Thursday, November 12, 2015

10 Outdoor Adventure/Survival Tales

Last month when I visited the HWRHS Independent Reading class some of the students asked for books that took place outdoors or survival-adventure stories. So I made a bookmark with ten titles to give out to the class when I see them again next week. Here are the titles with links to our catalog:

Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey, by Nick Bertozzi, 2014. Presents, in graphic novel format, the adventures of explorer Ernest Shackleton in the Antarctic.

The Raft, by S. A. Bodeen, 2012. Robbie's last-minute flight to the Midway Atoll proves to be a nightmare when the plane goes down in shark-infested waters, but the real terror begins when the co-pilot Max pulls her onto the raft.

The Year We Were Famous, by Carole Estby Dagg, 2011. A novel based on the true story of Clara Estby's walk across America with her mother Helga, to save their farm with the 10,000 dollars promised by a New York City publisher-- if they can do it in eight months.

The Distance From Me to You, by Marina Gessner, 2015. McKenna and her best friend planned for over a year to defer their freshman year of college to hike the Appalachian Trail all the way from Maine to Georgia, so when her friend backs out McKenna embarks alone on a physical and emotional journey that will change her life forever.

Adrift, by Paul Griffin, 2015. Working in Montauk for the summer, Matt and Mike meet three girls who invite them to their Hamptons mansion, where the group decides to sail out into the ocean in a small boat, become lost at sea, and must learn to work together to survive.

The Way Back From Broken, by Amber Keyser, 2015. After losing his infant sister, Rakmen's family is devastated. While his parents figure things out, they send Rakmen on a camping trip in the Canadian wilderness with another grieving family. Rakmen is far from thrilled about the trip, and he has to decide whether it's too late to find his way back from broken.

Nation, by Terry Pratchett, 2008. After a devastating tsunami destroys all that they have ever known, Mau, an island boy, and Daphne, an aristocratic English girl, together with a small band of refugees, set about rebuilding their community and all the things that are important in their lives.

Endangered, by Eliot Schrefer, 2012. Sophie is not happy to be back in the Congo for the summer, but when she rescues an abused baby bonobo she becomes more involved in her mother's sanctuary--and when fighting breaks out and the sanctuary is attacked, it is up to Sophie to rescue the apes and somehow survive in the jungle.

The Trap, by John E. Smelcer, 2006. In alternating chapters, 17-year-old Johnny Least-Weasel, who is better known for brains than brawn, worries about his missing grandfather, and the grandfather, Albert Least-Weasel, struggles to survive, caught in his own steel trap in the Alaskan winter.

Peak, by Roland Smith, 2007. A 14-year-old boy attempts to be the youngest person to reach the top of Mount Everest. (Sequel: The Edge, 2015.)