Survival Stories
An Annotated Bibliography for grades 3 and up
 Fever 1793
Laurie Halse Anderson
J AND / 251 pages / grades 5-9
In 1793 Philadelphia, sixteen-year-old Matilda Cook is forced to cope with the horrors of a yellow fever epidemic while separated from her sick mother.
Poppy
Avi
J AVI / 146 pages / grades 3-6
Poppy the deer mouse urges her family to move next to a field of corn big enough to feed them all forever, but Mr. Ocax, a terrifying owl, has other ideas.
Adrift
Allan Baillie
J BAI / 119 pages / grades 4-8
While playing pirates with his little sister and her cat in an old crate he finds on the beach, a young boy suddenly discovers that they are adrift on the sea and that he must somehow keep them all alive.
Backwater
Joan Bauer
J BAU / 185 pages / grades 6-9
While compiling a genealogy of her family of successful attorneys, sixteen-year-old history buff Ivy Breedlove treks into the mountain wilderness to interview a reclusive aunt.
A Week in the Woods
Andrew Clements
J CLE / 190 pages / grades 4-7
The fifth grade's annual camping trip in the woods tests Mark's survival skills and his ability to relate to an unfriendly teacher.
The Goats
Brock Cole
J COL / 184 pages / grades 7-9
Left on a small island by their fellow campers, a boy and a girl form an uneasy bond that grows into a deep friendship when they decide to run away and disappear without a trace.
Incident at Hawk’s Hill
Allen W. Eckert
J ECK / 173 pages / grades 7-9
A shy, lonely six-year-old wanders into the Canadian prairie and spends a summer under the protection of a badger.
Overboard
Elizabeth Fama
J FAM / 158 pages / grades 5-9
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 Islamic faith.
Danger in the Desert
Terri Fields
J FIE / 126 pages / grades 4-7
Two brothers attempt to survive in the desert outside Scottsdale, Arizona, after they are abandoned there following a carjacking.
My Side of the Mountain
Jean Craighead George
J GEO / 177 pages / grades 3-6
A young boy relates his adventures during the year he spends living alone in the Catskill Mountains.
Tree Castle Island
Jean Craighead George
J GEO / 242 pages / grades 3-6
After building his own canoe, fourteen-year-old Jack Hawkins goes to try it out in Okefenokee Swamp, where an accident tests his survival skills and leads him to a shocking discovery.
Nory Ryan’s Song
Patricia Reilly Giff
J GIF / 148 pages / grades 3-6
When a terrible blight attacks Ireland's potato crop in 1845, twelve-year-old Nory Ryan's courage and ingenuity help her family and neighbors survive.
Take it Easy
David Hill
J HIL / 165 pages / grades 7-9
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.
Toughboy and Sister
Kirkpatrick Hill
J HIL / 121 pages / grades 4-6
The death of their drunken father strands ten-year-old Toughboy and his younger sister at a remote fishing cabin in the Yukon with little food and hostile wildlife.
Far North
Will Hobbs
J HOB / 226 pages / grades 5-9
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.
Wild Man Island
Will Hobbs
J HOB / 184 pages / grades 4-8
After fourteen-year-old Andy slips away from his kayaking group to visit the wilderness site of his archaeologist father's death, a storm strands him on Admiralty Island, Alaska.
The Chinquapin Tree
Jerry Kimble Holcomb
J HOL / 189 pages / grades 3-6
Fearing they will be sent from a loving foster home back to their abusive mother, three children hide out in a secluded spot on Oregon's coast, trying to find food and shelter.
Earthquake Terror
Peg Kehret
J KEH / 132 pages / grades 4-6
When an earthquake hits the isolated island in northern California where his family had been camping, twelve-year-old Jonathan Palmer must find a way to keep himself, his partially paralyzed younger sister, and their dog alive.
The Secret Journey
Peg Kehret
J KEH / 135 pages / grades 3-6
In 1834 when a storm at sea destroys the slave ship on which she is a stowaway, twelve-year-old Emma musters all her resourcefulness to survive in the African jungle.
Big Red
Jim Kjelgaard
J KJE / 218 pages / grades 4-6
A boy and an Irish setter share many adventures as they wander over wilderness trails, hunt together, and fight for their lives against a killer bear.
The Wreckers
Ian Lawrence
J LAW / 196 pages / grades 3-6
Shipwrecked after a vicious storm, fourteen-year-old John Spencer attempts to save his father and himself while also dealing with a secret about the town where they are stranded
The Island Keeper
Harry Mazer
J MAZ / 165 pages / grades 7-9
Longing to disappear after the death of her beloved younger sister, 16-year-old Cleo runs away from her overprotective family and goes to a remote island where she is the only human
Red Midnight
Ben Mikaelsen
J MIK / 212 pages / grades 5-9
After his village is burned, twelve-year-old Santiago takes his younger sister and sets sail on the rough seas in an attempt to reach safety in the United States.
Save Queen of Sheba
Louise Moeri
J MOE / 116 pages / grades 3-6
After miraculously surviving a Sioux Indian raid on the trail to Oregon, a brother and sister set out with few provisions to find the rest of the settlers.
Kensuke’s Kingdom
Michael Morpurgo
J MOR / 164 pages / grades 4-8
When Michael is swept off his family's yacht, he washes up on a desert island, where he struggles to survive--until he finds he is not alone.
Climb or Die
Edward Myers
J MYE / 180 pages / grades 5-9
After a car accident in a snowy Colorado pass seriously injures their parents, fourteen-year-old Danielle and her brainy younger brother Jake must scale a mountain to find help.
Stones in Water
Donna Jo Napoli
J NAP / 209 pages / grades 5-9
After he and his friends are taken by German soldiers, Roberto is forced to work in Germany and escapes into the Ukrainian winter before trying to make his way back home to Venice.
Lost at Sea
Jonathan Neale
J NEA / 101 pages / grades 3-6
A brother and sister recount their harrowing experiences as they sail a small yacht across the Atlantic Ocean, after the boyfriend of their mentally unstable mother is washed overboard.
The Girl Who Owned a City
O. T. Nelson
J NEL / 200 pages / grades 7-9
When a plague sweeps over the earth killing everyone except children under twelve, ten-year-old Lisa organizes a group to rebuild a new way of life.
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Scott O’ Dell
J ODE / 184 pages / grades 7-9
Left alone on a beautiful but isolated island off the coast of California, a young Indian girl spends eighteen years surviving and finding a measure of happiness.
Nim’s Island
Wendy Orr
J ORR / 125 pages / grades 2-5
Nim loves her island home and the animals she shares it with even while her father is away working, but trouble is on the way and a new e-mail friend could be the only one who can help.
Adaline Falling Star
Margaret Pope Osborne
J OSB / 170 pages / grades 4-7
Feeling abandoned by her deceased mother and explorer father, Adaline Falling Star runs away and comes close to death in the wilderness, with only a mongrel dog for company.
Hatchet
Gary Paulsen
J PAU / 142 pages / grades 5-9
After a plane crash, thirteen-year-old Brian spends fifty-four days in the wilderness, learning to survive initially with only the aid of a hatchet given him by his mother.
Frozen Stiff
Sherry Shahan
J SHA / 151 pages / grades 5-9
Cousins Cody and Derek take a kayak trip in Alaska and find themselves battling the raw elements of an untamed wilderness.
The Sign of the Beaver
Elizabeth George Speare
J SPE / 135 pages / grades 4-6
Left alone to guard the family's wilderness home in eighteenth-century Maine, a boy is hard-pressed to survive until local Indians teach him their skills.
The Cay
Theodore Taylor
J TAY / 137 pages / grades 4-8
When the freighter on which they are traveling is sunk during World War II, a twelve-year-old blinded white boy and an old black man are stranded on an island in the Caribbean where the boy learns courage and love.
Sweet Friday Island
Theodore Taylor
J TAY / 173 pages / grades 7-9
Vacationing on what they think is an uninhabited island, fifteen-year-old Peg and her father find their adventure turned into a fight for survival.
When the Road Ends
Jean Thesman
J THE / 184 pages / grades 5-8
Sent to spend the summer in the country, three foster children and an older woman recovering from a serious accident are abandoned by their caretaker and must try to survive on their own.
Out of the Wilderness
Deb Vanasse
J VAN / 165 pages / grades 5-9
Josh tries to endure living in the Alaskan wilderness with his father and half-brother Nathan, whose uncompromising reverence for nature makes Josh want to return to city life.
Danger Along the Ohio
Patricia Willis
J WIL / 181 pages / grades 4-7
Lost in the Ohio River Valley in May 1793, twelve-year-old Clare and her two brothers struggle to survive in the wilderness and to avoid capture by the Shawnee Indians.
Raptor
Paul Zindel
J ZIN / 170 pages / grades 3-6
Zack and his Ute Indian friend find themselves trapped in a cave with a living dinosaur-- the deadly Utahraptor.
Series:
- Survival! By Kathleen Duey / grades 3-6
- Against the Odds by Todd Strasser / grades 4-6
- Everest by Gordon Korman / grades 4-6
- Island by Gordon Korman / grades 4-6
Return to:
|
Toolbar