Children's Book Suggestions | Survival Stories

Some of our favorite survival stories for readers in grades 3-7, most of which are great readalikes for I Survived. For more fictional survival stories, browse our full list of survival stories for kids. Survival guides and true stories can be found in Children's Nonfiction under number 613.69.

Updated June 5, 2024
LINCC (Libraries in Clackamas County)Oregon City Public Library
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Across the desert
Bowling, Dusti
Paper Book
One girl sets out on a journey across the treacherous Arizona desert to rescue a young pilot stranded after a plane crash in this gripping story of survival, friendship, and rescue from a bestselling and award-winning author. ​ Twelve-year-old Jolene spends...

A young teen sets out into the desert in search of her favorite livestreamer, a young pilot whose plane went down and whose disappearance the authorities refuse to take seriously. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

The last kids on Earth
Brallier, Max
Paper Book
A Netflix Original series! The first book in the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling series, with over 7 million copies in print! "Terrifyingly fun! Delivers big thrills and even bigger laughs."--Jeff Kinney, author of the #1 ...

The ultimate kid-friendly zombie apocalypse story! (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

I survived the sinking of the Titanic, 1912
Tarshis, Lauren
Paper Book
The most terrifying events in history are brought vividly to life in this New York Times-bestselling series!Ten-year-old George Calder can't believe his luck -- he and his little sister, Phoebe, are on the famous Titanic, crossing the ocean with their Aunt Daisy. The ship is full of exciting...

The O.G.! The original chapter books are also being adapted as graphic novels. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Lost time
Mukanik, Tas
Paper Book
Jurassic World meets How to Train Your Dragon in this gorgeously drawn, adventure-packed middle grade graphic novel about a girl who gets trapped 65 million years in the past and must learn to survive with only her wits...and the pterosaur she befriends. Twelve-year...
A girl relies on a dinosaur for survival when she's accidentally trapped in the Cretaceous era. (Children's Graphic Novel Grades 3-5)
Shipwreck island
Bodeen, S. A.
Paper Book
Sarah Robinson is deeply troubled in the wake of her dad's second marriage. She now has to deal with a new stepmom and two stepbrothers, Marco, who is her age, and Nacho, who's younger. Even though they've all moved from Texas to California to start life as a new, blended family, none of the kids...

An updated take on Hatchet starring a young girl stranded at sea with her new stepfamily. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Two degrees
Gratz, Alan
Paper Book
The instant #1 New York Times bestseller! #1 New York Times bestselling author Alan Gratz (Refugee; Ground Zero) is back, tackling the urgent topic of climate change in this breathtaking, action-packed novel that will keep readers turning pages while making...

Three interconnected stories of young teens surviving climate disasters in a not-too-distant future where the global temperature has risen two degrees Celsius. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Never say die
Hobbs, Will
Paper Book
In this fast-paced adventure story set in the Canadian arctic, fifteen-year-old Inuit hunter Nick Thrasher comes face-to-face with a fearsome creature on a routine caribou hunt gone wrong. Part grizzly, part polar bear, this environmental mutant has been pegged the "grolar bear" by wildlife...

Will Hobbs writes super engaging wilderness stories for 8th and 9th grade boys. City of Gold is another fav! (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Escape from Chernobyl
Marino, Andy
Paper Book
"Nonstop action, real history, serious danger. You gotta read these books!" --Alan Gratz, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Refugee 26 April 1986 01:18 Alina & Lev are two siblings living in Pripyat, one of the Soviet Union's proud...

Three cousins, one of whom works at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, must escape Pripyat after the deadly reactor meltdown in April 1986. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

We are wolves
Nannestad, Katrina
Paper Book
This "hauntingly atmospheric" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), heart-stopping middle grade novel follows three of the Wolfskinder, German children left to fend for themselves in the final days of World War II, as they struggle to hold onto themselves and each other while surviving in the...

A historical survival story inspired by a true story from World War II, in which orphaned children survived by hiding in the woods. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Paradise on fire
Rhodes, Jewell Parker
Paper Book
From award-winning and bestselling author Jewell Parker Rhodes comes a powerful coming-of-age survival tale exploring issues of race, class, and climate change.​   Addy is haunted by the tragic fire that killed her parents, leaving her to be raised by her...

A grieving city kid is sent to wildnerness camp after the death of her parents, only to be faced with a life-threatening climate disaster. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

How to stay invisible
Rudd, Maggie
Paper Book
My Side of the Mountain meets How to Steal a Dog in this high-stakes and heartfelt middle-grade story of a young boy and his dog surviving on their own in the woods. Being alone is something Raymond is used to. Twelve-year-old Raymond Hurley...

A homeless middle schooler and his dog try to survive on their own in the woods. For a similar story with a female protagonist, try Carry Me Home by Janet C. Fox. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Brother's keeper
Lee, Julie (Children's fiction writer)
Paper Book
With war looming on the horizon and winter setting in, can two children escape North Korea on their own? WINNER OF THE FREEMAN BOOK AWARD! North Korea. December, 1950. Twelve-year-old Sora and her family live under an iron set of rules- No travel without...

Two siblings escape to South Korea in this Korean War-era survival story based on the author's family history. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Me and Sam-Sam handle the apocalypse
Vaught, Susan
Paper Book
"Edgar-winning Vaught, a neuropsychologist, has both personal and professional experience to draw on in crafting a narrator who is admirably smart and resilient despite an 'itchy' brain and a compulsion to count things." --Booklist (starred review) "Deeply smart and...

A neurodivergent girl and her small-but-fierce dog save the day (and her dad) after a tornado strikes their town. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Hatchet
Paulsen, Gary.
Paper Book
This award-winning contemporary classic is the survival story with which all others are compared--and a page-turning, heart-stopping adventure, recipient of the Newbery Honor. Hatchet has also been nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read....

A beloved classic about a teen boy who survives 54 days in the wilderness with only his wits and a hatchet after being stranded alone in a plane crash. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)


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