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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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)

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...

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

Overboard!
Johnson, Terry Lynn
Paper Book
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 into the ice-cold chaotic waves. Separated from their...

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)

Never say die
Hobbs, Will.
Paper Book
When the motto of your village is "never say die," you have a lot to live up to. . . . At home in Canada's Arctic, Nick Thrasher is an accomplished Inuit hunter at fifteen. About to bring home a caribou for his ailing grandfather, Nick loses the meat to a fearsome creature...

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)

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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