through the Earth Kingdom, and it has not been easy. I've had to deal with fierce badger- moles, an evil Fire Nation princess, and an Earth King who refuses to acknowledge that there is a war going on! Still, I'm giving it my best shot. After all, the fate of the world is in our hands.

Rock band Wanderlust is about to hit it big, guitarist Dave Kendall is sure of that. They're playing better venues, in front of bigger crowds - and the people showing up at the after parties are increasingly good-looking and cool. Some even radiate power, like "Master" Jeffries, the tall, saturnine man who seems to have some sort of weird control over Dave's fellow bandmates.

Meredith Gale has to make contact with the Architect before the Adversary’s agent, the transformed Abernathy, reaches her and ruins the millennia of planning designed to save the Earth. In order to accomplish this, she and her ragtag band of friends have to unify the scattered survivors of the multiverse to oppose the Adversary. Along the way, new allies will be made while new opponents do their best to stop her. If she fails, not only will the last of humanity be wiped away, but the Earth won't survive the collapse of the universe.

The basilisks, cruel alien serpents, attacked our world. They bombed us. Hunted us. Butchered us without pity. But now we will be the hunters. We will assemble a fleet. We will cross the vastness of space. And for the first time, we will strike the enemy on his own soil. It's a time for courage. A time for heroes. We will no longer hide in bunkers. We will no longer die like sheep. Freedom will be won with blood and fire. Freedom will be the legacy of Earth. We are the last humans. And we will win!

We are the last humans. We are hunted. We are refugees. We must return to Earth. The alien scorpions attack us across the galaxy. They butcher millions. Humans are now an endangered species. But we have not given up. We still have a few starships. We still have some hope. And we have a map home. On Earth, we can be free again. On Earth, we can stand tall. On Earth, we can rebuild what we have lost. Earth is but an echo, calling from beyond the darkness. We will answer her call. We will find our lost world. We will defeat our enemies. We will rise again!