Fiction Survival Stories

Acclaimed novelist Jewell Parker Rhodes is an American Book Award winner. Rhodes’ Ninth Ward is a stunning tale set against the horrors of Hurricane Katrina. Orphaned 12-year-old Lanesha lives with Mama Ya-Ya, the midwife who birthed her, in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward. Although Lanesha is different—able to see ghosts like that of her dead mother—she never feels unloved, an empowerment that helps her survive the devastating storm.

From the renowned author Jack London comes two classic adventure stories about primitivism, nature, and early 20th-century life. Seen through the eyes of two dogs, their stories are distinct yet share similarities, and they have cemented London as a literary genius and writer. Including complex themes such as morality and redemption, Jack London’s classic works have stood the test of time and remain central examples of literary fiction, a must-hear for anyone interested in the brilliant works of the past.

When a deadly plague reaches the small fish camp where he lives, an orphan named Leif is forced to take to the water in a cedar canoe. He flees northward, following a wild, fjord-riven shore, navigating from one danger to the next, unsure of his destination. But the deeper into his journey he paddles, the closer he comes to his truest self as he connects to “the heartbeat of the ocean...the pulse of the sea”.

Told from June's point of view - and set between the shattering events of The Midnight Blade and The Skeleton Road - June's Wild Flight brings new characters, high-stakes action, and stunning revelations in an adventure that could only be June's. An essential Last Kids story that readers won't want to miss!

Alex's second attempt to break out has failed. This time his punishment will be much worse than before. Because in the hidden, bloodstained laboratories beneath the prison, he will be made into a monster. As the warden pumps something evil into his veins - a sinisterly dark nectar - Alex becomes what he most fears: a superpowered minion of Furnace. How can he escape when the darkness is inside him?

Fast-paced, evocative, and intensely suspenseful, Tim Wynne-Jones’s latest psychological thriller finds a teenager setting his wits against the frigid wilderness and a menacing crew of escapees.

In 1863 the Civil War is raging throughout the country. Eleven-year-old Henry has been on the sidelines so far - but the events of a hot July week in Pennsylvania are about to change his life forever. Does he have what it takes to survive the Battle of Gettysburg?

North Korea is known as the most repressive country on Earth, with a dictatorial leader, a starving population, and harsh punishment for rebellion. Perfect place for a family vacation, right? Yet that's exactly where Mia Andrews finds herself, on a tour with her aid-worker father and fractious older brother, Simon. Mia was adopted from South Korea as a baby, and the trip raises tough questions about who she really is. Then her dad is arrested for spying, just as forbidden photographs of North Korean slave-labor camps fall into Mia's hands.

In a north London cemetery, a professor is kidnapped at gunpoint. Then, a suspicious letter crammed with cryptic clues arrives at Eton. To decipher the deadly mystery, James Bond must take a series of dangerous gambles. Once the code is cracked, he has just 48 hours to save the professor from the dark forces that threaten to destroy them both. And if they can't escape, it's not only their future under threat; it's the rest of the world.

No one ever saw Faolan as a leader. Banished as a pup, he survived and returned as a gnaw wolf - the lowest member of the wolf pack. But Faolan wasn't meant to be a gnaw wolf. It's not just his strange, splayed paw, or his uncanny connection with the bears. There's something about Faolan that inspires certain wolves...and leaves others deeply suspicious. Now, with a dangerous threat on the horizon, the pack must make a choice. Will they trust the silver outsider with the task of leading?

A terrible danger is looming on the horizon, and Faolan is the only one who knows how to fight it. Will he be able to claim his rightful place as leader and lead his clan in battle? Unless Faolan can inspire the pack to stand together, it could be the end of the wolves of the beyond.

It's been a year since a meteor collided with the moon, catastrophically altering the earth's climate. For Miranda Evans life as she knew it no longer exists. Her friends and neighbors are dead, the landscape is frozen, and food is increasingly scarce. The struggle to survive intensifies when Miranda's father and stepmother arrive with a baby and three strangers in tow.

When Rio is sent to live with a grandmother he barely knows in California, he feels completely alone. Then he makes a new friend on the foggy beach—a girl named Marina, who teaches him about the massive grey whales that migrate nearby. As Rio grows to love the whales, he discovers that his mother loved them, too. He’s suddenly sure that if he can somehow find a way to connect her with these gentle giants – and especially with a particular whale named White Beak – she will get better and come to join him in California.

Rook lives in the structured community of ArHK, where she struggles to find meaning in her appointed role as the Apprentice Keeper. Gage is part of a nomadic society and has just joined the Scouts on the frontier line, a life of constant danger. Can Gage and Rook find a way to save themselves, as well as each others' very different worlds?

Last Halloween, Eleanor, Pip, and Otto narrowly escaped the clutches of the evil January Society and their leader. But life in the too-quiet Eden Eld isn’t safe just yet: According to the bargain they made with Mr. January, it’s now his sister’s turn to hunt the three of them. And her methods are a bit more...treacherous. When their friends and neighbors begin disappearing, abducted by strange, mud-drenched monsters, Eleanor and her two best friends must race to uncover their enemy’s secrets. If they fail, their families will be next.

When Leo and Naomi are drafted, along with 22 of the world's brightest teenagers, into the International Space Training Camp, their lives are forever changed. Overnight, they become global celebrities in contention for one of the six slots to travel to Europa - Jupiter's moon - and establish a new colony, leaving their planet forever. With Earth irreparably damaged, the future of the human race rests on their shoulders. But Naomi is suspicious of the ISTC and the fact that a similar mission failed under mysterious circumstances, killing the astronauts on board.

The Titanic is meant to be unsinkable, but as it begins its maiden voyage, there’s plenty of danger waiting for four of its young passengers. Paddy is a stowaway, escaping a deadly past. Sophie’s mother is delivered to the ship by police - after she and Sophie have been arrested. Juliana’s father is an eccentric whose riches can barely hide his madness. And Alfie is hiding a secret that could get him kicked off the ship immediately.

They are the enemy. And they're still out there. They're in your street, your home, the safest places you know. You feel their hot breath, even in the depths of hell. Ellie and Homer are out there too. Lee and Fi and Kevin. They've forgotten what it means to be safe. Sometimes they feel like there's nowhere left for them. They may be right.

It's not as great as you'd think, living in a tourist town that's known as "the most magical place in America". Same boring high school, just twice as many monsters under the bridges and rival Families killing each other for power. I try to keep out of it. I've got my mom's bloodiron sword and my slightly illegal home in the basement of the municipal library. And a couple of Talents I try to keep quiet, including very light fingers and a way with a lock pick.

It's tough surviving in Hell. But sometimes Hell can be a haven. Their country has been invaded. Their homes have been occupied by strangers, or destroyed. Their families are facing death at the hands of a merciless enemy. But one group of teenagers, fugitives in a remote valley, will never give in. Not without a fight. But sometimes courage demands too high a price.