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

The ultimate kid-friendly zombie apocalypse story! (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Clan.
Brouwer, Sigmund, 1959-
Paper Book
The classic survival story gets a prehistoric twist in this gripping middle-grade adventure featuring a boy and his sabre tooth tiger cub, perfect for fans of Hatchet. Part survival story, part animal-human friendship story and part redemption story, Clan follows the...

A prehistoric survival story featuring a disabled teen boy from a Christy-nominated Canadian author. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Stranded.
Probst, Jeff, 1962-
Paper Book

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 of exciting...

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

Lost Time
Paper Book
Jurassic World meets How to Train Your Dragon in this gorgeously drawn, adventure-packed middle grade graphic novel about a girl who gets trapped 65 million years in the past and must learn to survive with only her wits...and the pterosaur she befriends. Twelve-year...
A girl relies on a dinosaur for survival when she's accidentally trapped in the Cretaceous era. (Children's Graphic Novel 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)

Shipwreck island
Bodeen, S. A.
Paper Book
Sarah Robinson is deeply troubled in the wake of her dad's second marriage. She now has to deal with a new stepmom and two stepbrothers, Marco, who is her age, and Nacho, who's younger. Even though they've all moved from Texas to California to start life as a new, blended family, none of the kids...

An updated take on Hatchet starring a young girl stranded at sea with her new stepfamily. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Two degrees
Gratz, Alan
Paper Book
The instant #1 New York Times bestseller! #1 New York Times bestselling author Alan Gratz (Refugee; Ground Zero) is back, tackling the urgent topic of climate change in this breathtaking, action-packed novel that will keep readers turning pages while making...

Three interconnected stories of young teens surviving climate disasters in a not-too-distant future where the global temperature has risen two degrees Celsius. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Never say die
Hobbs, Will
Paper Book
In this fast-paced adventure story set in the Canadian arctic, fifteen-year-old Inuit hunter Nick Thrasher comes face-to-face with a fearsome creature on a routine caribou hunt gone wrong. Part grizzly, part polar bear, this environmental mutant has been pegged the "grolar bear" by wildlife...

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)

Escape from chernobyl. [online electronic book]
Marino, Andy
Ebook

Three cousins, one of whom works at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, must escape Pripyat after the deadly reactor meltdown in April 1986. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

We are wolves
Nannestad, Katrina
Paper Book
This "hauntingly atmospheric" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), heart-stopping middle grade novel follows three of the Wolfskinder, German children left to fend for themselves in the final days of World War II, as they struggle to hold onto themselves and each other while surviving in the...

A historical survival story inspired by a true story from World War II, in which orphaned children survived by hiding in the woods. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Brother's keeper
Lee, Julie (Children's fiction writer)
Paper Book
With war looming on the horizon and winter setting in, can two children escape North Korea on their own? WINNER OF THE FREEMAN BOOK AWARD! North Korea. December, 1950. Twelve-year-old Sora and her family live under an iron set of rules- No travel without...

Two siblings escape to South Korea in this Korean War-era survival story based on the author's family history. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Hatchet.
Paulsen, Gary, 1939-
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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