Hyperion and the Great Balls of Fire (Heroes in Training Book 4) by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams

The action heats up for Zeus and his fellow Olympians in this blazing Heroes in Training tale.

Phew, it’s hot! Under the titan Hyperion’s rule, the sun is burning even brighter than normal and scorching everything in northern Greece—including the villagers! The Olympians are forced to play a sizzling “game” of Dodge the Sunbursts as Hyperion hurls giant fireballs that could fry them to pieces! Armed with some clues, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades set out to figure out why in the world Hyperion has been making things so hot. They also need to rescue Hera, who is still missing. Battling the extreme heat—and some fantastical and scary creatures, courtesy of their old foe Cronus—the boys are off on another epic adventure…and Zeus is one step closer to discovering his destiny.

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Heroes in Training by Joan Holub & Suzanne Williams 
Authors Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams deliver fun, adventures, and a few surprises as ten-year-old Olympians go on a journey of a lifetime to discover their true identities and defeat their Titan enemies.

Praise for Heroes in Training

"Readers will gobble this down and look for more, make no mythtake." ~ Kirkus

“This is a fun read, casting Zeus in the role of relatable kid, and there is a nice balance between his primary goal of survival and his sense of destiny and adventure. . . Share this title, and likely more to come, with those still too young for Percy Jackson’s adventures.” ~ School Library Journal

The Series

#1 Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom #2 Poseidon and the Sea of Fury #3 Hades and the Helm of Darkness #4 Hyperion and the Great Balls of Fire Aladdin Paperbacks (ages 6-9)

http://series.simonandschuster.com/Heroes-in-training  

Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom (Book 1)

After pulling a magical thunderbolt from a stone, ten-year-old Zeus goes on the adventure of a lifetime in this thrilling start to a brand-new series! The terrible Titans--merciless giants who enjoy snacking on humans--have dominated the earth and put the world into chaos. But their rule is about to be put to the test as a group of young Olympians discover their powers and prepare to righteously rule the universe.... Ten-year-old Zeus is mystified (and super-annoyed) by the fact that he keeps getting hit by lightening. Every. Single. Year. He also longs for adventure, as he has never been far from the cave where he grew up. Zeus gets his wish--and a lot more than he bargained for--when he is kidnapped by dangerous, giant Titans! In self-defense, he grabs the first thing he sees--an actual thunderbolt he pulls from a stone that is covered in mysterious markings. Zeus is the only one who can decipher the markings, and sets off on a quest to rescue his youthful fellow Olympians from the evil Cronus. Armed with his trusty thunderbolt (named Bolt, of course), Zeus is on an adventure of a lifetime--and a journey to fulfill his destiny as King of the Gods.

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Just This Once by Diana X. Dunn

FREE at Amazon >> Today to Aug. 10th!!!

Adopted by an international multi-governmental agency that doesn't officially exist, her only genuine identity is "F6" - the sixth female baby adopted into the program. Now she changes identities as often as other women change their shoes, moving through the world completing top-secret missions and keeping her distance.


A chance meeting with a handsome stranger tempts her to lower her guard. A second encounter turns up the heat until he finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation being conducted by one of F6's former lovers. Now F6 finds herself using her skills, training and multiple identities to help a friend in trouble. Something she has never done before; something she's prepared to do just this once.

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Excerpt!
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April 2120

Spring in the rebuilt city of New York felt just as magical as spring in New York should feel.  Older residents often grumbled about the city; many argued that the city had still not yet recovered properly from the fall of the Twin Towers that marked the very earliest stirrings of the Wars that would eventually follow.  But most modern day New Yorkers loved the city just the way it was.

The skyline had been forever altered by the Wars and the years of terrorist activity.  For a while most of the city had been too dangerous for all but the very bravest or desperate to venture into.  As the skyscrapers had tumbled or been abandoned, jobs and people had deserted the city and left most of it empty and forsaken.

Now the city was experiencing a rebirth as people and companies flooded back.  Property prices were suddenly racing upwards and abandoned buildings were being converted into luxury apartments at an astonishing rate.  For older residents, those that had chosen to make the city their home even during the worst times, the rebirth was a mixed blessing.

But today, as the birds sang in the replanted and newly budding trees and the traffic flowed smoothly with no hint of the jams that were sure to be a problem in the very near future, the city looked amazing.  The sidewalks teemed with young, healthy looking men and women in business suits, carrying MPPCs and briefcases presumably bulging with important papers.  Everyone seemed to be striding purposefully through the city.

As day turned to dusk, clothes designed for other pursuits replaced the business suits.   The beautiful people of the city were out in force once more, this time in short skirts and tight jeans, hair and makeup as extreme as they dared, now looking for love or romance rather than the next deal.

Of course a reborn and growing city also has to deal with growing pains, and New York was no exception.  Strictly enforced rules on identity cards, registered addresses, and required employment had cut down on the problems of homelessness and petty crime, but any big city would always have some level of street crime, no matter how hard the police and the government worked to prevent it.

At eight o’clock on a Friday evening a high-security door opened at a large apartment complex in the heart of the rebuilt city.  Three people stepped out from the door and made their way down the sidewalk.  They were clearly dressed for clubbing and it seemed likely, from their staggering walks and hysterical laughter that they had already started drinking or drug taking before they left home.

The two girls and one boy laughed and teased and flirted with one another as they made their way towards the bright lights of the club district.  Anyone watching would assume that they had all worked hard during the week and were determined to enjoy their weekend.  They wouldn’t have been far wrong.  The trio drew nearly everyone’s eyes as they made their way towards their favorite establishment.

All three were strikingly beautiful, but in very different ways.  They seemed to radiate youthful energy and an abundance of enthusiasm for living life to the fullest.