Books with author Mac Hernandez

After global warming and a second civil war devastated the former United States, two different societies rose from the ashes – the Union, a towering high-tech utopia, hugging the perimeter of the continent, and the devastated, untamed midsection known as the Ruins.Seventeen-year-old Evan Taylor has an easy, privileged life in the Union. What she doesn’t have is any idea what to do with the rest of her life. She only knows she wants to do something meaningful, to make a difference in the lives of others.When she’s kidnapped and taken into the Ruins as a pawn in a dispute involving her boyfriend, Bryce, her ideal world is turned upside down. What she learns while in the Ruins shakes her faith in everything she’s ever known, from Bryce, to her family, and even the Union itself.Now Evan must choose whether to stay with Cyrus, the sexy, resourceful survivor who believes she’s in the Ruins for a reason, or return to the only life she’s ever known. But when she stumbles upon a dangerous plot that threatens both worlds, her decision could tear her apart.The Union is a futuristic young adult romantic adventure.

It's winter break and 9-year-old Rainy Day is glad to get away from the stresses of school. Her break is interrupted when a neighborhood cat named Major Whiskers brings a mysterious note to her. The note warns her to BEWARE THE ELVES. With the help of her best friends, Haley and Kinsey, this sleuthing trio tries to solve the mystery of the note. This isn’t their first time solving a mystery brought to them by the mischievous cat. When Rainy and her family first moved to the town of Danvers, she was warned to Beware the Clowns. The three best friends don’t know who’s sending them these messages, but they do know when they get a BEWARE note, trouble isn’t too far away. Join them in their adventure to see why they should BEWARE THE ELVES.

Recovering from a near-fatal gunshot wound, eighteen-year-old Evan Taylor must find a way to stop the Uprising, an underground movement committed to destroying the Union, before her homeland is attacked.After spending the last four months in the Ruins trying to get back to the only girl he's ever loved, nineteen-year-old Cyrus needs to get past his jealousy over Evan's involvement with Bryce or risk losing her again. Together, Evan and Cyrus join with their friends to devise a plan to save both the Ruins and the Union, but when the pressure’s on, bickering and infighting threaten to undermine their goals. New information revealing a weakness in the Uprising is uncovered, forcing them to act quickly or risk losing everything.With the help of old friends and new allies they set out to make history, but it might just take a miracle for everyone to make it out alive.THE UPRISING is the third book in THE UNION series, a young adult romantic adventure set in the near future.

Fighting back is twice as hard when battling on two fronts.Living in an encampment in the Ruins, life is harsh for most Unis in the Resistance, but for Cyrus and the other Ruins survivors, it's just more of the same. While training for their ultimate mission to take down the Uprising, tragedy strikes, turning Evan's and Cyrus's world upside down. Before they can recover, they discover someone in their ranks is working against them.Facing tougher odds than they ever imagined, the group realizes the only hope they have of saving the world they know is to find help. When no one is above suspicion, even accomplishing everyday tasks is fraught with danger, but seeking out reinforcements could mean the end of the Resistance and all of them along with it.

They failed. Evan and Cyrus risked everything to keep the Uprising from attacking the unarmed Union, but something went terribly wrong. Evan’s home has been invaded by soldiers who are killing government officials and occupying the homes of her fellow citizens.Captured by the Uprising, Evan fights for her life and her sanity, desperate to escape so she can find Cyrus and her family.Reeling from an unexpected discovery, Cyrus is adrift until he uses his Uprising training to find a way to fight back against the invading force the only way he knows how.With the help of old friends and new, they will do whatever it takes to protect each other and those they love, even if it means sacrificing being together, their way of life, and even their very lives.

Ten-year-old Jose M. Hernandez watched the Apollo 17 moonwalks on his family s black and white television in 1972 and knew what he wanted to be when he grew up: an astronaut. Later that night he told his father and was surprised when his dad said, You can do this, m'ijo!Mr. Hernandez told his son that if he really wanted to become an astronaut, he would need to follow a simple, five-ingredient recipe to succeed: 1) decide what you want, 2) recognize how far you are from your goal, 3) draw a road map to get there, 4) prepare yourself with a good education, and 5) develop a good work ethic, always giving more than required. In the years to come, Jose would follow this recipe as he obtained undergraduate and master s degrees in electrical engineering. Adding his own ingredient, perseverance, he applied to NASA s astronaut program eleven times and was rejected each time! Finally, in 2004, he was selected to be part of the 19th class of US Astronauts. He achieved his dream in 2009 when he served as the flight engineer on the Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-128 fourteen-day mission to the International Space Station.In From Farmworker to Astronaut, Jose M. Hernandez recollects his parallel journeys, juxtaposing memories of his mission to the space station and childhood aspirations to reach the stars. His story is sure to motivate kids to set goals and reach for their own dreams.

Rainy Day moves to Danvers, MA and receives a mysterious note that reads: Beware the Clowns. When nine-year-old Rainy Day moves with her family to the mysterious Danvers, MA, she can’t help but think that her life has become boring. However, all of that changes when Rainy learns about the true and creepy history of Danvers: it was once a part of the Salem Witch Trials! As Rainy and her two new friends, Kinsey and Haley, dive deeper into Danvers’s history. They receive a mysterious note that reads Beware the Clowns. Will Rainy and new friends be able to get to the bottom of this newest mystery? Or will Danvers become too scary?

Heartbroken, grief-stricken, and wracked with guilt, seventeen-year-old Evan Taylor returned to the Union, leaving behind the boy she loved. Now, she and her friends must find a way to do the impossible – warn the citizens of the Union about an impending rebel attack without alerting the government and risking retaliation against her friends in the Ruins. When every move Evan makes is thwarted, it soon becomes clear she's being watched. Faced with a daily fight to stay one step ahead of her pursuers, she returns to the Ruins. But life in the Ruins has its own dangers, and soon she’s fighting a different battle – to stay alive long enough to discover the truth.

Sixteen-year-old Annarenee Stevens is the sole member of her family without a super power. The only time she feels powerful is in the pool. With her sights set on swimming for U.C. Berkeley, she’s ready to win it all at the State championship this year, securing her future.When the government ends the Genetically Enhanced Asset (GEA) program and relocates all the GEA families to San Diego, life is about to take an unexpected twist. With the end of the program, her hero brother now needs a college education too, meaning the only way Annarenee is getting into Berkeley is on a scholarship.Queen of her public school, Annarenee is just another zero at Superhero High, a school without any sports teams. Her dream is slipping through her fingers, no matter how tightly she clings to it. To make matters worse, super-hot superhero, Ren Gonzalez, is paying too much attention to her. The kind of attention that has Ren’s ex-girlfriend intent on making Annarenee’s life even more miserable.But when heroes begin disappearing, zeros and heroes will be forced to team up in order to solve the mystery. All they need to do is not kill each other first.