A young Jewish boy escapes the ghetto and finds a group of resistance fighters in the forests of Poland, and he must determine if he has what it takes to survive the Nazis and fight back.

Originally not wanting to come to Chicago, young Oscar Starling finds himself not only in the middle of the city, but trying to survive when the town is ablaze.

In July, 1916, Chet Roscow is fascinated by news accounts of the great white shark said to be attacking people along the New Jersey shore not far from his home, but when he goes swimming in Matawan Creek he discovers the truth of the stories.

"The snow came down faster than train crews could clear the tracks, piling up in drifts 20 feet high. At the Wellington train depot in the Cascade Mountains, two trains sat stranded, blocked in by snow slides to the east and west. Some passengers braved the storm to hike off the mountain, but many had no choice but to wait out the storm. But the storm didn't stop. One day passed, then two, three...six days. The snow turned to rain. Then, just after...

When the massive metal tank filled with sticky brown molasses that rises up over her crowded North End neighborhood explodes, young Carmen must fight for her life, as a tsunami of molasses rushes through the streets.