Survival Stories - Middle Grade Books

"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...

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.

When a dam fails and rushing waters sweep away their adult supervisors, five middle schoolers on a white-water rafting adventure are left alone with few supplies and the opportunity to forge powerful bonds as well as develop dangerous disagreements.

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.

Eleven-year-old Dexter always wanted to see a tornado. So when he gets the incredible opportunity to go storm chasing with Dr. Norman Gage, the host of Tornado Mysteries, he has to say yes! But when the tornado shifts direction, placing Dexter in the middle of one of the deadliest tornadoes to strike the United States since 1947, his bravery is seriously tested.

"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,...

Excited to board the Titanic with his aunt and little sister, ten-year-old George begins to explore the ill-fated ship's first-class storage cabin when the ship is rocked by a collision with an iceberg and begins to sink.

Victoria Secord, a fourteen-year-old Alaskan dogsled racer, loses her way on a routine outing with her dogs. With food gone and temperatures dropping, her survival and that of her dogs and the mysterious boy she meets in the woods is entirely up to her.

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.

"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,...