Birdseye, Tom. Storm Mountain. Two thirteen-year-old cousins are trapped in a blizzard on the same treacherous mountain in the Cascades that claimed the lives of their world-famous, mountain-climber, twin fathers exactly two years earlier. 135 pages.
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.
Creech, Sharon. The Wanderer. Thirteen-year-old Sophie and her cousin Cody record their transatlantic crossing aboard the Wanderer, a forty-five foot sailboat, which, along with uncles and another cousin, is en route to visit their grandfather in England. (Level V) 305 pages.
Fama, Elizabeth. Overboard. Escaping from a sinking ferry in the waters off Sumatra, fourteen-year-old Emily fights for survival for herself and a young Indonesian boy, who draws courage from his quiet but firm Islamic faith. 158 pages.
Grant, Kate. Hide & Seek. In the remote mountains of Arizona where he lives with his mother, stepfather, and two sisters, fourteen-year-old Chase discovers two kidnapped boys and gets caught up in a dangerous adventure when he comes up with a plan to get them to safety. 230 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. Terror at Bottle Creek. When a hurricane hits the Gulf Coast, thirteen-year-old Cort is trapped in the lower Alabama wilderness with two other survivors and finds the skills he learned from his hunting and swamp lore expert father put to the ultimate test. 213 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.
Lacey, Josh. Island of Thieves. Tom goes with his Uncle Harvey to Peru, where they narrowly escape imprisonment and death as they hunt for buried treasure after tracking down a journal written by John Drake, a young relative of Sir Francis Drake, on a voyage to Lima in 1577. 228 pages.
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.
Mikaelsen, Ben. Jungle of Bones. When he is caught joyriding in a stolen car, Dylan is sent to stay with his uncle, but soon they are on the way to Papua New Guinea in search of a World War II fighter plane and Dylan learns that defiance is not a survival skill. 211 pages.
Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Roxie and the Hooligans. Roxie Warbler, the niece of a famous explorer, follows Uncle Dangerfoot’s advice on how to survive any crisis when she becomes stranded on an island with a gang of school bullies and a pair of murderous bank robbers. 115 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.
Newsome, Richard. The Billionaire’s Curse. Gerald Wilkins never considered himself a particularly exceptional thirteen-year-old. But that was before he inherited twenty billion pounds, a Caribbean island, a yacht, and three estates from a great-aunt he never knew. With this fortune, however, comes a letter. One from his great-aunt Geraldine. One that tells Gerald that she was murdered, and that it’s up to him to find out why. 344 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.
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.
Peterson, P.J. Wild River. Considered lazy and unathletic, twelve-year-old Ryan discovers a heroic side of himself when a kayak trip with his older brother goes horribly awry. 120 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.
Runholt, Susan. Adventure at Simba Hill. When fourteen-year-old best friends Kari and Lucas travel to an archaeological dig in Kenya with Kari’s uncle Geoff, they help expose a smuggling ring. 273 pages.
Smith, Roland. I, Q. Book 1, Independence Hall. Teenagers Q (Quest) and Angela go on tour with married rockers Blaze and Roger and, while in Philadelphia, become submerged in a world of danger when they discover the identity of Angela’s real mother, who is a former Secret Service agent. (Series) (Level Z) 302 pages.
Smith, Roland. Storm Runners. Twelve-year-old Chase Masters travels the country with his father, a “storm runner,” but he is tested in ways he never could have imagined when he and a new friend are caught in a hurricane near St. Petersburg, Florida. (Level U) 143 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.
Watson, Geoff. Edison’s Gold. Tom Edison and his friends become embroiled in a mystery involving his “double-great” grandfather’s inventions, a secret society, and a vendetta being carried out by a descendant of inventor Nikola Tesla. (Level T) 312 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.