Survival Stories - Middle Grade Books

After the death of his father, ten-year-old Moon leaves their forest shelter home and is sent to an Alabama institution, becoming entangled in the outside world he has never known and making good friends, a relentless enemy, and finally a new life.

Twelve-year-old twins Ashley and Ryan are tested to the extreme when faced with a powerful avalanche while skiing in Wyoming's Grand Teton mountains. Includes survival tips from the National Avalanche Center and U.S. Forest Service.

Twelve-year-old Sora and her eight-year-old brother, Youngsoo, must try to escape North Korea's oppressive Communist regime on their own in 1950. Includes historical notes, photographs of the author's mother, glossary of Korean words, and timeline.

"One year after a random shooting changed their family forever, Nora and her father are exploring a slot canyon deep in the Arizona desert, hoping it will help them find peace. But when they reach the bottom of the canyon, the unthinkable happens: a flash flood rips across their path, sweeping away Nora's father and all of their supplies. Suddenly, Nora finds herself lost and alone in the desert, facing dehydration, venomous scorpions, deadly snakes,...

In the role of one of the crew members sailing a yacht around the world, the reader will encounter dangers and must make decisions that will ensure the survival of the ship and her crew.

Twelve-year-old Sam lives alone with his mom and their dog in the idyllic seaside town of Santa Bonita. His father died when Sam was young, but his best friend Marco has been helping recreate his dad's old photos as part of a memorial project. One particularly warm October day, however, Sam smells something faint from far away. It's the scent of smoke. An unexpected southern California wildfire is whipping ferociously toward town. Sam, Marco, and...

"His name is synonymous with high-stakes wilderness survival stories. Now, beloved author Gary Paulsen portrays a series of life-altering moments from his turbulent childhood as his own original survival story. If not for his summer escape from a shockingly neglectful Chicago upbringing to a North Woods homestead at age five, there never would have been a Hatchet. Without the encouragement of the librarian who handed him his first book at age thirteen,...

Thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson, haunted by his secret knowledge of his mother’s infidelity, is traveling by single-engine plane to visit his father for the first time since the divorce. When the plane crashes, killing the pilot, the sole survivor is Brian. He is alone in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but his clothing, a tattered windbreaker, and the hatchet his mother had given him as a present. At first consumed by despair and self-pity,...

On May 18, 1980, eleven-year-old Jessie Marlowe and her best friends, Eddie and Sam, are in a forest near Mount St. Helens when the months of wondering whether the volcano will erupt are finally answered--all three are badly burned, but it is up to Jessie to protect the boys as best she can and hope that somebody comes to rescue them.

"Far off the coast of California looms a harsh rock known as San Nicolas Island. Blue dolphins splash in the water surrounding it, sea otters play in the kelp beds, and seabirds roost in its crags. Once, Indians also lived on the island--until one day they decided to leave and sailed to the east. A young girl was left behind. Karana is that girl. Year after year, she waits for the ship to come back. But it never does. Finally, she realizes she must...