survival/adventure titles for 9-12 or YA

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survival/adventure titles for 9-12 or YA

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1spyre Eerste Bericht
mrt 19, 2007, 3:43 pm

Hello,
Does anyone have any recommendations for titles in this category? I'm thinking of works such as Hatchet and the sequels, by Gary Paulsen, Far North by Will Hobbs, for example. These two books represent a slightly different age group, but certainly a similar category.

What are you or your kids reading?

2Sodapop
mrt 19, 2007, 3:53 pm

How about My side of the Mountain and The far side of the mountain. They are about a boy who runs away from NYC to live on his own in the Catskills.
My 10 year old just read "My side" and really enjoyed it.

3tardis
mrt 19, 2007, 4:02 pm

Lost in the barrens by Farley Mowat.

From Amazon.ca: Orphan Jamie Macnair has left the safety of boarding-school life in Toronto to join his Uncle Angus, a trapper, in the icy reaches of the Canadian North. Jamie is utterly enchanted by the Arctic and is able to share his fascination with his new friend, Awasin, a member of a nearby Cree camp. When Jamie and Awasin have a chance to join a band of Chipeweyans on a trip to the remote Barrens, they jump at the opportunity. But when their canoe capsizes and they are separated from the group, it takes all their ingenuity to survive winter in the Barrens.

There is a sequel, too - Curse of the viking grave.

4readafew
mrt 19, 2007, 4:03 pm

Sodapop > My side of the Mountain was the one I was trying to remember... been years since I was in middle school and read that.

5spyre
mrt 19, 2007, 4:06 pm

Thanks all, yes, I've read MY Side and loved it. A classic. I will certainly check out Lost in the Barrens--looks great, and I loved Never Cry Wolf.

6Sodapop
mrt 19, 2007, 4:08 pm

readafew -- I bought it for him because I remembered reading it and being fascinated. Kids are a great excuse for rereadiing your favourite books from childhood :-)

7spyre
mrt 19, 2007, 4:33 pm

Has anyone read Frozen Stiff by Sherry Shahan? I think this is a younger reader book, but it looks like a survival story.

8Jenson_AKA_DL
mrt 20, 2007, 10:00 am

I received a myspace friend request from an author named Ronald Gamer who specializes in writing adventure fiction for "tweens". He's written the "Chance" series of books starting with One Last Chance (touchstone not coming up with right book). Although they're not really the kind of books I read, they looked good for what they were. I did check out the listing on amazon, so I know they're out there, even if the touchstones won't load right!

9fyrefly98
mrt 20, 2007, 10:35 am

I loved Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell when I was that age.

Also, there's the Julie of the Wolves series, by Jean Craighead George, the same author as My Side of the Mountain. I read it recently and didn't particularly like it (can't exactly put my finger on why, especially since I loved MSotM), but I know that most of my friends who liked these kinds of books really loved it.

10Sodapop
mrt 20, 2007, 11:41 am

Fyrefly, "Island" is a another one I forgot. My son just read it for school and enjoyed it a lot.
And how about Robinson Crusoe?

11Hera
mrt 20, 2007, 11:53 am

Forget fiction, every child I know, male or female, with a sense of adventure LOVES the Worst case scenario survival handbook. Every time I select a topic to discuss 'instructions' in English lessons, they all clamour to borrow it. The Extreme edition is even more awesome: the three naughtiest boys in my group (ages 9-11) were utterly silent and did 'shared reading' for the first time EVER when I let them read it.

;)

12spyre
mrt 20, 2007, 4:18 pm

Great suggestions. Thanks and keep 'em coming. I know there's got to be a bunch more out there in this category!

13myshelves
mrt 20, 2007, 4:34 pm

#2 and others,

Do My Side of the Mountain and The Far Side of the Mountain mention any specific locations or mountains in the Catskills?
In what time period do the books take place?

Thanks.

14spyre
mrt 20, 2007, 4:46 pm

I think My Side took place was written in the late '60s, but I don't recall there was anything in it that was time-specific. It's a timeless story that could be set then or now. I don't recall whether a specific geographic area was mentioned or not.

Followup question for Sodapop or anyone: has anyone read the third piece of this trilogy, called Frightful's Mountain?

15punkypower
mrt 20, 2007, 4:47 pm

Is it for a boy or girl?

I remember reading Baby Island when I was a little girl and loving it.

16spyre
mrt 20, 2007, 5:10 pm

Either/or. Just looking for titles in this genre.

17Sodapop
mrt 20, 2007, 5:42 pm

#13 There are a couple of places mentioned in the books I am not sure if they're fictional or not. I will dig the book out and find the names for you.
#14 No I haven't read Frightful's Mountain. In fact I hadn't heard of it until I saw it listed here on librarything. I

18myshelves
mrt 20, 2007, 7:52 pm

Thanks, Sodapop. I'm thinking of gifts for a couple of young relatives whose grandparents were from the Catskills. If there are familiar places mentioned, that would be a bonus.

19rbtanger
Bewerkt: mrt 20, 2007, 9:00 pm

The Vesper Holly Series by Lloyd Alexander. Starts with The Illyrian Adventure. An orphaned young woman (16 at the beginning of the series) takes her gaurdian on a series of wild adventures during the late 1870s. They are great fun for children 9-14 and even for a few older ones.

*edited to fix touchstones

20Sodapop
mrt 20, 2007, 11:02 pm

#18 Myshelves, The main place that is mentioned seems to be Delhi. I have not yet checked to see if that is a real place or not.

21myshelves
mrt 20, 2007, 11:21 pm

Thanks Sodapop!

Delhi is in Delaware County, NY. (I found it on a map. Never heard of it either.)

22bettyjo
mrt 20, 2007, 11:35 pm

For any children going to summer camp The Goats by Brock Cole should be required reading for survival.

23homeschoolmom
mrt 21, 2007, 6:09 am

How about Swiss Family Robinson? Although, the original is pretty tough to read, the child's reading level would have to be pretty high. The original is an awesome story, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not at all like any movie that was ever made. Did anyone know there were actually four sons? And they didn't really have a treehouse, more like a floor that they slept on? They spent the rainy season living in a cave? Its very interesting. I might just pick it up again, its been awhile!

24spyre
mrt 21, 2007, 11:09 am

Good idea, I've never read the original Swiss Family Robinson. Seems like there are so many books I've always meant to read, but never have. Now I'm feeling more motivated!

25TerrapinJetta
mrt 21, 2007, 11:12 am

The Adventure series by Willard Price was very enjoyable, as far as I remember. It's a bit out of date now, but it also teaches about animals and nature in a compelling storyline.

26Jacintha Eerste Bericht
mrt 21, 2007, 12:05 pm

I went all the way through to see if anyone had mentioned Willard Price, and there he is at the end. They may seem more immediately appealing to boys than girls, being about two brothers and their various adventures, but this girl loved them all, aged about 12.

27spyre
mrt 21, 2007, 2:03 pm

I'm so glad someone mentioned those. I read all I could get my hands on when living in Australia at age 10, but I haven't been able to find them here. I ordered a couple in the series from a bookstore in India. They were definitely more popular in the Commonwealth countries. Anyone know if they're available here now?

28nmoira
mrt 21, 2007, 3:20 pm

We really enjoyes Ronia, The Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren and Maroo of the Winter Caves by Ann Turnbull. Both have females protagonists.

29SimonW11
mrt 22, 2007, 5:15 am

While I am sure that If I were to read it now I would be shocked at how non PC it is and equally bemused by how inaccuratly his location is described R. M. Ballantyne's The Coral Island will always have a soft spot in my heart.

and while we are on the subject wasn't The Mysterious Island the Vernes stories where the survivors of a lost balloon are marooned with a pocketknife and have developed an electric telegraph by the end of the book?

Simon

30TerrapinJetta
mrt 22, 2007, 5:30 am

Yeah, I grew up in South Africa and Willard Price's books were quite popular there, in that they were in all the libraries at least. I've not managed to find them here in England.

31SimonW11
mrt 22, 2007, 11:02 am

Brendon chase
by "BB" is about a boys who decide to live wild in the woods of the title. Is another old favourite of mine.

32tardis
mrt 22, 2007, 11:41 am

Arthur Ransome's books are about kids camping and having adventures mostly without adults. I adore them all but one of my favourites is We didn't mean to go to sea in which the owner of a small yacht goes ashore leaving the four sailing-mad Walker kids aboard alone and boat is swept out to sea during a storm.

33lysssa Eerste Bericht
mrt 22, 2007, 1:24 pm

Arthur Ransome also wrote one of my favorite children's books, Swallows and Amazons. Two families of children camp out on a small island in the middle of a lake and get up to all sorts of high-jinks while competing against each other. Definitely lots of fun, and there are a few less popular sequels.

34Kira
mrt 24, 2007, 8:06 pm

Gordon Korman has some excellent children's survival books, like his Island trilogy, which starts with Shipwreck, about a group of troublesome kids placed on a ship together to learn teamwork; the boat quickly gets into trouble and the kids are the only survivors, alone on a deserted island. Also he has an Everest trilogy, the first of which is The Contest. These books are about kids dangerously racing to climb Mount Everest (and maybe be the youngest ever, setting a world record!) after winning a contest to allow them to participate. And his third trilogy of this type is Dive, (the first book is titled The Discovery) about kids diving and discovering treasures hidden underwater. I would highly recommend all of these books!

35rbtanger
mrt 25, 2007, 11:24 pm

I remember another one that I loved as a child - Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome. Six children, two sail boats, an island, and loads of adventures. Wonderful.

36nymith
mrt 26, 2007, 9:48 am

The Survival series by Kathleen Duey, about kids from different times who are placed in disaster situations, and have to survive. Some titles are: Titanic, Blizzard, Fire, Flood, Cave-in, and Death Valley.

(None of the touchstones would go to the right places because of the generic titles, so I skipped them. My apologies)

37nymith
mrt 26, 2007, 10:18 am

And I completly spaced Winter Camp by Kirkpatrick Hill! It is actually a sequel to a book called Toughboy and Sister, but I never read it and that never interfered with the story.

It is about two eskimo children who go to live with a woman called Natasha after their parent die. She pulls them out of school for the winter to go into the wilderness, and learn about the old ways. A friend of hers comes to visit, and gets seriously wounded. She leaves them in charge, and goes to get help. The tempeture drops to fifty below, and they have to keep themselves alive until Natasha comes back. Only they don't know when that will be...

There are a few rather grisly details involving trapping and how people lived in the old days, and very little dialouge, but that's how Kirkpatrick Hill writes. I read it when I was ten and found it extremely informitive.

38bettyjo
mei 9, 2007, 7:45 pm

I loved Toughboy and Sister...will need to read Winter Camp next. I think Kirkpatrick Hill also wrote The Year of Miss Agnes..about a school teacher in Alaska.

39nymith
Bewerkt: mei 9, 2007, 9:01 pm

I don't know anything about The Year of Miss Agnes, but I do know that she also wrote Minuk: Ashes in the Pathway, which was set back in the old days, and followed an eskimo girl, and her experiences with a family of missionaries, and the good and bad changes they brought to her village. I don't think it was as good as Winter Camp, but it seemed very accurate from a historical sense.

And I think I am going to get Toughboy and Sister someday. (Hopefully soon!)

40GPLibrarianGail Eerste Bericht
nov 24, 2007, 12:23 pm

The Nov. 2007 issue of Book Links has the following suggestions for wilderness survival stories: Blind Mountain (2006) by Jane Resh Thomas, grades 4-6; Paint the Wind (2007) by Pam Munoz, grades 4-6; A Week in the Woods (2002) by Andrew Clements, grades 4-8; Overboard (2002) by Elizabth Fama, grades 4-8; Alabama Moon (2006) by Watt Key, grades 5-8; Death Mountain (2005) by Sherry Shahan, grades 5-8; A Girl Named Disaster (1996) by Nancy Farmer, grades 5-8; and The Trap (2006) by JohnSmelcer, grades 6-10.

This article also recommended long time favorites such as The Cay by Theodore Taylor, Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell, books by Will Hobbs and books by Gary Paulsen.

41ElizaJane
nov 24, 2007, 1:12 pm

Here's a true life story of a boy who sailed around the world by himself when he was 16. My son was about 14 when he read and he loved it.

Dove by Robin Lee Graham.

42januaryw
nov 30, 2007, 9:40 am

If the child is an animal lover, The Incredible Journey is a good one (the one about a cat and two dogs making their way to their owners across hundreds of miles and extreme conditions).

43CecileCornelius
dec 7, 2007, 5:39 pm

Hatti Big Sky was a Newberry honor winner 2007.
The story about a young girl homesteading Montana.

44tinylittlelibrarian
dec 10, 2007, 1:13 am

Life as we knew it by Susan Beth Pfeffer has a different take on the survival story - in this case it's survival after a natural disaster. It's in diary format, told by a 16 year-old girl whose family has to survive after the moon's gravitational pull is changed and tsunamis and volcanic eruptions gradually cut off the availability of supplies.

I second the Gordon Korman books, too!

45merry10
jan 7, 2008, 12:15 am

The Silver Donkey

Children help a soldier survive and go home in World War II. The tale includes three beautiful fables told by the young man.

46REDrich Eerste Bericht
jan 12, 2008, 8:48 am

In the essence of Hatchet, I am looking for the title of a book in the same age range as Hatchet. I remember that the antagonist's name was Ezra and he was chasing I think a teenage boy in the wilderness. I believe I may have grew up with a learning disability and that is all I remember. So if anyone remembers an evil outdoors man named Ezra could you please respond.

47PatVasilik
jan 12, 2008, 9:38 pm

REDrich- Could the book you are thinking of be Weasel by Cynthia DeFelice? The villain is called Weasel, but there is an Ezra in the book.

48bettyjo
jan 13, 2008, 1:49 pm

read aloud to my nine year old during the holidays Night of the Howling Dogs by Graham Salisbury and we both loved it. A boy scout troop has to survive camping on an island in Hawaii when a volcano erupts. This is based on the author's own experience in the 1970's.

49januaryw
jan 15, 2008, 2:39 am

I just read The invention of Hugo Cabret and I think it fits here... adventure and survival.

50lieksgirl
sep 23, 2008, 2:24 am

when i was younger my father bought me some of the kids collection. Hall and Roger adventures. i can with all my heart say that the books i read of willard,(as a younger child though) learned me things i didn't or wouldn't have learned at school. don't know if u succeeded in finding some of willard's collections... but if u are still interested, u can look it up on Ebay.

greetings L.S.

51raising_a_reader
sep 23, 2008, 4:48 am

The Willard Price adventure series has just been re-jacketed and re-published - try Amazon.co.uk.
I'm doing a presentation at the New Zealand librarian's national conference in November, titled 'Fabulous fiction for terrific teens', and it's looking at current excellent fiction for 12-18 year olds. I've created a section devoted to adventure fiction tagged 'Invincible, untouchable, immortal'. My LT member's name for that presentation is fabfic-terrificteens, so you may find something for you in that.
Hope this helps!

52minerva66
nov 26, 2008, 12:25 am

Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan and A Week in the Woods by Andrew Clements are both great. Also Trapped by Roderic Jeffries - boys caught off-guard crossing a tidal river.
The Calder Game by Blue Balliett is more challenging and puzzling, but exciting. Art mystery and missing child. The first book in the series is Chasing Vermeer.
Jean George wrote a couple other books I like also - Tree Castle Island and The Talking Earth.

53theretiredlibrarian
feb 18, 2009, 3:38 pm

for slightly older readers, try Peak by Roland Smith (I think)--it's about a boy whose father, a mountain-climber, is trying to get his son (Peak) to be the youngest to climb Mt. Everest.

54annamorphic
apr 5, 2009, 7:39 am

Hills End by Ivan Southall--a wonderful book by an Australian author. I read it aloud to my kids, ages 10, 12 and 13, and they were transfixed.

55kabjorklund
apr 6, 2009, 1:03 pm

Check my Wiki site. I'm a former school librarian and have my books sorted by theme...adventure, etc.
http://middlebooks.pbwiki.com/FrontPage

56bookel
apr 16, 2009, 7:08 am

Apologies if already mentioned. I'm doing a find search in this post before listing the title. Survival fiction I have listed in my library, a lot of animal stories (there's more that have already been mentioned):

White Ruff by Glenn Balch
Princess by Carolyn Lane
Charlie, the Lost Dog by Ann Doro
The Beach Dogs by Colin Dann
Blind Flight by Hilary Milton
Flight of the White Wolf by Mel Ellis
Hi Fella by Era Zistel
Climb a Lonely Hill by Lilith Norman
The Lake Is on Fire by Maureen Crane Wartski
Animals of Farthing Wood (Animals of Farthing Wood #1) by Colin Dann
In the Grip of Winter (Animals of Farthing Wood #2) by Colin Dann
Fox's Feud (Animals of Farthing Wood #3) by Colin Dann
The Fox Cub Bold (Animals of Farthing Wood #4) by Colin Dann
The Siege of White Deer Park (Animals of Farthing Wood #5) by Colin Dann
In the Path of the Storm (Animals of Farthing Wood #6) by Colin Dann
Battle for the Park (Animals of Farthing Wood #7) by Colin Dann
Copycat (City Cats #3) by Colin Dann
A Great Escape by Colin Dann
The Ram of Sweetriver by Colin Dann
White Fang by Jack London
Simon's Island by Joyce Stranger
Gray Wolf by Rutherford Montgomery
The White Fox by Brian Parvin
High Country Adventure by Marian Rumsey
Hunter in the Dark by Monica Hughes
Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo
A Black Fox Running by Brian Carter
Avalanche by Arthur Roth
Baby-Sitters' Island Adventure (Baby-Sitters Club Super Special #4) by Ann M. Martin
The Adventurous Four by Enid Blyton
Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry
The Last Otter by A. R. Lloyd
River Rats, Inc. by Jean Craighead George
Snow Dog by Jim Kjelgaard
Bobbie : A Great Collie by Charles Alexander
Chalou by Natalie Savage Carlson
King of the Grizzlies by Ernest Thompson Seton
Avalanche! by A. Rutgers van der Loeff
Nightmare Mountain by Peg Kehret
The Hiding Place by Lyn Cook
Emergency! : 10-33 on Channel 11! by Hilary Milton (also his book Mayday! Mayday!)
The Great Rat Island Adventure by Charlene Joy Talbot
Danger in the Desert by T. S. Fields
When the City Stopped by Joan Phipson
City of Darkness by Ben Bova
No Way Out by Ivy Ruckman
Log Jam (alternate title: Spirit River) by Monica Hughes
Just a Little Bit Lost by Laurel Trivelpiece
The Hollow Tree by Janet Lunn
Climb or Die by Edward Myers
Strange Companion : A Story of Survival by Dayton O. Hyde
The Island by Gary Paulsen
Death at Their Heels by Margaret Goff Clark
Two for Survival by Arthur Roth

Can you tell I like survival fiction? :)

Recently I read:
Earthquake! by Alida E. Young
Two on an Island by Bianca Bradbury

57bookel
apr 16, 2009, 7:25 am

30 - I saw a whole stack of Willard Price's Adventure books in a charity shop in England last year. They can't be that uncommon...

58Sodapop
jul 1, 2009, 1:17 pm

#14 Just bought Frightful's Mountain from Books a million for $2! I told my son it's for him but really I bought it so that I can read it.

59NoraMaher
jun 27, 2012, 12:30 pm

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