Go On an Adventure with a Book

Books are the ultimate adventure.  You can go anywhere and do anything in the pages of a book.  Here are some great adventure books for kids . . .

The Death-Defying Pepper Roux by Geraldine McCaughrean
Having been raised believing he will die before he reaches the age of fourteen, Pepper Roux runs away on his fourteenth birthday in an attempt to elude his fate, assumes another identity, and continues to try to outrun death, no matter the consequences.

Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool
Odyssey-like adventure of two boys' incredible quest on the Appalachian Trail where they deal with pirates, buried secrets, and extraordinary encounters.

The Abernathy Boys by Laura Hunt
A fictionalized account of the adventurous 1909 journey of nine-year-old Bud Abernathy and his five-year-old brother, Temp, who traveled alone, mostly on horseback, from their home in Oklahoma to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and back again, crossing t he vast, desertlike no-man's-land in the Texas Panhandle known as the caprock.

Magic Marks the Spot by Caroline Carlson
hen Hilary Westfield escapes Miss Pim's finishing school to join a misfit pirate crew, she embarks on an unexpectedly magical swashbuckling, plank-walking, searfaring journey.

The Tunnel of Hugsy Goode by Eleanor Estes
Following a prophecy of a former resident of their Brooklyn alley, two boys discover an underground passage behind their houses.

More Adventure Stories --
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The Big Book of Adventure by Alyssa Heyman
Island of Thieves by Josh Lacey
The Misadventures of Maude March by Audrey Couloumbis
Nurk: The Strange, Surprising Adventures of a (Somewhat) Brave Shrew by Ursula Vernon
The Privateer's Apprentice by Susan Verrico

And the Winner Is . . . The Printz Award

The Michael L. Printz Award is given annually for excellence in literature written for young adults. 

2014 Printz Award Winner
Midwinter Blood by  Marcus Sedgwick
Doomed love circles back through the centuries in a series of seven intricately plotted, interlocking stories set on a mysterious, isolated island. Forgetting and remembering, blessed and cursed, modern and ancient, these dualities brilliantly infuse the novel’s lush landscape.

Printz Honor Books
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Unlikely love blossoms on the bus when two unique, exceptional souls find strength in each other’s differences in Rowell’s emotionally charged and hopeful novel.

Kingdom of Little Wounds by Susann Cokal

Impeccably researched and darkly disturbing, this complex literary tale reveals the sordid side of palace life in a 16th century Scandinavian kingdom where the royal family, the Lunedies, is cursed by a mysterious illness, and political machinations cast doubt on who will rule.

Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner
In Sally Gardner’s explosively original dystopian novel, Standish Treadwell and his grandfather show quiet defiance in the face of the oppressive, merciless Motherland. The cleverly parallel illustrations highlight a story as offbeat and perceptive as Standish and his mismatched eyes.

Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool
Jack Baker, uprooted suddenly after his mother’s death, and Early Auden, the strangest of boys, meet at a Maine boarding school. Their friendship culminates in a treacherous quest and unexpected self-discovery. Vanderpool delivers an emotionally powerful novel in an untamed setting as the boys head up river in search of the Great Appalachian Bear.