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
Twelve-year-old Jolene spends every day she can at the library watching her favorite livestream: The Desert Aviator, where twelve-year-old "Addie Earhart" shares her adventures flying an ultralight plane over the desert. While watching this daring girl fly through the sky, Jolene can dream...

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)

Stranded
Probst, Jeff
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller * From the Emmy-Award winning host of Survivor, Jeff Probst, with Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life co-author, Chris Tebbetts, comes an adventure series where a family vacation becomes a game of survival! It was supposed to be a...

The host of the Survivor reality show uses his insider survival knowledge to help craft a suspenseful survival story for young readers. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

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)

The songbird and the rambutan tree
Abendanon, Lucille
Ebook
Batavia, Dutch East Indies, 1942.Emmy has the voice of an angel but hasn't sung a note since a family tragedy. With war looming, her father plans to ship her off to a singing school in England for safety. But all Emmy wants to do is stay in Batavia with her best friend, Bakti, even if it means...
A survival story featuring a historical event not known to many American readers: the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies during World War II. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)
Overboard!
Johnson, Terry Lynn
Paper Book
A Sunshine State Award nominee A high-stakes adventure series perfect for fans of the I Survived series and Hatchet. Eleven-year-old Travis and his family are on a whale watch off the coast of Washington when disaster strikes. The boat capsizes, throwing everyone...

The first book in this interconnected survival story series starts in a familiar setting: whale watching off the PNW coast. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

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)

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)

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)

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
Alone Thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson is on his way to visit his father when the single engine plane in which he is flying crashes. Suddenly, Brian finds himself alone in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but his clothing, a tattered windbreaker, and the hatchet his mother has given him as a...

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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