The last word my mother ever said to me was, "Go." That was after I'd escaped the initial outbreak at my school. After I managed to find my mother and make my way home. After I thought I was safe. But when my mother is bitten by a zombie, and I am forced to flee into the apocalyptic wasteland of South Texas, I find that survival means more than just being able to be strong. It's about building bridges. Making connections. Finding friends. But will those friends help me save my life?

This is a biography of the British explorer Sir John Franklin. Theories - many wild - continue to abound on the fate of his final expedition, which set out for the Arctic in 1845 full of expectation but was never heard from again.

Since a deadly virus and the violence that followed wiped out his parents and most of his community, Finn has lived alone on the rugged coast with only his loyal dog Rowdy for company. He has stayed alive for two winters—hunting and fishing and trading food, and keeping out of sight of the Wilders, an armed and dangerous gang that controls the north, led by a ruthless man named Ramage. But Finn’s isolation is shattered when a girl runs onto the beach. Rose is a Siley—an asylum seeker—and she has escaped from Ramage, who had enslaved her and her younger sister, Kas. Rose is desperate, sick, and needs Finn’s help. Kas is still missing somewhere out in the bush. And Ramage wants the girls back—at any cost. ‘Tense and atmospheric...Mark Smith’s debut is assured, gripping and leaves you wanting more.’ Best Books for Younger Readers 2016, Sydney Morning Herald ‘It’s easy to see why Mark Smith’s dystopian thriller has been compared with John Marsden’s Tomorrow When the War Began. I barely came up for breath as the pages flew. So strap yourself in for a high action ride.’ Kids Book Review ‘A riveting story of survival that questions the prices of freedom and safety as well as the value of an individual life...A breakout new series full of romance, danger, and a surprisingly engaging world.’ STARRED Review, Kirkus Reviews ‘A solid debut.’ Publishers Weekly ‘It’s been suggested more than once that dystopian fiction has had its day...but The Road to Winter is a welcome sign that there’s still life in the genre.’ Armadillo

From The New York Times bestselling author of Prayers for Sale comes the moving and powerful story of a small town after a devastating avalanche, and the life changing effects it has on the people who live there Whiter Than Snow opens in 1920, on a spring afternoon in Swandyke, a small town near Colorado's Tenmile Range. Just moments after four o'clock, a large split of snow separates from Jubilee Mountain high above the tiny hamlet and hurtles down the rocky slope, enveloping everything in its path including nine young children who are walking home from school. But only four children survive. Whiter Than Snow takes you into the lives of each of these families: There's Lucy and Dolly Patch—two sisters, long estranged by a shocking betrayal. Joe Cobb, Swandyke's only black resident, whose love for his daughter Jane forces him to flee Alabama. There's Grace Foote, who hides secrets and scandal that belies her genteel façade. And Minder Evans, a civil war veteran who considers his cowardice his greatest sin. Finally, there's Essie Snowball, born Esther Schnable to conservative Jewish parents, but who now works as a prostitute and hides her child's parentage from all the world. Ultimately, each story serves as an allegory to the greater theme of the novel by echoing that fate, chance, and perhaps even divine providence, are all woven into the fabric of everyday life. And it's through each character's defining moment in his or her past that the reader understands how each child has become its parent's purpose for living. In the end, it's a novel of forgiveness, redemption, survival, faith and family.

Early on a gray November morning in 1941, a small Ukrainian town is overrun by the SS. Penned in with his fellow Jews, a father anxiously awaits word of his two sons, while a young woman, come to fetch her sweetheart away from the invaders, must confront new and harsh truths about those closest to her. At the same time, a German engineer, here to avoid a war he considers criminal, is faced with an even greater crime unfolding behind the lines and no one but himself to turn to. And in the midst of it all, a boy determined to survive must throw in his lot with strangers. As their stories weave together, each of these characters comes to know the compromises demanded by survival, the oppressive power of fear, and the possibility of courage in the face of terror.

Iréne gives the wealthy businessmen what they want, diving headfirst into the filthy river, thinking only of providing for her baby daughter, Marisa, as the men salivate over her soaked body emerging onto the bank. A young boy tries to befriend the reticent younger sister of the town's cruelest bully, only to discover the family betrayal behind her quiet countenance. Josefa, a young bride, is executed for murdering the man who raped her. Joy Castro's How Winter Began traces these and other characters as they seek compassion from each other and themselves. Thematically linked by the lives of women, especially Latinas, and their experiences of poverty and violence in a white-dominated, wealth-obsessed culture, How Winter Began is a delicately wrought collection of stories. The question at the heart of this riveting book is how or whether to trust one another after the rupture of betrayal.

The Graying of the Snow Betrayed by his sense and led on by his own curiosity Josh is dead set on completing this year's hunt. His senses tell him to flee but his inner skeptic assumes simple coincidence. Intending to enjoy the last of the fall woods he will find himself in the middle of winter. Feet of snow, glassed earth, and the eyes in the woods won't turn him away. Will his unwillingness to accept that they are not alone doom him and his hunting companions? Will he make it out with his sanity? Will he make it back to his wife and children? Is he strong enough to weather the storm?Three Seconds Without HopeKelsey is ready to prove herself. Given the opportunity of a lifetime, she embarks on a journey that is sure to shape the world. A mysterious infection around the Arctic Circle has the world in terrified suspense. In just ten days, thousands have perished as settlement after settlement has gone dark. No one knows how it spreads or even how it kills. Kelsey and nine other journalists are determined to break the press blackout. They must let the world know what is has happened and if things really are as bleak as they seem. Once on scene, she will discover that the origins of the contagion are far more sinister than she or any of her coworkers could ever have imagined. Kelsey will test her mettle against the most devastating disease ever encountered by humankind. Against all odds, she must discover and protect the truth at all costs. You can survive three weeks without foodThree days without waterThree hours without shelterThree minutes without airBut only three seconds without hope