Adventure and Spy (YA)

If you like your books with lots of action then this is the list for you: this is a selection of spy, action, adventure and survival stories from our YA (young adult) collections.

Updated June 19, 2024
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The electric kingdom
Arnold, David
Paper Book
New York Times bestseller David Arnold's most ambitious novel to date; Station Eleven meets The 5th Wave in a genre-smashing story of survival, hope, and love amid a ravaged earth. When a deadly Fly Flu sweeps the globe, it leaves a shell of the world that...
The cruelty
Bergstrom, Scott
Paper Book
The Cruelty is an action-packed young adult thriller (optioned for film by Jerry Bruckheimer) about a girl who must train as an assassin to deal with the gangsters who have kidnapped her father. Gwendolyn's father kept his life a secret from her. When he goes missing,...
An assassin's guide to love & treason
Boecker, Virginia
Paper Book
Shakespeare in Love meets Mr. and Mrs. Smith in this witty and thrilling story of star-crossed assassins in Elizabeth England, perfect for fans of My Lady Jane and TheGentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue! When Lady Katherine's father is killed...
Etiquette & espionage
Carriger, Gail.
Paper Book
This steampunk series debut set in the same world as the New York Times bestselling Parasol Protectorate is filled with all the saucy adventure and droll humor Gail Carriger's legions of fans have come to adore. Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is a great...
The love interest
Dietrich, Cale
Paper Book
There is a secret organization that cultivates teenage spies. The agents are called Love Interests because getting close to people destined for great power means getting valuable secrets. Caden is a Nice: The boy next door, sculpted to physical perfection. Dylan is a Bad: The...
Foul Lady Fortune
Gong, Chloe
Paper Book
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends comes the "equal parts intoxicating and dazzling" (Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Gilded Wolves) first book in a captivating new duology...

New Zealand author

Stormbreaker
Horowitz, Anthony
Paper Book
Alex Rider is now an IMDb TV/Amazon Original Series! Meet the orphan turned teen superspy who's saving the world one mission at a time--from #1 New York Times bestselling author!   They said his uncle Ian died in a car accident. But Alex Rider knows...
Stars and smoke
Lu, Marie
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times bestseller! He's a secret. She's an agent. This mission might just be impossible. A smoldering enemies-to-lovers novel about a global superstar and a hotshot young spy on a collision course with danger&...
The call
O? Guilin, Peadar
Paper Book
You have three minutes to save your life . . .THREE MINUTESYou wake up alone in a horrible land. A horn sounds. The Call has begun.TWO MINUTESThe Sidhe are close. They're the most beautiful and terrible people you've ever seen. And they've seen you.ONE MINUTENessa...
The loop
Oliver, Ben (Science fiction writer)
Paper Book
"A script-ready story with blockbuster potential." -- Kirkus (Starred Review)Life inside The Loop--the futuristic death row for teens under eighteen--is one long repetitive purgatory. But when news of the encroaching chaos in the outside world reaches the inmates and disorder begins to strike...
Hawk
Patterson, James
Paper Book
In this dark dystopian tale, 17-year-old Hawk is growing up hard and fast in post-apocalyptic New York City--until a perilous destiny forces her to take flight and protect her home. Where is Maximum Ride? Ten years ago a girl with wings fought...
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....
I must betray you
Sepetys, Ruta
Paper Book
#1 New York Times Bestseller and winner of the Carnegie Medal! A gut-wrenching, startling historical thriller about communist Romania and the citizen spy network that devastated a nation, from the #1 New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of Salt to...
Dry
Shusterman, Neal
Paper Book
When the California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions, one teen is forced to make life and death decisions for her family in this harrowing story of survival from New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman. The drought--or the Tap...
Clementine. Book one
Walden, Tillie
Paper Book
A 2022 Junior Library Guild Selection! Book Riot "12 Best Graphic Novels and Comics of 2022" List IGN "Best Comic Book Series or Graphic Novel of 2022" Nominee "Tillie Walden is the future. Her boldly authentic voice brings new heights to the world of The...
Code name Verity
Wein, Elizabeth.
Paper Book
Don't miss Elizabeth Wein's stunning new novel, Stateless! The beloved #1 New York Times bestseller, a "fiendishly plotted" (New York Times) "heart-in-your mouth adventure" (Washington Post) that...
Fable
Young, Adrienne
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB YA PICK Filled with all of the action, emotion, and lyrical writing that brought readers to Sky in the Deep, New York Times bestselling author Adrienne Young...
Boy Nobody : a novel
Zadoff, Allen.
Audiobook

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