This thrilling new series of books has everything middle school readers long for: action, adventure, danger, and young heroes! Great Escapes explores real historical events and shows children how kids just like them learn how to work together in order to change the world for the better. Historical figures are interwoven into the stories, offering readers the chance for further exploration on these people and their places in history. In Mount St. Helen's 1980: Fiery Eruption!, Alex and Wendy love exploring this beautiful volcano. But when the long-dormant volcano erupts, the two best friends must race to save others—and themselves.

The mountain exploded with the power of ten million tons of dynamite... Eleven-year-old Jessie Marlowe has grown up with the beautiful Mount St. Helens always in the background. She's hiked its winding trails, dived into its cold lakes, and fished for trout in its streams. Just looking at Mount St. Helens out her window made Jess feel calm, like it was watching over her somehow. Of course, she knew the mountain was a volcano...but not the active kind, not a volcano that could destroy and kill!Then Mount St. Helens explodes with unimaginable fury. Jess suddenly finds herself in the middle of the deadliest and most destructive volcanic event in U.S. history. Ash and rock are spewing everywhere. Can Jess escape in time?The newest book in the I Survived series will take readers into one of the most environmentally devastating events in recent U.S. history.

As plants, animals, and people have reclaimed Mount St. Helens over the last 20 years, the mountain remains a looming reminder of an event that forever changed the face of the Northwest. Essays and photos document the events that surrounded the eruption.

From his observation point just five miles from Mount St. Helens, geologist David Johnston said "This is it!" before his radio went dead. Johnston watched the volcano explode. His body was never found. During the violent eruption on May 18, 1980, the volcano released tons of rock and debris along with scorching steam and poisonous gas. Volcanic ash soared miles into the air, before covering roads and towns. Fifty-seven people died during the eruption, and it forever changed the landscape of the mountain. Author Carmen Bredeson examines the causes and effects of the Mount St. Helens eruption and gives firsthand stories from victims and survivors.

A riveting history of the Mount St. Helens eruption that will "long stand as a classic of descriptive narrative" (Simon Winchester). For months in early 1980, scientists, journalists, and nearby residents listened anxiously to rumblings from Mount St. Helens in southwestern Washington State. Still, no one was prepared when a cataclysmic eruption blew the top off of the mountain, laying waste to hundreds of square miles of land and killing fifty-seven people. Steve Olson interweaves vivid personal stories with the history, science, and economic forces that influenced the fates and futures of those around the volcano. Eruption delivers a spellbinding narrative of an event that changed the course of volcanic science, and an epic tale of our fraught relationship with the natural world.

May 18, 1980, 8:32 A.M.: An earthquake suddenly triggered an avalanche on Mount St. Helens, a volcano in southern Washington State. Minutes later, Mount St. Helens blew the top off its peak and exploded into the most devastating volcanic eruption in U.S. history. What caused the eruption? What was left when it ended? What did scientists learn in its aftermath? In this extraordinary photographic essay, Patricia Lauber details the Mount St. Helens eruption and the years following. Through this clear accurate account, readers of all ages will share the awe of the scientists who witnessed both the power of the volcano and the resiliency of life.

This is an epic account of volcano Mt. St. Helens' awesome display of raw-throated power; the heartbreak and anger of survivors whose lost loved ones were largely unaware that they were in danger, even 30 miles away; the thrill of scientific discovery; and, ultimately, the recovery of nature and healing of the human body and spirit.