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...
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...
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
They told him his uncle died in a car accident. But fourteen-year-old Alex knows that's a lie, and the bullet holes in his uncle's windshield confirm his suspicions. But nothing could prepare him for the news that the uncle he always thought he knew was really a spy for MI6-Britain's top secret...
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 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...
War girls
Onyebuchi, Tochi
Paper Book
Two sisters are torn apart by war and must fight their way back to each other in a futuristic, Black Panther-inspired Nigeria. The year is 2172. Climate change and nuclear disasters have rendered much of earth unlivable. Only the lucky ones have escaped to space colonies in the...
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....
The rosewood hunt
Reed, Mackenzie
Paper Book
Irresistible intrigue, captivating suspense, a swoony friends-to-rivals-to-lovers romance, and heartbreaking betrayal drive this thrilling debut novel that is perfect for fans of The Inheritance Games and Knives Out. Lily Rosewood has lived with her grandmother since her dad...
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...
The outlaws Scarlett & Browne : being an account of their daring exploits and audacious crimes
Stroud, Jonathan
Paper Book
Action! Humor! Fantasy! "Kicking off a new series with a bang (several bangs, in fact), Stroud sends two young fugitives with murky pasts fleeing murderous pursuers across a fractured future Britain." --Kirkus Reviews, starred Scarlett McCain is a shoot-first ask-questions...
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...

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