Books published by publisher Thunderbolt Publishing

Judo Boy is an adventure story for boys built around the ancient traditions of Judo. Rod Mitchell wants to fight his own battles. After being beaten and humiliated by the school bully and his gang, Rod is determined to fight back. Hearing about Judo from his friend, Mark Takahashi, a Nisei (Japanese-American), Rod joins the Judo school and is soon deep in a strange and fascinating new world.To his surprise Rod learns that Judo is, first of all, a sport with a strong and inspiring code of sportsmanship. Next he finds that Judo teaches courtesy, respect, and discipline as well as technique. Then, and most difficult of all for the fiery-tempered Rod, he discovers that the best thing a Judoist can do when a fight is starting is to walk away.Plenty of action, both on and off the Judo mat, keep this story of Rod Mitchell's self-development in Judo exciting. Based on accurate Judo data, it provides an original and valuable view of a new world of sport for boys.About the Author: (From the dust jacket) "JOHN BALL, JR., is the author of two other books for boys, OPERATION SPRINGBOARD and SPACEMASTER 1, and of EDWARDS: FLIGHT TEST CENTER OF THE U.S.A.F. Pilot, journalist, and specialist in the field of Japanese culture in the United States, Mr. Ball has written books and articles on aviation, music, sociology, and adventure, and mysteries. A member of the Judo Black Belt Federation of the U.S.A., he has cultivated his musical hobby of playing the Japanese samisen." Now Ball is best known for mystery novels involving the African-American police detective Virgil Tibbs. Tibbs was introduced in the 1965 novel IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, which won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel from the Mystery Writers of America and was made into an Oscar-winning film of the same name. Ball's departure from the mystery genre was a bestselling what-if political thriller THE FIRST TEAM.

Mayfield was the typical college town. Nothing too unusual ever happened there until a mysterious comet was suddenly observed by the scientists on College Hill.And then one day the modified engine on Ken Maddox's car began overheating mysteriously. By morning it didn't run at all.Art's Garage, local headquarters for hot-rodders, was soon so full of cars that wouldn't run, that Ken's science club began working in the garage after school. It didn't take long for the club to discover that all the moving parts on these stalled cars had fused together. Soon all machinery had stopped in Mayfield. There was no longer any light or power anywhere. This mysterious creeping paralysis was spreading.The copper-yellow glow of the comet seemed to have brought the whole world to a grinding halt. Airplanes, trains, generators and heavy machinery were immobilized. Finally man was left with only a few primitive tools and communication became possible only by means of amateur radio. In the resulting chaos parts of Mayfield were burned and looted by hunger-crazed mobs that stole and killed as they advanced.Here is science fiction at its thrilling best. A startling and thought-provoking book that shows how human nature might react to catastrophe. THE YEAR WHEN STARDUST FELL is a juvenile science fiction novel, published first in 1958, by Raymond F. Jones (author of THIS ISLAND EARTH) with cover illustration by James Heugh and endpaper illustration by Alex Schomburg. It was one of the books in the Winston Science Fiction series.

Chester Pawling, keenly interested in space travel, is invited to work at a base in the South Pacific where the great scientist, Dr. Havensson, is conducting highly secret experiments. That is just the beginning of a grand adventure that fulfils Chester’s dream of traveling into space. But it is not simple or safe. A rival national group has launched a rocket ship and a dangerous space race has begun. Chester, who is physically handicapped, gets more than one chance to prove that he is as capable as any other member of the crew.OPERATION SPRINGBOARD is a juvenile science fiction novel (published first in 1958) by John Ball. Ball is best known for mystery novels involving the African-American police detective Virgil Tibbs. Tibbs was introduced in the 1965 novel IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, which won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel from the Mystery Writers of America and was made into an Oscar-winning film of the same name. Ball's departure from the mystery genre was a bestselling what-if political thriller THE FIRST TEAM. Mr. Ball was also a member of the Aviation Space Writers Association and served for a time as the public relations director of the Institute of Aerospace Sciences. His interest in and knowledge of aviation and space add a sense of authenticity to OPERATION SPRINGBOARD that was not always present in the young adult science fiction of the period.

Armed with only his grandfather’s coin and a fake ID, sixteen-year-old Neil Ericson is desperate to join the Air Force like his grandfather before him. A flip of that coin instead launches Neil into an academy onboard Space City beyond the moon. His first day on board, Neil befriends Riagan Byrne and together they take on the challenge of field exams set on desolate planets and the Academy Games, which are rife with serpent hawks capable of gutting them if they miss a step. One instructor has already remarked that in a few rare instances, particularly undesirable students are launched into outer space. A joke. Right?Despite the danger, Neil thinks he’s finally found a home and friends. Plus, he attracts the attention of the beautiful Maellyn Travena, even though his ability to talk to girls consists of noting that the moon is shrinking on their way to Mars. She probably thinks he’s an idiot now.But traitors within Space City are attempting to smuggle away its newest and most prized piece of tech to the Dahaka, a blood-eyed warring alien race. After stumbling into the plot, Neil is forced to risk the friendships and home he’s gained because if the traitors succeed, Space City will end up a husk, and he’ll be dead or stranded millions of miles from Earth.Jared Austin is a young adult science fiction author who lives in the Rocket City — Huntsville, Alabama. In Space City and the books in the series to follow, he hopes to show and inspire his daughter and son, as well as all of his readers, that science and technology are not dull subjects, but gateways to a brighter, exciting future.

Being the LOG of his adventures aboard divers FRIGATES; SLOOPS OF WAR; and other FIGHTING CRAFT of the UNITED STATES NAVY; together with an account of his captivity in, and escape from, the Islands of the BERMUDAS, during the late WAR with GREAT BRITAIN, 1812-1815.Wherein may be discovered to those of a NAUTICAL mind, sundry time-honored NAVAL CUSTOMS, and the ROUTINE observed aboard UNITED STATES MEN OF WAR. To the ADVENTUROUS, a recounting of gallant deeds of IRON men in WOODEN ships.MIDSHIPMAN DAVY JONES is a gripping, dramatic story of a boy midshipman during the War of 1812. Boys of twelve and fourteen were transplanted from civil life to become officers on our men o' war.The story is historically accurate in every detail. All naval battles, all ships, equipment, customs, rigging, etc., have been painstakingly checked for accuracy.Captain Raymond J. Toner USN (1908-1986) was born in Chicago. He attended the American Academy of Art in Chicago, as well as the Art Institute of Chicago. He also attended the United States Naval Academy Preparatory School, Annapolis, Maryland. During World War II he served as commander of ships on escort duty in the Atlantic and later transferred to the Pacific, where he commanded ships at Tarawa, Okinawa, Iwo Jima, the Philippines and other areas. During a typhoon in 1944 his ship rescued survivors from three destroyers. While on peacetime duty, Toner, who passed a special examination to qualify for a Tilden Tech diploma, earned bachelor and master’s degrees from Northwestern University, where he later taught. He also served in the Korean War, retiring in 1965 after 39 years in the Navy.

Summer meant freedom. An Escape from academic responsibilities.In this collection of tales, Escape becomes personal for some of the Space City Preparatory Academy students.Nico has created a flying Venice sim to explore, but when he discovers invisible monsters on the prowl, and a classmate hacks the sim as a prank, he finds surviving to the end a precarious prospect. Trini is reluctant to assist her aunt in handling an infectious disease outbreak among the natives on the planet Letos, but a near fatal encounter with what was believed to be a mythical creature forces her to re-examine her perspective. When his father is seriously injured during a hunting trip on a remote exomoon, it is up to Jiro to locate help, a dicey prospect when two rogue aliens pick up their trail. Dirk and Arielle believe they are in for a nice weekend hike until an ambitious town official wants to frame them for a crime they didn't commit during their summer-abroad diplomat training program. Cade hopes to enter the dangerous Tefnot sub race on Araxia, only to be sold into slavery for his troubles.For these six, Escape means not just survival, but choosing the futures they want, no matter the odds.Jared Austin is a young adult science fiction author who lives in the Rocket City — Huntsville, Alabama. In Space City and the books in the series to follow, he hopes to show and inspire his daughter and son, as well as all of his readers, that science and technology are not dull subjects, but gateways to a brighter, exciting future.

Lieutenant John Marshall Gamble has the distinction of being the only Marine officer in American history to command a U.S. ship in combat. Gamble is placed in command of a captured prize ship by Captain David Porter of the USS Essex during the famous raid by the Essex on the British whaling fleet in the Pacific during the War of 1812. Lt. Gamble fights the ship to capture another British whaler. He is then left in command of several prize ships at Nooaheeva, a tropical South Pacific island in the Marquesas, when the Essex leaves to look for more British ships. That is only the beginning of Gamble’s thrilling adventures that include mutiny, battles with the island tribes and extreme hardship in escaping across the South Pacific.Captain Raymond J. Toner USN (1908-1986) was born in Chicago. He attended the American Academy of Art in Chicago, as well as the Art Institute of Chicago. He also attended the United States Naval Academy Preparatory School, Annapolis, Maryland. During World War II he served as commander of ships on escort duty in the Atlantic and later transferred to the Pacific, where he commanded ships at Tarawa, Okinawa, Iwo Jima, the Philippines and other areas. During a typhoon in 1944 his ship rescued survivors from three destroyers. While on peacetime duty, Toner, who passed a special examination to qualify for a Tilden Tech diploma, earned bachelor and master’s degrees from Northwestern University, where he later taught. He also served in the Korean War, retiring in 1965 after 39 years in the Navy.

Four teen-agers find a time-ship on a lonely stretch of shore. It has just brought two travelers-in-time from the future. When they leave the ship, Clive, Mark, Carol and Jill climb in. The ship starts off and they are carried on through the centuries at breathless speed until it comes to rest in A.D. 2260 and they step out into an unrecognizable England.First the sea was pushed back to make room for the ever-increasing population, then cultivation was carried out in layers, with fields rising in tiers like giants' skyscrapers. The people are governed by an enormous electronic brain. The inhabitants of this extraordinary world plan to keep the children for ever, as "curiosities from the past". But the four escape and find their way to the time-ship. But the time-ship is not programed properly, and they overshoot their own era and return to 1960 B.C., coming to rest in the middle of a swamp inhabited by men of the Stone Age.These primitives are almost the last of their kind, for already Bronze Age warriors with superior weapons are overrunning them, and the children watch with awe a battle between the two opposing forces.Paul Capon (1912-1969) was a British novelist of considerable reputation. He had over twenty novels to his credit and counted film editing and script writing as part of his experience. He traveled extensively in Europe and made hobbies of chess, book-collecting and swimming.

With the galaxy at war, worlds on the fringes of civilization are easy targets for fortune-hunters and outlaws. One such frontier world is the planet Asterima. Orphans on that world are sent to a remote island until the age of sixteen, when a flying machine comes to take them away. David, one of the kids on that island, has many questions. "Where did we come from? How did we get here? Why is a year 340 days?" His trusted guardians have always provided answers, and he has usually believed them. But David is fourteen now, less than two years away from his own mandatory departure, and the answers to his questions are beginning not to add up. "Where are the kids taken when they turn sixteen? Why are they never heard from again? Why do they have to go away in the first place? Why do the men in the flying machines carry guns? "David started building wings because he wanted to fly. Now he builds them for another purpose--to fly away from the island before men with guns come for him. Will two years be enough time to perfect his wings and learn to fly? Or will the flying machine come early for him, as it did for another kid who asked questions and didn't believe the answers?Nelli Burk is a retired biology teacher. She derives inspiration from real life and from the scientific literature, as well as from the SF&F literature and media and from her own imagination. Other creative interests include knitting, costume construction, and folk dancing.

“Growing Up Hummingbird” is an enchanting look at the first two weeks in a hummingbird’s life. From hatching the eggs to outgrowing the nest and taking flight, your toddler will love to flip through the colorful pages and read along with the magnificent images, as two baby hummingbirds grow into their own.This is a picture book created specifically for young children to be viewed on the Nook Color, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, PC, or Mac.This book contains 12 photos for ages 1 and up!**Please Note: This picture book contains high-resolution color images and is designed to be viewed on a Nook Color, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, PC, or Mac. It has been created to be viewed in portrait orientation. Displaying this book on a grayscale device, like the regular Kindle or Nook, may result in some image degradation.