As Brett watched, one hand slipped loose, then the other. Tom dropped, screaming, into the flames. His body, all red and bubbled, boiled up once to the surface, then was gone. PLAYER ONE HAS ONE LIFE REMAINING. GAME CONTINUES. Flaming fire rivers. Divebombing buzz-bugs. A cruel king waiting to do battle in his computer-generated castle. Video game whizzes Brett Wilder and Tom Houston think that new virtual reality game Rodomonte’s Revenge is awesome-until it takes over their minds. Then the game playing becomes dangerously real, and one wrong move could be the last.

Edited collection discusses the first historically important debate on what constitutes modern literature, which focused on two 16th century works: ORLANDO FURIOSO and GERUSALEMME LIBERATA.

Tag pointed his flashlight into the hole and peered inside. It was impossible. The inside was hollow, like an underwater cave. Something shiny lay near the opening and reflected the beam from his light. He reached inside and pulled it out. A pewter spoon. If he could have made a sound, he would have screamed with joy. He tucked the spoon in his vest pocket and reached into the hole again. A sharp stab of pain shot through his left hand. Something had hold of the tip of his thumb and was trying to yank him into the hole! Tag Jones knows that somewhere in the azure water and coral reef surrounding Bermuda lies a sunken ship full of treasure. El Patron sank in 1614, and Tag’s father died in a diving accident while looking for it. Tag won’t give up until he finds El Patron—and he’s not scared off by the local legend that says the ship is cursed. But when two tourists ask Tag and his friend Cowboy to retrieve some mysterious underwater parcels for them, the boys find themselves in dangerous water, way over their heads!

The rock wall above them was as smooth as polished black marble. There were no crevices and no ledges. They would have to fight for every inch. Rick looked at his friends. J.D. and Spud nodded silently. Rick stood up and started. His job would be to make the trail. Their job was to make sure he lived through it. High atop treacherous Devil’s Wall, The Rock Jockeys find much to explore. Sheer mountain cliffs. Wild woodland. Even a crashed B-17 bomber! But when they stumble upon a crew member’s diary—and underneath other eerie clues—the boys realize Devil’s Wall also holds a gruesome secret. That secret leaves The Rock Jockeys with a haunting question: If trapped on the mountain, would they do anything it takes to survive?

Thirteen-year-old Nikki Roberts tries to help two children trapped by a forest fire but finds her efforts blocked by poachers who want her to become one of the fire's victims.

When Jim Stanton’s family moves to Folsum, New Mexico, everyone but Jim is happy. The townspeople are just too polite, and they’re all eerily obedient to Jefferson Kincaid, the president of Folsum National Laboratories. Then Jim meets a mysterious girl who lives in the mountains, and she tells him a shocking secret. Something weird is going in Folsum, and it involves Jim’s own family.

Jesse Rodriguez has a pretty exciting job for a 13-year-old, working for his friend Buck at a small flight and skydiving school near Seattle. But he still can't wait to turn 16 and finally be old enough to make his first free-fall jump from a plane. Buck has been like a father to him ever since Jesse's dad died, and has made sure that Jesse picks up all he needs to know about skydiving while he does odd jobs around the airport. But Jesse and his friend Robin Waterford have also learned something very disturbing. Someone's been using the airport to smuggle members of a Central American drug cartel into the United States, and Jesse's worried that Buck is involved. Jesse and Robin find themselves in the middle of a dangerous international situation, and are forced to make their first jumps sooner than they ever expected!

Thirteen-year-old Ryan Swanner and his mom just moved to the mountain resort of Black Water Lake. The locals say that beneath the lake's seemingly calm surface, a giant, ancient creature lives. But Ryan's new friend Rita tells him that's just hogwash. She's not afraid to go fishing out on the lake, even though, oddly, the lake seems to be nearly empty of fish. One day Ryan sees a small animal fall from a tree into the lake--and never surface again. Something is in the lake. And it's alive....

A horrid shriek erupted from behind the stairs, and clammy, leathery wings exploded into Warren’s face. He slammed his eyes shut and beat the Gorgon off, hearing Rick’s sword swish through empty air. Warren dove back, rolled on his shoulder, and came up clear, his sword slicing in every direction… With his turned-up nose and pointy ears, Warren Trumbull looks a lot like a pig. Even in a world of evil warlocks and eight-foot cyclops, Warren is an oddball. He gets the worst assignments working for Prince Charming’s Damsel in Distress Rescue Agency: assignments like exterminating a Gorgon—a mean, green, scaly, creature with the power to turn humans to stone. Warren doesn’t want to become a rockhead. But he’ll need all his courage, and surprising secret weapon, to win his wildest battle ever!

“A few hundred yards ahead there is a long wooden bridge that the donkeys will be afraid to cross. But do not worry. After you cross the bridge, the ruins will not be far away.” Cousins Kate, Sam, and Shala quickly see why the donkeys are so afraid to cross the bridge— it’s old and rickety and spans a deep rocky canyon. But they have to get across it. They have to find Katie and Sam’s dad, an anthropologist who’s studying the ancient cliff dwellers at El Debajo. Dr. Crockett was supposed to meet the cousins at the airport in San Marcos, New Mexico, but he never showed up. They don’t know whether he has enemies who might have kidnapped him or whether there really is a curse on the ruins of El Debajo. But they’re about to find out.