Action and Adventure (Tamariki)

On the lookout for some excitement, adventure and some action? While a Jedi from Star Wars may not crave excitement or adventure, you will certainly get your fix with this list of Action and Adventure themed books. Read and get inspired by heroes such as Percy Jackson, Magnus Chase and the most unlikely people, animals and creatures.

Updated August 21, 2024
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Wellington City Libraries Children's team at Wellington City Libraries
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The wolves of Willoughby Chase
Aiken, Joan
Paper Book
Wicked wolves and a grim governess threaten Bonnie and her cousin Sylvia when Bonnie's parents leave Willoughby Chase for a sea voyage. Left in the care of the cruel Miss Slighcarp, the girls can hardly believe what is happening to their once happy home. The servants are dismissed, the furniture...
The last
Applegate, Katherine
Paper Book
I REMEMBERED with a sudden pang, my mother's words the last time we were together: It's never wrong to hope, Byx. Of course, she'd also said: Unless the truth says otherwise. Byx is used to being the youngest and the smallest. But for all her life, she's also been part of...
The girl who drank the moon
Barnhill, Kelly Regan
Paper Book
Winner of the 2017 Newbery Medal ★ A New York Times Bestseller ★ An Entertainment Weekly Best Middle Grade Book of 2016 ★ A New York Public Library Best Book ★ A Chicago Public...
Troublemaker
Cho, John
Paper Book
An instant New York Times bestseller! An Indiebound bestseller! An Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Honor Book! Troublemaker follows the events of the LA Riots through the eyes of 12-year-old Jordan...
We the children
Clements, Andrew
Paper Book
Benjamin Pratt's school is about to become the site of a new amusement park. It sounds like a dream come true! But lately, Ben has been wonder if he's going to like an amusement park in the middle of his town--with all the buses and traffic and eight dollar slices of pizza. It's going to change...
The wizards of once
Cowell, Cressida
Paper Book
From the bestselling author of How to Train Your Dragon comes an exciting high-adventure series - set in an ancient, magical time, full of Wizards, Warriors, Giants and Sprites. Winner of the Blue Peter Book Award This is the...
How to train your dragon
Cowell, Cressida.
Paper Book
Read the HILARIOUS books that inspired the HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON films! Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third is a smallish Viking with a longish name. Hiccup's father is chief of the Hairy Hooligan tribe which means Hiccup is the Hope and the Heir to the Hairy Hooligan...
The magician's elephant
DiCamillo, Kate.
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller! Kate DiCamillo conjures a haunting fable about trusting the unexpected and making the extraordinary come true. What if? Why not? Could it be? When a fortuneteller's tent appears in the market square of the city of...
The ruins of Gorlan
Flanagan, John
Paper Book
The international bestselling series with over 5 million copies sold in the U.S. alone! They have always scared him in the past--the Rangers, with their dark cloaksand shadowy ways. The villagers believe the Rangers practice magic that makes them invisible to ordinary...
Spy school
Gibbs, Stuart
Paper Book
"Combines Alex Rider's espionage skills with a huge dose of the sarcasm of Artemis Fowl." --School Library Journal Can an undercover nerd become a superstar agent? In the first book in the New York Times bestselling Spy School series, Ben Ripley sure hopes so-...
The inquisitor's tale, or, The three magical children and their holy dog
Gidwitz, Adam
Paper Book
A Newbery Honor Book Winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award An exciting and hilarious medieval adventure from the bestselling author of A Tale Dark and Grimm. Beautifully illustrated throughout by Hatem Aly! "A profound and ambitious tour de force....
The magic misfits
Harris, Neil Patrick
Paper Book
A New York Times and USA Today bestseller! From award-winning actor Neil Patrick Harris comes the magical first book in a series with plenty of tricks up its sleeve. When street magician Carter runs away, he never expects to find friends and magic...
Things in the basement
Hatke, Ben
Paper Book
From New York Times bestselling author Ben Hatke comes Things in the Basement, a young readers graphic novel about Milo, a young boy who discovers a portal to a secret world in his basement. It was supposed to just be a normal basement--some storage boxes, dust, you...
Into the wild
Hunter, Erin.
Paper Book
Epic adventures. Fierce warrior cats. A thrilling fantasy world. It all begins here. Read the book that began a phenomenon--and join the legion of fans who have made Erin Hunter's Warriors series a #1 national bestseller. For generations, four Clans of wild cats have shared the...
The quest begins
Hunter, Erin.
Paper Book
The first book in a thrilling animal fantasy series following the epic journey of three bears, from the #1 nationally bestselling author of Warriors. When three young bears from different species--black, polar, and grizzly--are separated from their families, fate brings them together...
Redwall
Jacques, Brian.
Paper Book
Soon to be a Netflix original movie! One of TIME Magazine's 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time   The book that inspired a legend--the first novel in the beloved, bestselling Redwall saga. Welcome to Mossflower Wood,...
Keeper of the lost cities
Messenger, Shannon.
Paper Book
A New York Times bestselling series A USA TODAY bestselling series A California Young Reader Medal-winning series In this riveting series opener, a telepathic girl must figure out why she is the key to her brand-new world before the...
Bridge to Terabithia
Paterson, Katherine.
Paper Book
The classic Newbery Award-winning title by beloved author Katherine Paterson, with brand-new bonus materials including an author's note by Katherine herself, and a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Kate DiCamillo.  Jess Aarons has been practicing all summer so he can...
Lightfall. Book one, The girl & the Galdurian
Probert, Tim
Paper Book
New York Times bestselling author Kazu Kibuishi says of Lightfall: "Beautifully drawn. Tim Probert has created a world readers will want to visit." For fans of Amulet and middle grade readers who love sweeping worlds like Star Wars, the first book of the Lightfall series...
Swallows and Amazons
Ransome, Arthur
Paper Book
'Swallows and Amazons for ever!' Rediscover this classic tale of adventure. The Walker children - also known as Captain John, Mate Susan, Able-Seaman Titty, and Ship's Boy Roger - set sail on the Swallow and head...
The hidden oracle
Riordan, Rick
Paper Book
How do you punish an immortal? By making him human. After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disoriented, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the four-thousand-year-old deity must learn to...
The lightning thief
Riordan, Rick
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times Bestseller | Now a series on Disney+ 12-year-old Percy Jackson discovers he is the son of Poseidon in the opener to the hilarious, fast-paced adventure fantasy series for young readers ages 10 and up The paperback edition of the...
Magnus Chase and the sword of summer
Riordan, Rick
Paper Book
Magnus Chase has always been a troubled kid. Since his mother's mysterious death, he's lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, keeping one step ahead of the police and the truant officers. One day, he's tracked down by an uncle he barely knows--a man his mother...
The maze of bones
Riordan, Rick.
Paper Book
The first book in the #1 bestselling phenomenon sends readers around the world on the hunt for the 39 Clues!Minutes before she died Grace Cahill changed her will, leaving her decendants an impossible decision: "You have a choice - one million dollars or a clue."Grace is the last matriarch of the...
The invention of Hugo Cabret : a novel in words and pictures
Selznick, Brian
Paper Book
Don't miss Selznick's other novels in words and pictures, Wonderstruck and The Marvels, which together with The Invention of Hugo Cabret, form an extraordinary thematic trilogy!2008 Caldecott Medal winnerThe groundbreaking debut novel from bookmaking pioneer, Brian Selznick!<...
The bad beginning
Snicket, Lemony.
Paper Book
NOW A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES In the tradition of great storytellers, from Dickens to Dahl, comes an exquisitely dark comedy that is both literary and irreverent, hilarious and deftly crafted. Never before has a tale of three likeable and unfortunate children been quite so...
Treasure Island
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Paper Book
The epic tale of a young man's quest to capture a hidden treasure on the open seas -- one of the best-loved adventure stories of all time. EACH ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES: - A concise introduction that gives readers important background information - A chronology of the author...
The mysterious Benedict Society
Stewart, Trenton Lee.
Paper Book
For fans of Lemony Snicket and Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, this first book in the bestselling, award-winning Mysterious Benedict Society series is not to be missed! "Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?" Dozens of...
The dragonet prophecy
Sutherland, Tui
Paper Book
A thrilling new series soars above the competition and redefines middle-grade fantasy fiction for a new generation!The seven dragon tribes have been at war for generations, locked in an endless battle over an ancient, lost treasure. A secret movement called the Talons of Peace is determined to bring...
I survived the Hindenburg disaster, 1937
Tarshis, Lauren
Paper Book
New York Times bestselling author Lauren Tarshis provides a birds-eye view of one of America's most ghastly accidents ever be captured on film, the Hindenburg Disaster of 1937.The greatest flying machine ever built is about to crash...For eleven-year-old Hugo Ballard, flying on the...
Nevermoor : the trials of Morrigan Crow
Townsend, Jessica
Paper Book
A breathtaking, enchanting new series by debut author Jessica Townsend, about a cursed girl who escapes death and finds herself in a magical world--but is then tested beyond her wildest imagination. Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any...
The mysterious howling
Wood, Maryrose.
Paper Book
Found running wild in the forest of Ashton Place, the Incorrigibles are no ordinary children: Alexander, age ten or thereabouts, keeps his siblings in line with gentle nips; Cassiopeia, perhaps four or five, has a bark that is (usually) worse than her bite; and Beowulf, age somewhere-in-the...

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