Books published by publisher Twenty First Century Books

Prom is about more than corsages and boutonnieres, promposals and after-parties. It's an event that teens are claiming as a way not only to have fun with friends but to also express their creativity and their identities.Learn about the first gay and lesbian teen couples to insist on the legal right to bring their dates to prom. Discover how modern prom fashions are pushing the boundaries of what guys and girls can wear to the big night out. You'll also get tips from high school graduates about dealing with prom pressures—and how to protect your physical and emotional health while you celebrate.

In 2015 two powerful telescopes detected something physicists had been seeking for more than one hundred years―gravitational waves from the collision of two black holes. This announcement thrilled the scientific community. Since the eighteenth century, astronomers have predicted the existence of massive, invisible stars whose gravity would not let anything―even light―escape. In the twenty-first century, sophisticated technologies are bringing us closer to seeing black holes in action. Meet the scientists who first thought of black holes hundreds of years ago, and learn about contemporary astrophysicists whose work is radically shaping how we understand black holes, our universe, and how it originated.

- A stolen top-secret nuclear reactor- A young lawyer falsely accused of murder- A government project to build a quantum supercomputer- A secretive consultancy that can fix any problemAll connected by invisible strings, but who are the puppets and who is the puppeteer?When someone steals a top secret experimental nuclear reactor, the British intelligence services have no leads. Their hopes rest on a new quantum super computer, one capable of interpreting patterns in the oceans of intelligence data. There’s just the small challenge of building it.Gregory Jenson, CEO of ZAT Systems, is tasked by MI5 to create the computer, but ghosts in his past could thwart matters before he even begins. Young lawyer, Michael Adams, is given the task of helping Jenson, but he soon has problems of his own.And they’ll soon learn that a hidden player wants to use the new system for their own plans – someone incredibly well-informed, and prepared to go to any lengths to achieve their goals.And if they succeed, the recovery of the nuclear reactor will be the least of everyone’s problems.

Some true crimes reveal themselves in bits and pieces over time. One such case is the Florida School for Boys, a.k.a. the Dozier School, a place where―rather than reforming the children in their care―school officials tortured, raped, and killed them. Opened in 1900, the school closed in 2011 after a Department of Justice investigation substantiated allegations of routine beatings and killings made by about 100 survivors. Thus far, forensic anthropologist Dr. Erin Kimmerle and her team from the University of South Florida have uncovered fifty-five sets of human remains. Follow this story of institutional abuse, the brave survivors who spoke their truth, and the scientists and others who brought it to light.

New York, December 8, 1980: The announcement shocked the world. Beatles founder and legendary musician John Lennon had been murdered in front of his New York home. With no warning, a lone gunman opened fire, shooting Lennon in the back just as Lennon returned from a recording session with his wife, Yoko Ono. Husband, father of two, cultural icon, and hero to millions, Lennon was dead. Around the globe, people mourned the loss of a man who had stood for peace, a man who had given so much joy to the world through his gift of music. No one had seen it coming…except one man--Mark David Chapman, Lennon's assassin. What drove this former Beatles fan to commit such a terrible act? Follow the lives of both Lennon and Chapman, learn about the political and cultural settings in which both grew up, and trace--step by excruciating step--the final moments of John Lennon's life.

What would you have worn if you lived during the Civil War era? It depends on who you were! For example, upper-class women wore tight corsets, bustles, and wide hoop skirts to fancy balls. The layers weighed almost 30 pounds (14 kilograms)! For everyday, whether at home or nursing soldiers, women put on multiple layers of simple fabrics. Some daredevils sported women's trousers―called Bloomers―to make a statement on women's rights. Read more about wartime fashions of the 1860s―from ankle boots to parasols and tiaras―in this fascinating book!

A rapper spits rhymes into a microphone. A DJ scratches a record back and forth against a turntable needle. Fans' feet stomp along to a stiff beat. These are the sounds of hip-hop. Hip-hop music busted out of New York City in the 1970s. Many young African Americans found their voices after stepping up to the mic. In the decades afterward, rappers and DJs took over the airwaves and transformed American music. In the twenty-first century, hip-hop is a global sensation. Learn what inspired hip-hop's earliest rappers to start rhyming over beats, as well as the stories behind hip-hop legends such as Run-D.M.C., 2Pac, Lauryn Hill, and Jay-Z. Follow the creativity and the rivalries that have fueled everything from party raps to songs about social struggles. And find out how you can add your own sounds to the mix!