Adventure

Airman by Eoin Colfer
In the late nineteenth century, when Conor Broekhart discovers a conspiracy to overthrow the king, he is branded a traitor, imprisoned, and forced to mine for diamonds under brutal conditions while he plans a daring escape from Little Saltee prison by way of a flying machine that he must design, build, and, hardest of all, trust to carry him to safety.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Alden R. Carter
Although neither fifteen-year-old Mark Severson nor his diabetic cousin Randy are looking forward to the canoe trip that is a family rite of passage, they begin to enjoy themselves as they make their way through Minnesota's lake country until the trip becomes a fight for survival.

Beyond the Western Sea by Avi
Driven from their impoverished Irish village, fifteen-year-old Maura and her younger brother meet their landlord's runaway son in Liverpool while all three wait for a ship to America; their fates continue to intertwine on board ship and in the New World.

Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer
Reduced to begging and thievery in the streets of London, a 13 year old orphan disguises herself as a boy and connives her way onto a British warship set for a high sea adventure in search of pirates. Sequels

California Blue by David Klass
When seventeen-year-old John Rodgers discovers a new sub-species of butterfly that may necessitate closing the mill where his dying father works, he and his father find themselves on opposite sides of the environmental conflict.

Carpe Diem by Autumn Cornwell
Sixteen-year-old Vassar Spore's detailed plans for the next twenty years of her life are derailed when her bohemian grandmother insists that she join her in Southeast Asia for the summer, but as she writes a novel about her experiences, Vassar discovers new possibilities.

City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende
When fifteen-year-old Alexander Cold accompanies his individualistic grandmother on an expedition to find a humanoid Beast in the Amazon, he experiences ancient wonders and a supernatural world as he tries to avert disaster for the Indians. 1st of the Journey of the Jaguar and Eagle series.

Castaways of the Flying Dutchman by Brian Jacques
In 1620, a boy and his dog are rescued from the doomed ship, Flying Dutchman, by an angel who guides them in traveling the world, eternally helping those in great need. 1st in series.

Daughter of the Wind by Michael Cadnum
Three teens living in the brutal world of the Vikings find their fates are intertwined.

The Devil's Breath by David Gilman
When fifteen-year-old Max Gordon's environmentalist-adventurer father goes missing while working in Namibia and Max becomes the target of a would-be assassin at his school in England, he decides he must follow his father to Africa and find him before they both are killed.

The Door of No Return by Sarah Mussi
Sixteen-year-old Zac never believed his grandfather's tales about their enslaved ancestors being descended from an African king, but when his grandfather is murdered and the villains come after Zac, he sets out for Ghana to find King Baktu's long-lost treasure before the murderers do.

Downriver by Will Hobbs
Jessie and the other teens in her Outward Bound group dump their adult leader and try to run the white water of the Grand Canyon alone.

The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson
Tally befriends Karil, the crown prince, who would love nothing more than to have ordinary friends and attend a school like Delderton. When Karil's father is assassinated, it is up to Tally and her friends to help Karil escape the Nazis and the bleak future he has inherited

The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp by Richard Yancey
Through a series of dangerous and violent misadventures, teenage loser Alfred Kropp rescues King Arthur's legendary sword Excalibur from the forces of evil.

Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
Seventeen-year-old Richie Perry, just out of his Harlem high school, enlists in the Army in the summer of 1967 and spends a devastating year on active duty in Vietnam.

Far North by Will Hobbs
After the destruction of their floatplane, sixteen-year-old Gabe and his Dene friend, Raymond, struggle to survive a winter in the wilderness of the Northwest Territories.

Fire On the Wind by Linda Crew
The summer before her fourteenth birthday, a fierce forest fire rages throughout northwestern Oregon and threatens the logging camp where Storie and her family live.

Flight #116 is Down by Caroline Cooney (YA)
For Heidi Landseth, this was going to be another boring Saturday night at home, taking care of the family dogs. At 5:30 that evening she took one of the dogs for a walk. At 5:41 a passenger plane crashed in the woods behind her house. Heidi spent the next six hours helping to rescue the 100 survivors of flight #116.

Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick (M)
Max and Freak, two outcasts, bond together, especially after Max is kidnapped by Killer Kane.

Free Fall by Joyce Sweeney
Lost in a huge system of caves, four teenage boys begin to share their fears as they search desperately for a way out.

Galax-arena by Gillian Rubenstein
Kidnapped from Australia, three children are taken by rocket to Galax-arena to perform death-defying stunts for the amusements of the inhabitants of planet Vexak.

Gemini 7 by Jordan Cray
When the dream girl he meets on the Internet shows up as a real person, Jonah watches his totally exciting other life turn into a nightmare. First in a series.

Ghost Canoe by Will Hobbs
Fourteen-year-old Nathan, fishing with the Makah in the Pacific Northwest, finds himself holding a vital clue when a mysterious stranger comes to town looking for Spanish treasure.

The Girl in the Box by Ouida Sebestyen
Kidnapped and left in an underground room, Jackie tries to make contact with the outside world by writing messages and sending them through a slit in the door.

A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer
While journeying to Zimbabwe, eleven-year-old Nhamo struggles to escape drowning and starvation and in so doing comes close to the luminous world of the African spirits.

Graceling by Kristen Cashore
In a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared skills called Graces, Katsa struggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace, the Grace of killing, and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king.

Green Angel by Alice Hoffman
Green refuses to go to the city with her family, and instead is a witness to the city's sudden destruction. Alone and grieving, she must reach out to others to survive.

Hatchet / Brian’s Winter / Brian’s Return by Gary Paulsen
After a plane crash, thirteen-year-old Brian spends fifty-four days in the wilderness, learning to survive with only the aid of a hatchet given him by his mother, and learning also to survive his parents' divorce.

Holes by Louis Sachar (M)
Stanley Yelnats is sent to a wretched correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself.

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Daisy was sent to England to live with her relatives, but her father had no way of knowing that war would sweep over Europe, leaving Daisy alone with her cousins and no adults to help them.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place.

Icecore by Matt Whyman
Seventeen-year-old Englishman Carl Hobbes meant no harm when he hacked into Fort Knox's security system, but at Camp Twilight in the Arctic Circle, known as the Guantanamo Bay of the north, he is tortured to reveal information about a conspiracy of which he was never a part.

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell (YA)
Alone on an isolated California island, an Indian girl spends eighteen years surviving on her enormous courage and self-reliance.

Island of the Loons by Dayton O. Hyde
During the year he is held prisoner by an escaped convict on an uninhabited island in Lake Superior, a young boy watches his captor change from a desperate criminal to a gentler man absorbed in the abundant wildlife of the island

Interstellar Pig by William Slator (YA)
Sixteen-year-old Barney gets swept into a deadly board game with his strange new neighbors, unaware that the fate of Earth hangs in the balance.

Invitation to the Game by Monica Hughes (M)
Now that Lisse and her friends have graduated from school, they must join the ranks of the unemployed because in their future world most jobs are done by machines. Their lives look very bleak until they get an invitation to the game, a virtual reality game run by the government, then their lives really take off!

Jumping the Nail by Eve Bunting
When teenagers in a California coastal community challenge each other to "Jump the Nail"--leap from dangerous cliffs into the ocean--group pressure and manipulative relationships quickly drive the game out of control.

Keeper of the Winds by Jenna Solitaire
After the death of her last known relative, Jenna discovers a mysterious board in her attic and learns from Simon, who works for the Vatican, that she is a "Keeper," with powers and a destiny inherited from her grandmother.

The Kindling by Jennifer Armstrong (YA)
A virus has destroyed the adult population leaving teens and kids to survive on their own. What will they find when an older boy takes them to find a man called President?

Lionboy by Zizou Corder
Charlie Ashanti speaks English, French, Twi, Arabic, Latin, Greek, and Italian, but it is his ability to speak Cat that is the biggest help when he sets off to rescue his kidnapped parents. Sequels.

The Malifex by Steve Alton
In the Dorset, England, countryside on a family vacation, a video game fanatic reluctantly embarks on a quest to battle an ancient evil, aided by the daughter of a Wiccan and a man once apprenticed to Merlin.

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson
After the mutant Erasers abduct the youngest member of their group, the "birdkids," who are the result of genetic experimentation, take off in pursuit and find themselves struggling to understand their own origins and purpose. 1st in the Maximum Ride series.

Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale
Bobby Pendragon is a seemingly normal fourteen-year-old boy. He has a family, a home, and even Marley, his beloved dog. But there is something very special about Bobby. He is going to save the world. ... Before he can object, he is swept off to an alternate dimension known as Denduron, a territory inhabited by strange beings, ruled by a magical tyrant, and plagued by dangerous revolution. 1st of Pendragon series.

Memory Boy by Will Weaver
After Mt. Rainier explodes and civilization all but collapses, Miles knows he must help his family find their way from the dangerous cities to their Minnesota cabin.

The Navigator by Eoin McNamee
Owen has always been different, and not only because his father committed suicide, but he is not prepared for the knowledge that he has a mission to help the Wakeful--the custodians of time--to stop the Harsh from reversing the flow of time. Sequel is City of Time

Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen (YA)
Twelve-year-old Sarny’s brutal life as a slave becomes even more dangerous when a newly arrived slave offers to teach her how to read.

On Fortune's Wheel by Cynthia Voigt
Faced with the prospect of an unhappy life in the Kingdom, fourteen-year-old Birle accompanies a young runaway nobleman on a journey south and falls into slavery in the citadel of a cruel prince.

Out of the Wilderness by Deb Vanasse
Josh tries to endure living in the Alaskan wilderness with his father and half-brother Nathan, but Nathan's uncompromising reverence for nature and its wild creatures causes difficulties that reinforces Josh's determination to return to city life.

Overboard by Elizabeth Fama
When Emily's overcrowded ferry sinks, she thinks she is the only survivor, left alone to battle the cold, hunger, sharks, and fear, until she finds Isman.

Peak by Roland Smith
A fourteen-year-old boy attempts to be the youngest person to reach the top of Mount Everest.

Plague by Jean Ure
Three teenagers attempt to survive on their own when a devastating plague hits London.

The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner
In the late eighteenth-century, Sido, the twelve-year-old daughter of a self-indulgent marquis, and Yann, a fourteen-year-old Gypsy orphan raised to perform in a magic show, face a common enemy at the start of the French Revolution.

The Rogues by Jane Yolen
After his family is evicted from their Scottish farm, fifteen-year-old Roddy forms an unlikely friendship with a notorious rogue who helps him outwit a tyrant landlord in order to find a family treasure and make his way to America.

The Sight by Erin Hinter
n a troubled time for the Clans, three young cats, grandchildren of the legendary Firestar, begin their training as warriors and, in the course of many adventures, discover their true destiny. 1st in the Warriors: power of three series.

The Silent Storm by Sherry Garland (YA)
When Hurricane Berta hits, Alyssa is trapped on a shrimp boat, trying desperately to get home to her grandfather. By the time she reaches the house, her grandfather has been badly injured and is near death and Hurricane Berta is ravaging the island around them.

Silverfin by Charles Higson
This prequel to the adventures of James Bond, 007, introduces us to the young James when he's just started boarding school in England and is about to become involved in his first adventure. Blood Fever is next in the series.

So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld
Hunter Braque, a New York City teenager who is paid by corporations to spot what is "cool," combines his analytical skills with girlfriend Jen's creative talents to find a missing person and thwart a conspiracy directed at the heart of consumer culture.

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz
Reluctant teenage-spy Alex Rider, on a routine mission at the Wimbledon tennis championships, gets caught up in Chinese gangs, illegal nuclear weapons, and the suspect plans of his Russian host, General Sarov. 1st of the Alex Rider series.

Take It Easy by David Hill
Sent by his father on a five-day wilderness hike in the rugged New Zealand mountains, Rob and five other less-experienced teenagers must go it alone when their leader suddenly dies.

The Thief by Meg Whelan Turner
Gen flaunts his ingenuity as a thief and relishes the adventure which takes him to a remote temple of the gods where he will attempt to steal a precious stone.

The Thief Queen's Daughter by Haydon Elizabeth
Young Ven Polypheme is sent on a secret mission within the walls of the Gated City, a former penal colony in the land of Serendair, where he and his friends face kidnapping and even worse dangers from the ruthless Thief Queen, who is trying to reclaim her runaway daughter.

Thieves Til We Die by Stephen Cole
Teen geniuses Jonah, Motti, Con, Tye, and Patch, working for their mysterious benefactor, Coldhardt, are out to recover more stolen artefacts when one of their members is kidnapped, and they must add a rescue operation to the mission.

Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden
When Ellie and her friends return from camping in the outback, they find that their small Australian town was invaded. Now they must decide if they should stay hidden or surrender to be with their families.

Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikealsen
Cole's rage has landed him in court, and he opts for a Native American form of justice that will isolate him in Alaska. He may think he can escape from this prison, but the spirit bear has other plans. Sequel

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi (M)
When Charlotte Doyle boards the Seahawk in England to set sail to America to meet her family, she is worried about being the only passenger on board. However, by the time she is being held in the Seahawk's brigg waiting to be hanged for murder, Charlotte is beyond worry.

Twelve Travelers, Twenty Horses by Harriette Robinet
On the way to California with their kind new master, thirteen-year-old Jacob, his mother, and other slaves are caught up in adventures that include trying to stop a plot to help the South secede from the Union.

The Wanderer by Sharon Creech (M)
Thirteen-year-old Sophie wonders how she and five male relatives will get along crossing the Atlantic Ocean on a 45-foot boat, unaware that the large gap in her own past will be one major cause of tension.

White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean
Taken to Antarctica by the man she thinks of as her uncle for what she believes to be a vacation, Symone--a troubled fourteen year old--discovers that he is dangerously obsessed with seeking Symme's Hole, an opening that supposedly leads into the center of a hollow Earth.

The Wreckers by Lawrence Iain (M)
Shipwrecked after a vicious storm, fourteen-year-old John Spencer attempts to save his father and himself while also dealing with an evil secret about the English coastal town where they are stranded.

The Young Unicorns by Madeline L’Engle
A seventeen-year-old boy, former member of a tough New York gang, a blind and talented twelve-year-old musician, the Austin family, and Canon Tallis are among the key characters who become involved in a frightening and evil scheme relying on the ability of a refined laser to give complete power over people's minds.