Tom Durwood

Fly along with Ruby, Sarra, Isoke and other young heroines as they take to the skies to save their families. Nine scenarios, nine heroines, nine lessons in flight. Gia travels from Manhattan's Lower East Side to the Aleutian Islands to capture one of the most mysterious warplanes of all time - the Mitsubishi A6M Zero. Young Yi-Tai Jo falls in love with the homely, misunderstood X-1 rocket jet. Heartbroken at X's failure to break the speed of sound, she may have a solution. One morning, bratty Anke has a bitter spat with her sister, Romy. Yet when Romy is kidnapped, Anke is the one who can save her - using an old war-kite to glide to the villain's tower. Can she navigate gliding through the Black Forest and save Romy? Ship-salvager's daughter Sarra defies a garrison to save Father from Rome's wrath. Can her home-made balloon win the day? Author and Teacher Tom Durwood offers a collection of nine stories to challenge young readers. Katniss Everdeen meets October Sky. Nine adventures set in key moments of aviation history. Historical fiction featuring remarkable aircraft and singular heroines. For young adults and readers of all ages. With historical commentary by aviation scholars Tim Grove, Anne Millbrook, Michael Quetting and others. "Tom Durwood is the real thing." -- Joe Weber, Rules of Engagement, Dancing with the Dragon"Wonderful reads ... happy to recommend "-- Diane Donovan, Editor, Bookwatch"Highly original ... stories about more than planes." -- Zunaira Fatima Rajpoot, book reviewer, Visiting Professor"These are brilliant, engrossing stories ...: -- Karan Thakur, Goodreads reviewer

A collection of five historical fiction adventure stories. Young heroines find themselves at turning points in history. Faced with colossal problems, they use math to find real-world solutions. How will their quick thinking and problem-solving direct the course of history? A master of young adult historical fiction, adventure, and mystery writing, Tom Durwood gives a fresh look at some of history's pivotal moments-from a mathematical perspective STEM meets literary finesse with his usual flair for intrigue, suspense, and immersive dialogue. In his latest collection of short stories, smart girls take on buried secrets, villains, tanks, mysteries, coded messages, and political upheaval to save their people.We must get girls to enjoy mathematics and to be artists in that field. We need brilliant minds, women and men, of different social classes, ethnicities and schools of thought ... We must teach mathematics from different points of view and different perspectives, as Tom has done in this collection of stories. -- Sandra Uve, Author "SuperMujeres, SuperInventoras," from her Foreword"Stories, mystery and math go well together . . . a welcome addition." -Jeannine Atkins, author of Grasping Mysteries: Girls Who Loved Math

A collection of five historical fiction adventure stories, the second installment in the "Rubi Pi Adventure Series" to follow The Adventures of Rubi Pi and the Geometry Girls. Young heroines find themselves at turning points in history. Faced with colossal problems, they use math to find real-world solutions. How will their quick thinking and problem-solving direct the course of history? A master of young adult historical fiction, adventure, and mystery writing, Tom Durwood gives a fresh look at some of history's pivotal moments-from a mathematical perspective STEM meets literary finesse with his usual flair for intrigue, suspense, and immersive dialogue. In his latest collection of short stories, smart girls take on gambling, bandits, swordplay, probability, and Bayes' Theorem In this outstanding collection, Tom addresses the chronic problem of our young women dropping out of STEM studies. His stories lend adventure to scientific thinking. (Tanzeela Siddique, Math Instructor)

Author and teacher Tom Durwood's new installment of richly illustrated historical fiction, The Illustrated Colonials, brings us an unconventional look at the American Revolution. Six wealthy kids from around the globe join the Bostonian cause, finding love and treachery along the path to liberty in three successive novellas of global empirical literature. BOOK THREE: SARATOGAThe Colonials continue their resolve to aid the global cause of brotherhood and natural rights, no matter the cost. In the concluding book of The Illustrated Colonials series, they learn that these ideas of liberty and equality bring unexpected consequences. Disinherited by his father and transformed from a 'roly-poly prince' into a lean, tough-minded rifleman, Mahmoud crosses the Atlantic. Two men follow his trail: his protector, Kace, and the assassin Taquin. Meanwhile, Will is able to finance Shay's far-reaching gambit - one that gathers Colonial alliances with Dutch merchants, Catherine the Great, the Ottoman Admiralty, and Chinese seafaring cartels. It all comes to a head at the Battle of Saratoga, where lessons from military history and a case of mistaken identity lead to a surprising outcome.

Author and teacher Tom Durwood's new installment of richly illustrated historical fiction, The Illustrated Colonials, brings us an unconventional look at the American Revolution. Six wealthy kids from around the globe join the Bostonian cause, finding love and treachery along the path to liberty in three successive novellas of global empirical literature.BOOK TWO: HOME FRONTSOur emboldened young Colonials leave their school to face treachery and change in their homelands. They enter the tumultuous landscapes of 1776 ready to fight for their beliefs. Little do they know how high the cost will be. The Colonials return home with a passion to elevate their people, and to further the global cause of freedom. One by one, they find opportunities to do exactly that, but not without repercussion. Back in China, Jiayi Mei Ying is sent into the hills of Jinan by her family as punishment for her rebellious attitude. She is determined to spread the message of Bostonians like Thomas Paine.

Author and teacher Tom Durwood's new installment of richly illustrated historical fiction, The Illustrated Colonials, brings us an unconventional look at the American Revolution. Six wealthy kids from around the globe join the Bostonian cause, finding love and treachery along the path to liberty in three successive novellas of global empirical literature. BOOK ONE: THE PACTOur six young protagonists arrive at an unusual school in the Alsace forest in the northern lowlands of the French Alps: Will O., betrayed by his family of Dutch traders, is the youngest of the company and may hold the secret to Colonial victory across the Atlantic. Gilbert, the dashing and cynical French Dragoon is seeking purpose in a greater cause. They are joined by China's moody and unpredictable Grand Canal princess, Jiayi Mei Ying, and Sheyndil, a young farm girl on mission for Catherine the Great of Russia. Leo, a wayward Baron-to-be, and Prince Mahmoud of the Ottoman empire round out the motley crew. Together, this lively band finds purpose in harsh lessons learned in the unprecedented global events surrounding the American Revolutionary War. They find resolve in one another, and the 'Colonials' will need all their resources to face the gathering threat from a nest of monarchists.

Heroes coming of age ... and changing history. Poison and pistols, thieves and treachery, bandits and naval battles, opium addicts and mysterious Caliphs and love triangles-readers will find it all in this richly illustrated collection of historical fiction short stories from Tom Durwood, literature instructor and author of Kid Lit, The Illustrated Boatman's Daughter, Teddy's Tantrum, and more. Young protagonists take on overwhelming obstacles in a wide range of historical eras. Spectacular full-color artwork by an international cast of rising artists brings these characters and their perils to life. In these pages, you will take part in a violent battle over succession in the Benin kingdoms, meet a young clerk who gets pulled into a murderous plot in 17th century Amsterdam, witness revenge in a cowboy saloon, and much more. Enter a world of history's most treasured settings, ranging from the Golden Age of Sail to the cowboy west. Readers of Louis L'Amour and Robert E. Howard will find themselves in familiar territory. In addition to action-packed prose, each short story concludes with an afterword providing details and historical context for the characters, time setting, and environment in which the story takes place.

A new retelling of the worst moment of one of our very best presidents. In the fall of 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt lost his temper. Someone had shot up the border town of Brownsville, Texas, where the all-black 25th Infantry had recently been stationed. Multiple hearings into the raid incident dragged on, without resolution, so Roosevelt impulsively settled the matter himself. This epic outburst turned into a national drama that would last over four years and ruin over a hundred lives. Half a century later, a writer named John D. Weaver pointed to a photograph in the family album and wondered where it had been taken. "Some Negro soldiers shot up the town," she explained, "and Teddy Roosevelt kicked them out of the Army." That fleeting remark set him on a quest over two decades long to dig up the truth about what had happened in Brownsville and bring justice to the men of the 25th Infantry. Weaver found a story long buried by the giant reputation of "TR." One hundred and sixty-seven men of the all-black 25th Infantry had indeed been dismissed without a trial after a midnight raid in the border town of Brownsville. What is more, Weaver found that Roosevelt carried out a vendetta against the troops of the 25th Infantry, alongside of whom he had fought in Cuba, hiring private investigators to coerce "confessions" and gather the flimsiest evidence against them. Historian Lewis Gould called it "one of the most glaring miscarriages of justice in American history." With the support of his wife, Harriett, Weaver uncovered all aspects of the entire episode and published a book, causing the U. S. Army to take another look at the whole episode, ultimately issuing an apology to the men of the 25th Infantry and awarded the sole surviving battalion member back pay-almost 70 years later Teddy's Tantrum is the first chronicle of the entire Brownsville story, treating Weaver's work and the troops' exoneration as an equal part of the narrative. Original scholarship with the support of leading scholars to help interpret the many aspects, roots, and consequences of the tantrum provides an account of John D. Weaver's early career and his two-decade campaign on behalf of the men of the 25th Infantry.

We are surrounded by narratives, in fiction and in our everyday lives. In this colorful collection of ideas, the author argues that understanding the components of our favorite children's stories can lead to a lifetime of critical thinking. Beginning with the elements of the universal coming-of-age narrative, "Kid Lit" shows young readers and general readers alike how to recognize story structure, class, gender, symbolism, trauma and Orientalism in children's narratives. Of value to all teachers, students, librarians, readers, literature lovers, and moviegoers. Tom Durwood is the best English instructor I have seen in my thirty-two years of teaching. -- Professor Patrick Murray, Valley Forge Military College