Children's Book Suggestions | Adventure Stories

Some of our favorite adventure stories for readers in Grades 3-7. Other booklists to try include Animal Fantasy, Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Mystery, Mythology & Folklore, Science Fiction, and Survival Stories.

Updated September 20, 2024
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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...

Children\'s Fiction (Grades 3-5)

The girl who lost a leopard
Farook, Nizrana
Paper Book
From the author of The Girl Who Stole an Elephant comes another thrilling escapade set in fictional Sri Lanka. Selvi is a free spirit who loves climbing in the beautiful mountains behind her home. There, she befriended Lokka, a leopard with a beautiful coat and huge golden...

Children\'s Fiction (Grades 3-5)

The world-famous Nine
Guterson, Ben
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller  "Imaginative and entertaining ... Readers will breathlessly turn the pages as they wonder: Can the duo solve the mysteries of The Nine in time to save it from those who wish it--and them--ill?" --Bookpage<...

Children\'s Fiction (Grades 3-5)

The (mostly) true story of Cleopatra's needle
Gutman, Dan
Paper Book
From the author of the My Weird School books, an adventure story that spans centuries and continents. In Central Park, New York, stands Cleopatra's Needle. But what do you know about? Did you know that thousands of people worked in 1461 BCE to build it? Then hundreds more...

Children\'s Fiction (Grades 3-5)

The secret library
Magoon, Kekla
Paper Book
An instant New York Times bestseller! Travel through time with National Book Award Finalist Kekla Magoon in a page-turning fantasy adventure about family secrets and finding the courage to plot your own life story. Since Grandpa died, Dally's days are...

Children\'s Fiction (Grades 3-5)

Trouble in the stars
Prineas, Sarah
Paper Book
"A space chase that would feel right at home in the world of Star Wars. Unexpectedly out of this world." --Kirkus Reviews   From acclaimed author Sarah Prineas comes an action-packed, funny, and heartwarming outer-space adventure about a troublesome little shape...

Children\'s Fiction (Grades 3-5)

A royal conundrum
Yee, Lisa
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * When a notorious thief is out for priceless treasure (gems! cats! general decorum!)--who're you gonna call? An elite team of crime-fighting underdogs, that's who! The Misfits are on the case in this hilarious illustrated series from Newbery Honoree Lisa Yee...

Children\'s Fiction (Grades 3-5)

The adventures of Tintin. Volume 1
Hergé
Paper Book
Join traveling reporter Tintin and his faithful dog Snowy, along with well-known friends such as Captain Haddock, as they embark on extraordinary adventures spanning historical and political events, fantasy and science-fiction adventures and thrilling mysteries. These full-color graphic novels...

Children\'s Graphic Novel (Grades 3-5)

Amari and the night brothers
Alston, B. B.
Paper Book
New York Times bestseller! Artemis Fowl meets Men in Black in this exhilarating debut middle grade fantasy, the first in a series filled with #blackgirlmagic. Perfect for fans of Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, the Percy Jackson series, and Nevermoor. Amari Peters has...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

Wayfinders
Chick, Bryan
Paper Book
From the author of the bestselling Secret Zoo series, Wayfinders is a delightful tale of a father and daughter who set out on a quest to save a group of fairy-tale creatures. Between school and family drama, Chloe has more than enough on her plate. But when a giant literally crashes...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

Artemis Fowl
Colfer, Eoin.
Paper Book
Now an original movie on Disney+, here is the book that started it all, the international bestseller about a teenage criminal mastermind and his siege against dangerous, tech-savvy fairies. Twelve-year-old criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl has discovered...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

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-...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

The hero's guide to saving your kingdom
Healy, Christopher
Paper Book
Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You’ve never heard of them, have you? These are the princes who saved Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, respectively, and yet, thanks to those lousy bards who wrote the tales, you likely know them only as...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

The great Greene heist
Johnson, Varian
Paper Book
Saving the school -- one con at a time."A political heist page-turner set in middle school? Is that even possible? Varian Johnson shows us how it's done." - Gordon Korman, author of SWINDLE "Do yourself a favor and start reading immediately." - Rebecca Stead, author of WHEN YOU REACH ME Jackson...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

The many assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams
Nayeri, Daniel
Paper Book
NEWBERY HONOR AWARD WINNER BEST OF THE YEAR: NPR - Booklist - School Library Journal - Chicago Public Library - Evanston Public Library - Kirkus - Wall Street Journal The Silk Road comes to life in this...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

Northwind
Paulsen, Gary
Paper Book
This stunning New York Times Bestseller from the survival story master, set along a rugged coastline centuries ago, does for the ocean what Hatchet does for the woods, as it relates the story of a young person's battle to stay alive against the odds, where the high seas meet a...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

City spies
Ponti, James
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller! A GMA3 Summer Reading Squad Selection! "Ingeniously plotted, and a grin-inducing delight." --People "Will keep young readers glued to the page...So when do I get the sequel?" --Beth McMullen, author of Mrs. Smith's Spy School...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

Treasure Island : runaway gold
Rhodes, Jewell Parker
Paper Book
Bestselling and award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes reimagines the classic novel Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson in this thrilling adventure set in modern-day Manhattan, in which three children must navigate the city's hidden history, dodge a threatening crew of skater kids,...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

The luminous life of Lucy Landry
Johnson, Anna Rose
Paper Book
Lucy, a spirited French-Ojibwe orphan, is sent to the stormy waters of Lake Superior to live with a mysterious family of lighthouse-keepers-and, she hopes, to find the legendary necklace her father spent his life seeking... Selena Lucy Landry (named for a ship, as every sailor's...

Children\'s Fiction (Grades 3-5)

I am the walrus
Shusterman, Neal
Paper Book
Eoin Colfer meets Rick Riordan--with a little Margaret Peterson Haddix sprinkled on top--in this hilarious sci-fi series from New York Times bestselling authors Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman. ​ When fourteen-year-old Noah falls from the trees on...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

The Manifestor prophecy
Thomas, Angie
Paper Book
Instant #1 New York Times bestseller! Internationally bestselling superstar author Angie Thomas makes her middle grade debut with the launch of an inventive, hilarious, and suspenseful new contemporary fantasy trilogy inspired by African American history and folklore. It's not...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)


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