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Survival and Adventure Stories

Looking for a thrill? Read one of these titles all about survival. You can even learn some survival how-tos. Recommended for kids in grades 4 – 6.

User from Calgary Public Library

13 items

  • Written in free-verse poetry, this book follows 12-year-old Maddie who plans a secret sleepover but wakes up all alone after a surprise evacuation of her small Colorado town. Alone, with her neighbour's dog and no power or communication to the…
    Book, 2021New York : Aladdin, ©2021. — J FRE
  • Decide & Survive is a choose your own adventure book where you make decisions that will determine whether or not you'll survive the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. If things don't go so well the first time, you can go back to the beginning and…
    Book, 2024Fresno, California : Milk + Cookies, ©2024. — J WHI
  • No phone. No internet. No electricity. No adults. And a magnitude 9 earthquake has shaken the Washington coast. In just four minutes, 13-year-old Hannah has gone from being a rookie babysitter to being forced to take charge in circumstances more…
    Book, 2019Naperville, Illinois : Sourcebooks Young Readers, ©2019. — J BEH
  • A beloved coming-of-age classic about Sam Gribley, an independent, resourceful boy who runs away from his crowded New York City life to live off the land in the Catskill Mountains. My Side of the Mountain seamlessly blends a gripping wilderness…
    Book, 1988New York : Dutton, c1988. — J GEO
  • Extreme Survival

    How People, Plants, and Animals Live in the World's Toughest Places

    Lerwill, Ben,
    Explore and discover more about the places in our world considered to be the most extreme: the Australian outback, Antarctica, the Himalayas, the Arctic Circle, the Alps, and many more! Learn about how plants, animals, and people have learned to…
    Book, 2024Lincoln, Massachusetts : Nosy Crow, 2024, ©2022. — J 613. 69 LER
  • Virgil and his older siblings trek to a mountain lake to spread their mother's ashes at her favourite spot when their van breaks down and a forest fire breaks out. He gets seperated from his siblings and has to remember the lessons from his mother…
    Book, 2022New York : Margaret Ferguson Books, Holiday House, ©2022. — J LAW
  • Eddie Holloway has been grounded because he has been avoiding doing his laundry. On the day of the Beach Bash he is in the middle of doing it when the power goes out in the middle of a cycle. With only his swimming trunks and a pair of flip flops…
    Book, 2022New York : Scholastic Press, ©2022. — J REY
  • After her parent's shocking divorce, Jo and her mom embark on the 100-mile hike that she had planned to undertake with her dad along Lake Superior. During the hike they battle the elements of nature, and their own self-doubts and struggles as they…
    Book, 2024New York : Scholastic, ©2024. — J DOW
  • Mission to Mars

    Can You Survive in Space?

    Kanani, Sheila,
    Authored by physics teacher and planetary physicist Dr. Sheila Kanani, Mission to Mars takes readers on an interactive adventure all about space and survival. As a member of the first-ever human mission to mars, you have challenging decisions to…
    Book, 2025New York : DK Publishing, 2025, ©2024. — J 629. 45 KAN
  • Leif is a 12-year-old orphan who must leave everything behind to survive a disease rapidly spreading through his fishing village. But as he heads north with the hopes of escaping the fate of his community members, he finds a different set of…
    Book, 2022New York : Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, ©2022. — J PAU
  • Following three narrators across different nations and times in history, this book introduces readers to Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud. All three of them share one thing in common, they are refugees fleeing their countries in search of safety and home…
    Book, 2017New York : Scholastic Press, ©2017. — J GRA
  • The polar bears are attacking people in Manitoba, wildfires are razing California to the ground, and category 5 hurricanes are decimating Florida and the Caribbean. These events mark the stories of four different young protagonists, all of whom are…
    Book, 2022New York : Scholastic Press, ©2022. — J GRA
  • This companion novel to A Wolf Called Wander can be read as a stand-alone, even if you haven't read the others. The story is based on the real life of Wolf 8 from Yellowstone National Park who became a leader of a pack, but lead it much differently…
    Book, 2025New York, New York : Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, ©2025. — J PAR