Young Adult Booklists

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Adventure and Survival

Middle School

Avi. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. J Avi, JPB Avi, CASS (BK.) JFIC Avi
Thirteen-year-old Charlotte Doyle leaves England a pampered girl who wants to be a lady, and arrives in America a sailor and resourceful young woman.
Cooney, Caroline B. Flash Fire. J Cooney, C., JPB Cooney, C., YA PBK Cooney, C.
Teens Danna and Hall Press and the neighbor kids, home alone, struggle to save what's most important when a wildfire rages out of control in their California canyon.
Cooney, Caroline B. Flight #116 Is Down. J Cooney, C. , JPB Cooney, C., YA PBK Cooney, C.
When a 747 crashes on her family's estate, Heidi and the teen paramedic first to answer her 911 call work desperately to save as many lives as they can.
Corder, Zizou. Lionboy. J Corder, Z., CASS (BK.) JFIC Corder, Z., CD (BK.) JFIC Corder, Z.
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 the rescue his kidnapped parents.
Creech, Sharon. The Wanderer. J Creech, S., JPB Creech, S., CASS (BK.) JFIC Creech, S.
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.
Fama, Elizabeth. Overboard. J Fama, E.
When fourteen-year-old Emily runs away from Sumatra to meet her uncle on a nearby island, the ferry she takes sinks, leaving her to try to swim to shore without a life jacket.
George, Jean Craighead. Julie of the Wolves. J George, J., JPB George, J., CASS (BK.) JFIC George, J., CD (BK.) JFIC George, J.
Running from an arranged marriage, thirteen-year-old Julie survives on the North Slope of Alaska by joining a wolf pack.
George, Jean Craighead. My Side of the Mountain. J George, J., JPB George, J., CASS (BK.) JFIC George, J., CD (BK.) JFIC George, J.
Taking only a pocketknife, Sam Gribley not only survives but enjoys a year living off the land in the Catskill Mountains.
.George, Jean Craighead. The Talking Earth. J George, J., JPB George, J., CASS (BK.) JFIC George, J.
Native American Billie Wind, always skeptical, comes to understand her grandfather's beliefs when she must make it alone during and after a wildfire in the Everglades.
Hobbs, Will. J. Downriver. Hobbs, W., CASS (BK.) JFIC Hobbs, W., CD (BK.) JFIC Hobbs, W., YA PBK Hobbs, W.
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.
Hobbs, Will. Far North. J Hobbs, W., JPB Hobbs, W., CD (BK.) JFIC Hobbs, W.
Sixteen-year-old Gabe and his Dene roommate Raymond are all alone in the frigid wilds of Canada after their plane crashes and Raymond's uncle dies.
Horowitz, Anthony. Stormbreaker. J Horowitz, A., JPB Horowitz, A., CASS (BK.) JFIC Horowitz, A.
Fourteen-year-old Alex had no idea his guardian, Uncle Ian, was a spy, but when threatened with life in an orphanage, Alex takes over his murdered uncle's Stormbreaker mission. Further Alex Ryder adventures include Point Blank, Skeleton Key, Eagle Strike, and Scorpia.
Mazer, Harry. Snow Bound. JPB Mazer, H.
After spoiled Tony picks up hitchhiker Cynthia, he loses the road and wrecks the car in heavy snow. When no one comes to help, the two teens realize they must rescue themselves.
Myers, Edward. Climb or Die. J Myers, E., JPB Myers, E.
Their parents injured in a car accident, "jock" Danielle and her "nerdy" brother Jake must work together to climb a mountain for help.
O'Dell, Scott. Black Star, Bright Dawn. JPB O'Dell, S.
Teen Bright Dawn and her lead dog, Black Star, substituting for Dawn's injured father, run the Iditarod.
Patneaude, David. The Last Man's Reward. J Patneaude, D., JPB Patneaude, D.
When five competitive friends agree that the last of them living in temporary housing will win Willie Mays' rookie card, none of them dream that retrieving the card from its hiding place might be fatal.
Paulsen, Gary. Hatchet. J Paulsen, G., JPB Paulsen, G., CASS (BK.) JFIC Paulsen, G.
Brian Robeson has only his wits and a hatchet when plane and pilot are lost in a crash in the Canadian wilderness.
Paulsen, Gary. Brian's Winter. J Paulsen, G., JPB Paulsen, G., CASS (BK.) JFIC Paulsen, G.
In this alternate ending to Hatchet, learn what Brian might have done had he not been rescued after two months but spent a winter in the wild.
Paulsen, Gary. Brian's Hunt. J Paulsen, G.
Back in the wilderness Brian feels is home, he rescues a wounded dog and instinctively goes with it in search of the trouble he knows he must confront.
Rees, Celia. Pirates! The True and Remarkable Adventures of Minerva Sharpe and Nancy Kington, Girl Pirates. J Rees, C.
After Nancy kills the overseer about to rape Minerva and is threatened with a forced marriage to a cruel and evil man, she and Minerva flee, soon becoming pirates.
Ruckman, Ivy. Night of the Twisters. J Ruckman, I.
Twelve-year-old Dan Hatch lives to tell the tale of himself, his best friend, and their families the night seven tornadoes tore through their Nebraska town.
Sachar, Louis. Holes. J Sachar, L., JPB Sachar, L., CASS (BK.) JFIC Sachar, L., CD (BK.) JFIC Sachar, L., YA PBK Sachar, L.
Stanley Yelnats, wrongly sentenced to a term digging holes under cruel tyranny at Camp Green Lake, breaks the family curse when he finally finds the reason for all the digging.

High School

King, Stephen. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. YA PBK King, S., FIC King, S., CASS (BK.) FIC King, S.
After she leaves the Appalachian Trail on which her family is hiking, nine-year-old Trisha finds herself in a desperate struggle for suvival, with her imaginings of the famous pitcher she idolizes as her guide.
Marsden, John. Tomorrow When the War Began. J Marsden, J., YA PBK Marsden, J.
Seven Australian teens return from a week camping in the bush to discover their families imprisoned and their country occupied by invading foreign troops. Will Ellie and her friends surrender, hole up in the bush, or fight back?
Marsden, John. The Dead of Night. J Marsden, J., YA PBK Marsden, J.
Continuing their sabotage of the enemy, Ellie and her friends join forces with a group of adults and are lucky to escape with their lives.
Marsden, John. A Killing Frost. J Marsden, J.
Their largest act of sabotage leads to their capture, and Ellie and Homer are sentenced to death, while their friends face long prison terms. Help must be on the way---there are four more books to go!
Marsden, John. Darkness, Be My Friend. J Marsden, J.
Safe in New Zealand, Ellie and her surviving friends are asked to risk it all and return to Australia to lead a mission against a strategic airfield. This series is completed by Burning for Revenge, The Night Is for Hunting,and The Other Side of Dawn.
Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. FIC Martel, Y., FIC Martel, Y. LARGE PRINT
Piscine Molitor Patel, Pi, a devout Muslim, Christian, Hindu, and Jew, survives the sinking of the ship taking his family from India to Canada, only to share his lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. The patient reader will persist through the slow start of Pi's story to enjoy his tale of survival and the deeper truth behind it.
Paulsen, Gary. The Car. J Paulsen, G., YA PBK Paulsen, G.
Abandoned by his parents, fourteen-year-old Terry assembles a kit car and heads for a rumored uncle in Oregon. Two Vietnam vets he picks up teach him to learn in a way school never inspired.
Rosoff, Meg. How I Live Now. FIC Rosoff, M.
To get away from her stepmother, Davina the Diabolical, fifteen-year-old Daisy moves to England to live with her cousins, but when enemy forces occupy Britain, they are divided and must struggle to survive.
Sweeney, Joyce. Free Fall. JPB Sweeney, J.
Lost in a huge system of caves, four teenage boys begin to share their fears as they search desperately for a way out.
White, Robb. Deathwatch. YA PBK White, R.
A college student serving as a hunter's guide and left in the desert without food, water, or protective clothing tries to reach safety while being stalked by a madman with a .357 magnum.