Books with author Theodore Taylor

This YA Western adventure imagines an alternate fate for the famous outlaw: “Readers will hang on anxiously and eagerly as the plot gallops [forward]” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). William H. Bonney Jr., better known as Billy the Kid, isn't afraid to take risks. But when a train passenger recognizes him in the middle of a heist near his hometown, it seems like the odds have finally caught up with him. Fed up with Billy's bad ways, The Law sends its best man to bring him in: Sheriff Willis Monroe, Billy's own cousin and former best friend. But Willis isn't the only one on Billy's tail. The Kid's back-stabbing partners are hunting him, too—and a conniving posse wants Billy (and the sheriff!) dead. This fictional tale of real-life legend Billy the Kid imagines William Bonney's fate had his life of crime taken a very different turn. This edition includes an author's note about the real Billy the Kid.

Uninhabited and remote, Sweet Friday Island rises out of the Sea of Cortez, the flattened top of an ancient mountain. Its rugged terrain makes it the perfect place for fifteen-year-old Peg Toland and her adventurous dad to take their favorite kind of vacation. But its idyllic isolation and wild landscape ultimately turn Sweet Friday Island into a terrifying and deadly trap. Inexorably forced into fighting for their lives Peg and her father are suddenly struggling as well with a question many of us pose but need never answer: Are we really capable of killing another human to protect someone we love?

In 1942, America’s most crucial mission was to provide arms and supplies to our English and Russian allies. Theodore Taylor, who served in the merchant marines in World War II, tells the tragic tale of a convoy of 33 ships that sailed from Iceland to Russia in an effort to bring the Soviets needed tanks, trucks, airplanes, and ammunition. In vivid detail, Taylor follows one of the ships through the frigid waters of the Arctic as it battles Nazi bombers and submarines—and as its crew helplessly watches many of their companion ships perish in the mad dash to safe port.

Chip Clewt, whom people have named the “weirdo,” is determined to protect the Powhatan swamp from the local hunters. “An eloquent debate pitting human and animal rights against each other is both informative and moving as this murder mystery/love story/environmental thriller weaves its uncommon spell. Deftly drawn characterizations, from the admirable to the loathsome, and an engrossing journalistic format are two of the many strong points that make this timely and compelling novel a winner.”--Publishers Weekly

They call Chip Clewt, who tracks bears, The Weirdo. But no one knows much about him. Only that he lives in the eerie swamp where Samantha Sanders found a body and where she saw another body get dumped.Finally, she meets The Weirdo, sees his scarred face, looks into his tortured soul, and becomes his friend. Together, they begin the nightmare search for the killer who has stalked innocent victims, through the murky waters and dangerous marshes of the swamp.

Jon Jeffers is the loneliest nine-year-old on earth. It's 1935, and he's stuck on a tiny rocky island off the coast of San Francisco with his mother and his lighthouse-keeper father. Jon longs for something more. If only he had a way to escape this forsaken pile of rocks, he could have some real adventures.Then one morning the irritable ghost of an ancient magician appears on the beach and offers—amazingly—to teach Jon to fly. Jon agrees, and at first flying seems to be the answer to his wildest dreams. But then he flies into some serious trouble. . . .From the acclaimed author of The Cay, here is a sweet, funny, and outrageous tale of a boy who gets his dearest wish—and then wishes he hadn't.

Twelve-year-old Jose Maldonado used to dream of becoming a fine artist. But this son of a poor Mexican farmer now focuses on survival, not art. After Jose's mother died, his father left to work in the United States, leaving Jose on his own in Mexico. When it's time for father and son to reunite, things go terribly wrong. Jose's attempt to cross the border is harrowing, and his stay at a migrant worker camp turns into a nightmare, forcing him to flee for his life. Hiding out in a church seems a wise thing to do--until the blood dripping from his wounded shoulder lands on a statue of Christ. Now everyone thinks the statue itself is bleeding. Jose's accidental "miracle" kick-starts a media frenzy--and threatens the future of an entire town. Theodore Taylor's riveting story of faith and desperation inspired the September 2003 Showtime movie The Maldonado Miracle, directed by Acadamy Award nominee Salma Hayek.