Adventure Fiction

Bodeen, S.A.  Shipwreck Island. Reluctantly moving to California with her newly blended family, Sarah struggles to adjust to life with her new stepmom and stepbrothers during a family vacation that abruptly ends when they are shipwrecked on a spooky deserted island. 184 pages.

Hobbs, Will. Take Me to the River. When North Carolina fourteen-year-old Dylan Sands joins his fifteen-year-old cousin Rio in running the Rio Grande River, they face a tropical storm and a fugitive kidnapper. 184 pages.

Jacobson, Jennifer. Small as an Elephant. Abandoned by his mother in an Acadia National Park campground, Jack tries to make his way back to Boston before anyone figures out what is going on, with only a small toy elephant for company. (Level U) 275 pages.

Kehret, Peg. Escaping the Giant Wave. When an earthquake creates a tsunami while thirteen-year-old Kyle is babysitting his sister during a family vacation at a Pacific Coast resort, he tries to save himself, his sister, and a boy who has bullied him for years. 153 pages.

Kennedy, Marlane. Disaster Strikes Series (Earthquake Shock, etc.)  When disaster strikes, the only thing you can count on is yourself! (Level R) 100-113 pages.

Key, Watt. Deep Water. When a dive off the coast of Alabama goes horribly wrong, twelve-year-old Julie and one of her father’s scuba clients struggle to survive after reaching an abandoned oil rig.

Lawrence, Iain. The Skeleton Tree.  Surviving a shipwreck along the Alaskan coast, twelve-year-old Chris struggles to find food and shelter alongside a prickly boy and a friendly raven as the salmon migration ends and dangerous cold weather sets in. (Level X) 278 pages.

Marsh, Katherine. Nowhere Boy.Fourteen-year-old Ahmed, a Syrian refugee, and thirteen-year-old Max, an American boy, are bound by a secret that sets them on the adventure of a lifetime.

Maddox, Jake. Blizzard! Owen and Gray get caught in a raging blizzard, and must try to find their way back to civilization. 65 pages.

Neale, Jonathon. Lost at Sea. A brother and sister recount their harrowing experiences as they sail a small yacht across the Atlantic Ocean, after their mentally unstable mother’s boyfriend is washed overboard. 101 pages.

Nesbit, Anne.  The Long Way Around. During a hiking trip with their parents in the mountains of California, cousins Owen, Vivian, and Amy are finally allowed to camp for one night at a little lake all on their own. But when a massive earthquake blocks their return path, there’s only one way home: the long way around, through a wilderness filled with fierce animals, raging rivers, unstable weather, and high passes. 239 pages.

Orr, Wendy. Nim’s Island. Nim loves her island home and the animals she shares it with even while her scientist father is away doing research, but trouble is on the way and a new e-mail friend could be the only one who can help. (Level R) 125 pages.

Neale, Jonathon. Lost at Sea. A brother and sister recount their harrowing experiences as they sail a small yacht across the Atlantic Ocean, after their mentally unstable mother’s boyfriend is washed overboard. 101 pages.

Patterson, James. Treasure Hunters. The Kidd siblings have grown up diving down to shipwrecks and traveling the world, helping their famous parents recover everything from swords to gold doubloons from the bottom of the ocean. But after their parents mysteriously disappear, the kids are suddenly thrust into the biggest treasure hunt of their lives. (Level T) 451 pages.

Paulsen, Gary. Hatchet. Thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson, haunted by his secret knowledge of his mother’s infidelity, is traveling by single-engine plane to visit his father for the first time since the divorce. When the plane crashes, killing the pilot, the sole survivor is Brian. (Level R) 189 pages.

Philbrick. W.R. Wild River. When a dam fails and rushing waters sweep away their adult supervisors, five middle schoolers on a white-water rafting adventure are left alone with few supplies and the opportunity to forge powerful bonds as well as develop dangerous disagreements. 189 pages.

Probst, Jeff. Stranded. Jane, Buzz, Carter, and Vanessa, aged nine to thirteen, are on a sailing trip in the South Pacific intended to help them bond in their newly-blended family when a massive storm strands them on a deserted island. (Series) 176 pages.

Stevenson, Robert Louie. Treasure Island. While going through the possessions of a deceased guest who owed them money, the mistress of the inn and her son find a treasure map that leads them to a pirate’s fortune. (Level Z) 221 pages.

Wilson, N.D. Leepike Ridge. While his widowed mother continues to search for him, eleven-year-old Tom Hammond, presumed dead after drifting away down a river, finds himself trapped in a series of underground caves with another survivor and a dog, and pursued by murderous treasure-hunters. (Level V) 224 pages.

Wolo, Mamle. Flying Through Water. Sena thinks he is helping his poverty-stricken family when a man calling himself Jack of Diamonds promises him a job and a better life, but he ends up in the clutches of human traffickers and must use all his resolve to escape and survive. 278 pages.