Fiction Survival Stories

Every summer Quill and his friends are put ashore on a remote sea stac to hunt birds. But this summer, no one arrives to take them home. Surely nothing but the end of the world can explain why they’ve been abandoned - cold, starving and clinging to life, in the grip of a murderous ocean. How will they survive such a forsaken place of stone and sea?

Catarina Agatta is a hacker. She can cripple mainframes and crash through firewalls, but that's not what makes her special. In Cat's world, people are implanted with technology to recode their DNA, allowing them to change their bodies in any way they want. And Cat happens to be a gene-hacking genius. That's no surprise, since Cat's father is Dr. Lachlan Agatta, a legendary geneticist who may be the last hope for defeating a plague that has brought humanity to the brink of extinction.

It's 1944, and World War II is raging across Europe and the Pacific. The war seemed far away from Margot in Iowa and Haruko in Colorado—until they were uprooted to dusty Texas, all because of the places their parents once called home: Germany and Japan. Haruko and Margot meet at the high school in Crystal City, a "family internment camp" for those accused of colluding with the enemy. The teens discover that they are polar opposites in so many ways, except for one that seems to override all the others: the camp is changing them, day by day and piece by piece.

In the aftermath of a war, America’s landscape has been ravaged. Fifteen-year-old Stephen Quinn and his family were among the few that survived. But when Stephen’s grandfather dies and his father falls into a coma, Stephen finds his way to Settler’s Landing, a community that seems too good to be true. There he meets strong, defiant, mischievous Jenny. When they play a prank on the town bully’s family that goes wrong, they find themselves in the midst of a battle that will change Settler’s Landing forever.

Setting out to meet the parents becomes an epic adventure in Rick and Tina's mind. Because of timing, they decide to road trip across the USA. Tina chronicles their experiences with a camera and Facebook Live videos while interviewing Rick.

Cryptic and threatening messages keep turning up, bad luck follows the couple on their trek across the country. To make matters worse, Rick fears a cyber breach, and somebody from both of their pasts is released from prison.

Watching over them, one dog, who's used to protecting the humans he owns. Opus. He is happily along for the ride to make sure they don't do anything they would regret, but when the fur starts to fly, he comes out of retirement.

It is Earth year 2256 - but the fate of the few who even remember Earth is perilously in doubt. Mina Saunders-Chang and many of the surviving humans are stranded in the Centauri system, having barely survived their confrontation with the Telphon refugees. Now everyone - human and Telphon alike - is caught in the blast zone of the Centauri supernova. And yet there's only one question Mina is asking: Where are Liam and Phoebe?

Since fleeing the gilded halls of Evergarden, Marlow Briggs has made a name for herself as the best cursebreaker in Caraza City. But no matter how many cases she solves, she is still haunted by the mystery of her mother’s disappearance. When Adrius Falcrest, Marlow's old friend and scion of one of Caraza's most affluent spell-making families, asks her to help break a life-threatening curse, Marlow wants nothing to do with the boy who spurned her a year ago. But a new lead in her mother’s case makes Marlow realize that the only way to get the answers she desperately seeks is to help Adrius.

In this thrilling installment of Lauren Tarshis' New York Times best-selling I Survived series, one child finds safety only to head back into the treacherous waters to make sure his neighbors are safe.

Lida thought she was safe. Her neighbors wearing the yellow star were all taken away, but Lida is not Jewish. She will be fine, won't she? But she cannot escape the horrors of World War II. Lida's parents are ripped away from her and she is separated from her beloved sister, Larissa. The Nazis take Lida to a brutal work camp, where she and other Ukrainian children are forced into backbreaking labor. Starving and terrified, Lida bonds with her fellow prisoners, but none of them know if they'll live to see tomorrow.

Torin Ten-Trees and his closest companions, Bryn and Grimsa, set out to join The Gatewatch and become trollhunters. When a troupe of meddling dwarves throws them off course, they are captured by trolls, and taken as prisoners to a secret gathering deep underground. There, they learn that an ancient giant has crowned himself king of the trolls, and he plans to utterly destroy The Gatewatch. Their perilous journey back to the land of sun and stars will stretch their strength to the limit, strain their wits, and demand an unspeakable sacrifice. Will it be enough to defeat the Troll King?

Gene is different from everyone else around him. He can't run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn't hurt him and he doesn't have an unquenchable lust for blood. Gene is a human, and he knows the rules. Keep the truth a secret. It's the only way to stay alive in a world of night—a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood.

I Am Number Four: The Lost Files: Secret Histories is the second collection of action-packed novellas from Pittacus Lore. Initially published separately as digital originals, these three stories are now together in one volume.

Earth is in danger! The only thing that can save our planet are six essential elements that can fuse into a new source of clean energy. But the elements are scattered throughout the galaxy. And it's up to the Voyagers - a team of four remarkable kids and an alien - to gather them all and return to Earth.

Greta Stuart has become AI. New transmitters have silvered her fingerprints. New receptors have transformed her vision. And the whole of her memory has become one book in a vast library of instant knowledge. Greta is ready to rule the world. But the new technology is also killing her. Greta is only 16 years old, but her new enhancements are burning through her mortal body at an alarming rate. Of course the leader of the AIs, an ancient and compelling artificial intelligence named Talis, has a plan.

Sisters Lu and Min have always known their places as the princesses of the Empire of the First Flame: assertive Lu will be named her father's heir and become the dynasty's first female ruler while timid Min will lead a quiet life in Lu's shadow. Until their father names their male cousin Set his heir instead, sending ripples through the realm and throwing both girls' lives into utter chaos. Determined to reclaim her birthright, Lu has no choice but to go on the run, leaving Min to face the volatile court alone.

He has no voice or name, only a rank, Eighth. He doesn't know the details of the mission, only the directives that hum in his mind. Dart the humans. Leave them where they fall. His job is to protect his Offside. Let her do the shooting. Until a human kills her...

It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone. Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they're worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.

The kids and their monster buddies are hanging out in the tree house, when Jack launches into an epic, totally-heroic, super-rad story of one of his many post-apocalyptic adventures. Of course, after he's finished, everyone's eager to one-up his tale with a story of their own. Soon, Quint, Dirk, June, and Skaelka, and even Globlet regale the group with sometimes outrageous, often hilarious details of their action-packed escapades during the monster-zombie apocalypse.

Maximum Ride and her faithful friends stand ready to face the two greatest threats that humankind has ever known, now combining forces in an unbeatable plot to destroy life as we know it once and for all. And this time, the enemy truly can't be stopped. The danger mounts just as Dylan has worked his way into Max's heart—but then Fang unexpectedly returns to the flock. An explosive confrontation between the two boys grows into a battle to win Max's heart, and the entire world hangs in the balance.

The boys help out at a wilderness camp near Sequoia National Park, a day's drive south of the Sierras. The camp's main draw is a multi-day trek traversing woodlands, mountains, and desert during a team-based orientation competition that will take them to the edge of Death Valley. When Jake and Taylor's team counselor is badly hurt in a flash flood, they must galvanize the lost campers to find shelter, aid the injured counselor, and supplement their low supplies with what can be found around them.