Fiction Survival Stories

For the past four years, Rick Walker has been shuffled between foster care and group homes. At 14, he’s a kid nobody wants or cares about. Now he’s headed for Blue Canyon Detention Center. For Rick, life is a maze full of dead ends. But when he is threatened at Blue Canyon and runs away, Rick finds himself in a real maze - the enormous rocky expanse of Canyonlands National Park in Utah. There, Rick meets a biologist who has devoted his life to reintroducing the condor to its natural habitat. As Rick joins him to protect the giant birds, the teenager will begin to see choices instead of dead ends.

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.

Graham Salisbury has received numerous high-profile accolades from the ALA, VOYA, and several parent organizations. A Junior Library Guild Premier election, Night of the Howling Dogs is a rousing adventure set in Hawaii. On a Boy Scout trip, Dylan is looking forward to camping out at the foot of the Pu¹u Kapukapu volcano. But when an earthquake strikes, Dylan is forced to team up with a bully named Louie on a daring mission to rescue many of their scattered comrades.

Fourteen-year-old David Alspeth is the owner of a 22-foot sailboat, an inheritance from his uncle Owen, who recently died of cancer. Uncle Owen’s last request before he died was that David should take his ashes out to sea, a job David would give anything to avoid. When he finally sets sail on calm, clear evening, David feels the weight of what he must do all around him. He can’t imagine life without Owen. David completes his task, but on the return trip home he is caught unawares by a freak storm.

When Helicity Dunlap flies for Texas to spend time with her best friend Mia, she hopes to leave the tragedies of the devastating tornado and flash flood back in Michigan - at least for a little while. Her responsibilities at Mia's Aunt Suze's beachfront bed-and-breakfast are pretty simple and leave her lots of time to enjoy hunting for sea glass, sunbathing, and exploring a summer romance. But Helicity comes by her name honestly - helicity means to spin - and her troubles from home follow her south.

Twice-orphaned Sylvi has chipped out a niche for herself on Layce, an island cursed by eternal winter. Alone in her truck, she takes comfort in two things: the solitude of the roads and the favor of Winter, an icy spirit who has protected her since she was a child.

The smell of smoke. A layer of stinky fog dims the sky. Except along the horizon, which is suddenly flickering orange above the treetops. Wildfire, moving fast. Heading in our direction. Birds, deer, squirrels, and raccoons explode from the surrounding forest, racing to stay ahead of the flames. The message couldn’t be clearer. Run. If you want to live, run.

A young girl, Rella Deveraux-PenSword, is called to protect and defend Hleo: an enchanted refuge for the children of Earth One. Rella must stop a plague of Shadowsplitters, the miscreations of the plagiarist Archimago, from destroying the Wondercurrent: a source of life and hope for all the children under Hleo's protection. Rella's parents, Winter and Julian, are part of a secret alliance of Storykeepers. First, her mother disappears. Then, a few years later, when her father goes missing, Rella is forced to flee her home in the rural village of Ensea.

Hank, Emerson, and their friends have returned to Camp Outlier for another summer of fun and shenanigans. Hank won’t let his RISK (Recurring Incident of the Strange Kind) factor of inconvenient invisibility stop him from having the best summer ever, even when it starts mysteriously turning people and objects around him invisible too. But between his invisibility and an internet celebrity joining their cabin, camp clown Hank is struggling to maintain his spotlight.

The first in an exciting new series for children from ex-SAS officer and best-selling adult author Chris Ryan. Five kids: Alex, Li, Paulo, Hex and Amber, are marooned on a desert island where they must face the ultimate test: survival! Killer komodo dragons, sharks, and modern day pirates are amongst the dangers they face. Can the five bond as a team, and stay alive? New to audio, this gripping story is read by Adrian Lester, best-known for his role in Spooks on TV.

In Louis L'Amour's frontier stories, the American West is the crucible in which character is tested, reputations are won or lost, and life always hangs in the balance. Struggling to survive against the elements, hostile Indians, or outlaws who prey upon the honest and hardworking, the men and women in these tales each come face-to-face with what they're made of - often in moments that explode with the violence of an avalanche or the speed of a drawn gun.

She wants to put an end to the Testing, but she can't do it alone. This is the chance to lead that Cia has trained for—but who will follow? Plunging through layers of danger and deception, Cia must risk the lives of those she loves—and gamble on the loyalty of her lethal classmates. Who can Cia trust? The stakes are higher than ever—lives of promise cut short or fulfilled; a future ruled by fear or hope--in the electrifying conclusion to Joelle Charbonneau's epic Testing trilogy. Ready or not…it’s Graduation Day.

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?

Nick has always loved camping, but his cousins, Andy and Devin, aren't outdoors guys - they're jocks. Nick isn't even sure why his cousins wanted to go on the camping trip. They don't listen to his warnings about campfires and bears, and they make fun of everything Nick does. When Devin finds himself in real danger, can Nick save him in time?

First a Canadian Rockies avalanche kills their parents. Then Children’s Services threatens to separate them. That’s when the three Gunnarsson kids decide to run away into the mountains and fend for themselves until the oldest turns 18 and becomes their legal guardian. Not many would dare. But Jon, Korka, and Aron’s parents ran a survival school. Turns out their plan is full of holes.

When a spontaneous time leap sends Nickolas Flux back to Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated Endurance Expedition to Antarctica, what's a teenage history buff to do? Try to avoid becoming stranded at the bottom of the world, of course!

Earth is about to go dark. Without a new power source, life as we know it will be toast. A global competition is under way to determine which four kids will join the secret mission that might just save us all. Project Alpha is a contest of physical challenges, mental puzzles, and strategic alliances. The battle is fierce. Who will lead the team? Who will pilot the most complicated space ship ever built? Who will be a friend? An enemy? And how will they survive over a year stuck on a space ship together?

Powerful and compelling, this high-stakes, feminist reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood is perfect for fans of Stephanie Garber and Meagan Spooner.

In 1910, Sir Robert Falcon Scott led a team of Englishmen racing to be the first people to reach the South Pole. Amidst frigid temperatures and raging winds, Scott and four others made it to the pole only to find that another team had gotten there first. Low on morale and facing ever-plunging temperatures, the trek home would prove a harrowing task.

Thirteen-year-old Juniper is full of excitement when she’s offered the chance to visit her aunt and uncle in Alaska and take part in a hunt in the Tongass National Forest. Juniper has plenty of experience hunting mule deer at home in Colorado, and she's sure she’ll be ready for whatever Alaska can throw at her. But Southeast Alaska isn’t quite what Juniper expected.