Akron Public Library

Martel's novel tells the story of Pi--short for Piscine--an unusual boy raised in a zoo in India. Pi's father decides to move the family to live in Canada and sell the animals to the great zoos of America. The ship taking them across the Pacific sinks and Pi finds himself the sole human survivor on a lifeboat with a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra with a broken leg and Bengal tiger called Richard Parker. Life of Pi brings together many themes including...

American media mogul Stephanie Gallo's daughter is kidnapped in Afghanistan by a terrorist group. When the group explains that they'll trade Gallo's daughter for Mustafa Khan, a top Al-Qaeda operative, the U.S. president calls in Navy SEAL turned covert Homeland Security operative Scot Harvath. Without back-up or resources, Harvath must sneak into Afghanistan's Policharki prison and not only bust out Khan, but also figure out a way to outsmart the...

"Ben Cowan and Bijah Catlow had been friends since they were boys. By the time they grew to manhood, Catlow had become an outlaw and Cowan a U.S. marshal. So when his old friend rode to Mexico to pull the biggest robbery of his career, it became Ben Cowan's job to hunt him down. While trailing Catlow south of the border, Ben meets Rosita Calderon. Intelligent and beautiful, her presence further complicates what is already a dangerous situation. While...

The story of how I, Julian Carter, and my precious two-year old son, Stephen, left Atlanta Georgia and found ourselves on a white sailboat, tossed about like a cork on a raging sea off of Australia's northern tip in 1963, is harrowing.

After recovering from a near fatal gunshot wound, teenage spy Alex Rider embarks on a new mission to stop a group of eco-terrorists from sabotaging the launch of the first outer space hotel.

Zach, Alice, and Poppy, friends from a Pennsylvania middle school who have long enjoyed acting out imaginary adventures with dolls and action figures, embark on a real-life quest to Ohio to bury a doll made from the ashes of a dead girl.

Will the Greek god Apollo, cast down to Earth in the pathetic mortal form of a teenager named Lester Papadopoulos, finally regain his place on Mount Olympus? Lester's demigod friends at Camp Jupiter just helped him survive attacks from bloodthirsty ghouls, an evil Roman king and his army of the undead, and the lethal emperors Caligula and Commodus. Now the former god and his demigod master Meg must follow a prophecy uncovered by Ella the harpy. Lester's...

Criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl has no memory of the fairy people and his dangerous enemy, Opal Koboi escapes from jail and is planning revenge. Criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl is back and so is his brilliant and dangerous enemy, Opal Koboi. At the start of the story, Artemis has no memory of the fairy people and has returned to his unlawful ways. In Berlin, he is preparing to steal a famous Impressionist painting from a German bank. He doesn't...

Barry's family tries to evacuate before Hurricane Katrina hits their home in New Orleans. But when Barry's little sister gets terribly sick, they're forced to stay home and wait out the storm. At first, Katrina doesn't seem to be as bad as predicted. But overnight the levees break, and Barry's world is literally torn apart. He's swept away by the floodwaters, away from his family. Can he survive the storm of the century -- alone?

Through Tanzania and Zanzibar, into the rainforests of Madagascar, and across the Indian Ocean to Indonesia and the legendary site of the 1883 Krakatoa explosion, husband-and-wife treasure-hunting team Sam and Remi Fargo and their ruthless opponents pursue the hunt for a relic--but only one can win. And the penalty for failure is death.