Mt. Lebanon Public Library                                                           Booklists

About the Library Library Catalog Reference Desk Kids & Teens Library Calendar Community Links Home
Internet SafetyNet

Kids' Web

Games & Online Fun

What's Happening?

Homework Help Sites

What Do I Read Next?

Parents, Teachers &
    Homeschoolers

Kids' Home Page

                          Suggestions from Mt. Lebanon Public Library  ~  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
                  
 www.mtlebanonlibrary.org

           
   
       Adventure Books

Joan Aiken-      Dangerous Games
Dido Twite travels to Aratu, a spice island where foreigners rarely go because of the deadly snakes and monkeys. But Dido soon realizes that there’s something much more sinister on the island than those creatures.
Grades 5+

Lloyd Alexander-       Westmark
In the Kingdom of Westmark, a young boy fleeing for his life joins forces with 3 mysterious companions.
Grades 5+

Isaac Asimov-       Fantastic Voyage
Five people in a miniaturized submarine have one hour to travel through a man’s circulatory system to save his life.
Grades 6+

Avi-       Beyond the Western Sea
Three teenagers, escaping the Irish famine, share cliff-hanging adventures amidst a cast of colorful characters.
Grades 5+

 Avi-        Captain Grey
After the Revolutionary War, a young boy is captured by a band of
ruthless pirates.
Grades 5+

Avi-        The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
In 1832, thirteen year old Charlotte Doyle is the only passenger aboard the sinister ship Seahawk where she is accused of murder and found guilty.
Grades 5+

Lynn Reid  Banks-        Harry the Poisonous Centipede
Harry is a curious young centipede who gets himself into trouble when he disobeys his mother and makes the forbidden trip into the dangerous world of humans.
Grades 3 – 4

Malcolm Bosse-       The Examination
Two brothers, a scholar and an adventurer, face many perils as they journey through sixteenth century China.
Grades 6+

Bill Brittain-       My Buddy, the King: A Novel
When King Tokab of Mokobway is saved from choking on a frankfurter by Tim Quilt, they become fast friends and together outwit a plot to do in the king.
Grades 4—6

Eve Bunting-        SOS Titanic
Four Irish children, rich and poor, sail on the Titanic’s maiden voyage.
Grades 4+

Sheila Burnford-        The Incredible Journey
Two dogs and a cat set off on a 250 mile trek through the Canadian wilderness in order to return to their beloved owners.
Grades 5+

Arthur Catherall-        Kidnapped by Accident
A brother and sister’s collision with a yacht begins a three day adventure in Finland.
Grades 5+

Vera & Bill Cleaver-        Where the Lilies Bloom
In the Appalachians, a 14 year old girl has to care for her younger brother while keeping their father’s death a secret. Can they survive the winter?
Grades 4+

Susan Cooper-        The Dark is Rising
The cosmic struggle between good and evil plays itself out in modern day England and Wales, when ancient myths come to life. The second book in The Dark is Rising series.
Grades 5+

Alice Dalgliesh-       The Courage of Sarah Noble
An 8 year old colonial girl goes with her father to build a new home in the Connecticut wilderness. She must find the courage to stay alone when her father goes back to bring the rest of the family.
Grades 2 – 4

Cynthia DeFelice-        Weasel
Alone in the frontier wilderness in the winter of 1839 while his father is recovering from an injury, 11 year-old Nathan runs afoul of the renegade killer known as Weasel.
Grades 5+

Peter Dickinson-        Tulku
A thirteen year old boy escapes slaughter by the Boxers in China and
travels to Tibet.
Grades 5 +

Alexandre Dumas-        The Count of Monte Cristo
The classic French novel about false imprisonment, escape and revenge.
Grades 6+

Sid Fleischman-        Chancy and the Grand Rascal
Ohio River adventure before the Civil War– exciting and humorous.
Grades 5+

Sid Fleischman-        The Whipping Boy
A bratty prince and his whipping boy change places after becoming involved with dangerous outlaws. 1987 Newbery Award Winner.
Grades 3 – 5

Monica Furlong-       Robin’s Country
A mute orphan boy, with only shadowy recollections of his past, runs away from his cruel master and eventually joins Robin Hood and his followers in their forest hideaway.
Grades 5+

Leon Garfield-       Young Nick and Jubilee
Two orphans try to survive by their wits on the streets of nineteenth century London.
Grades 4 +

Jean Craighead George-        Julie of the Wolves
While running away from home and an unwanted marriage, a thirteen year old Eskimo girl becomes lost and is befriended by a wolf pack.
Grades 5+

Judith Gorog-        Winning Scheherazade
After being released from her position as storyteller and doomed bride of the sultan, Scheherazade finds herself on a dangerous adventure in the desert.
Grades 5+

Charles Boardman Hawes-        The Dark Frigate
The classic story of Philip Marsham, an English sailor, pirate and soldier.
Grades 6+

Sid Hite-        The Distance of Hope
Yeshe Anger, the nearly blind heir to the throne of Padma, undertakes a dangerous journey to find the legend who may restore his sight.
Grades 5+

Will Hobbs-       Ghost Canoe
Clues to a lost treasure and mysterious footprints lead a 14 year old boy to suspect that all did not die in a nearby shipwreck off the Washington coast.
Grades 5+

Felice Holman-        Slakes Limbo
Desperate and harassed to the breaking point, Slake decides to live in the New York City subway.
Grades 5+

Kathleen Karr-        Skullduggery
In 1839, 12 year old Matthew’s job as an assistant to Dr. Cornwall takes him up and down the Eastern Seaboard and Europe, where together they rob graves and try to find out who is following them and why.
Grades 5+

Carol Kendall-       The Gammage Cup
A handful of Minnipins are exiled from their isolated mountain valley community only to discover that their ancient enemies are planning an attack.
Grades 5+

Richard Kennedy-        Amy’s Eyes
An indescribable adventure book for thoughtful fantasy readers. A doll comes alive, and a girl becomes a doll for a great adventure on the high seas.
Grades 6+

Iain Lawrence-       The Wreckers
Shipwrecked after a vicious storm, 14 year old John Spencer attempts to save his father and himself while dealing with the evil people in the English coastal town where they are stranded.
Grades 6+

Madeleine L’Engle-       The Arm of the Starfish
A young marine biologist becomes involved in intrigue and the disappearance of a young girl in this tale of danger.
Grades 6+

Jack London-       The Call of the Wild
During the Klondike Gold Rush, a sled dog escapes captivity to become a leader of a wolf pack and a legend of the North.
Grades 5+

Ben Mikaelson-        Sparrow Hawk Red
Thirteen year old Ricky tries to avenge his mother’s murder by crossing into Mexico to steal a high-tech radar plane.
Grades 5+

Hilary Milton-       Mayday! Mayday!
After their plane crashes on a mountainside, two injured friends try to get help for their badly injured parents
Grades 5+

Michael Morpurgo-        King of the Cloud Forests
A 14 year old boy, trying to escape into India, becomes trapped in a Tibetan blizzard where he is rescued by a tribe of the legendary Yeti.
Grades 4+

Farley Mowat-       Lost in the Barrens
Two boys become stranded in the dangerous forests of Northern Canada.
Grades 6+

Andre Norton-        Steel Magic
Fantasy adventure as three young Americans help to recover the lost treasures of Avalon: Arthur’s sword, Merlin’s ring, and Huon’s horn.
Grades 5+

Scott O’Dell-       Island of the Blue Dolphins
In this fact-based story, a Native American girl is accidentally left behind on her island home where she lives alone for many years.
Grades 5+

Mary Pope Osborne-        The Magic Tree House Series
8 year old Jack and his younger sister Annie find a Magic Tree House, which whisks them back to a variety of times and places.
Grades 1 - 3

Bjorn Konow Paulsson-       Blind Landing
A Norwegian fighter pilot risks his life to help an injured pilot land his
damaged plane.
Grades 5 +

Gary Paulsen-       Hatchet
When his plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness, 13 year old Brian is left alone with only a hatchet to help him survive.
Grades 4+

Gary Paulsen-       The Voyage of the Frog
Alone on a 22 foot sailboat, 14 year old David survives a nine day sea ordeal.
Grades 4+

P. J. Petersen-        White Water
When their father is bitten by a rattlesnake on a white water rafting trip, two young brothers must steer him and their raft to safety.
Grades 5+

Joan Phipson-        When the City Stopped
An Australian brother and sister try to flee their deserted and dangerous city home.
Grades 6+

Arthur Roth-        The Iceberg Hermit
Shipwrecked in 1757 on an iceberg with only a polar cub for companionship, 17 year old Allan begins a seemingly hopeless struggle for survival.
Grades 5+

Marian Rumsey-       Carolina Hurricane
A twelve year old boy and his dog face a hurricane when they are stranded on an island off the coast of South Carolina.
Grades 5+

Louis Sachar-       Holes
As further evidence of his family’s bad fortune, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself.
Grades 5+

Zilpha Keatley Snyder-        Song of the Gargoyle
When mysterious men abduct his father, 13 year old Tymmon runs away to the forest where he meets a strange animal companion and plots to rescue his father.
Grades 5+

Armstrong Sperry-        Call It Courage
A Polynesian boy overcomes his terrible fear of the sea. Newbery Medal winner. 
Grades 4+

Robert Louis Stevenson-        Treasure Island
Join Long John Silver and Jim Hawkins on this incredible journey from the high seas to Treasure Island. The classic adventure story of all time!
Grades 5+

Rosemary Sutcliff-       The Shining Company
Set in early Britain, this novel tells the story of a young man who confronts the enemy Saxons.
Grades 5 +

Ann Turnbull-        The Wolf King
A young bronze-age boy sets out to kill the Wolf King, a mysterious figure who controls a wolf pack that has been raiding the local villages.
Grades 5+

Megan Whalen Turner-        The Queen of Attolia
Foresaken by the gods and left to his own devices, Eugenides summons all of his wit and wiles in an attempt to conquer the rival Queen of Attolia.
Grades 6+

Mark Twain-        The Prince and the Pauper
A king and a poor boy switch places in sixteenth century England.
Grade 5+

Cynthia Voigt-        The Wings of a Falcon
Fourteen year old Oreil and his friend Griff flee the slavery of Damall’s Island and seek a new life on the mainland.
Grades 6+

Barbara Brooks Wallace-        Cousins in the Castle
An orphaned English girl, abandoned in turn of the century New York City, is surrounded by villains, secrecy, and suspense.
Grades 5+

Robb White-        Deathwatch
A college student left in the middle of the desert without clothes, food or water is hunted by an armed madman.
Grades 6+

Many of the above titles are also available in paperback editions.

back to top
more booklists

Look for these and other great books in
The Children's Library
Mt. Lebanon Public Library
16 Castle Shannon Blvd.
Pittsburgh, PA 15228
412/531-1913      1.01
www.mtlebanonlibrary.org