Mid-grade survival books are adjacent to action-adventure books, but these titles often have more of an edge. they involve one or two, or a group of children, left alone to “survive” life-threatening situations. These kids will need a lot of life-saving skills and intelligence to find their way back to other humans. of course there will surely be action and maybe even mystery at times.
For this list, I’ve included some of the best middle grade survival stories for an exciting reading experience. these books will have you wondering if you could survive without electricity and water supply for weeks. Happy reading!
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Best Middle Grade Survival Books
here are 28 of the best middle grade survival books:
the rim of the canyon
Published: September 8, 2020
One year after a random shooting changed their family forever, Nora and her father are exploring a canyon deep in the Arizona desert, hoping it will help them find peace. ella nora longs for things to return to normal, like when her mother was still alive, while her father keeps them isolated for fear of other people. But when they reach the bottom of the canyon, the unthinkable happens: a flash flood crosses their path, washing away Nora’s father and all her supplies.
Suddenly, Nora finds herself lost and alone in the desert, facing dehydration, poisonous scorpions, deadly snakes and, worst of all, the beast that has terrorized her dreams for the past year. If Ella Nora is to save herself and her father, she must conquer her fears, defeat the beast, and find the courage to live her new life.
96 miles
Published: February 11, 2020
21 days without light. 2 brothers on a desperate journey. 72 hours before time runs out…
the lockwood brothers are supposed to survive anything. His father, a firm believer in self-sufficiency, has stored enough food and water in their isolated Nevada home to last for months. But when all their supplies are stolen during a massive power outage while their father is out of town, John and Stew must trek 96 miles in the desert sun to get help. Along the way, they are forced to question their father’s insistence on self-sufficiency and wonder what we owe our neighbors, our relatives, and ourselves.
only
Published: January 12, 2021
When twelve-year-old maddie hatches a plan for a secret sleepover with her two best friends, she ends up waking up in the middle of a nightmare. she is alone, abandoned in a town that has been mysteriously evacuated and abandoned.
With no one to trust, no electricity, and no working phone lines or internet access, maddie slowly learns to survive on her own. her only companions are a rottweiler named george and all the books she can read. After a rocky start, Maddie learns to trust her own ingenuity and invents clever ways to survive in a deserted and forgotten place.
As the months go by, escape from natural disasters, looters, and wild animals. But Maddie’s most formidable enemy is the crushing loneliness she faces every day. Can Maddie’s stubborn will to survive get her through the most terrifying experience of her life?
alone in the forest
Published: October 6, 2020
jocelyn and alex have always been the best of friends… until they stopped being. Jocelyn isn’t sure what happened, but she hopes their joint annual family vacation in the isolated North Woods will be the perfect place to rekindle her friendship.
but alex is still not herself when they get to the cabin. and jocelyn comes to a head during a rafting trip that goes terribly wrong. when the girls’ tube breaks, she leaves them stranded and alone. and before they know it, they’re both hopelessly lost.
Wearing swimsuits and water shoes and with only the contents of their wet backpack, the girls face threats from the elements. and while they spend days and nights lost in the desert, they will have to overcome their broken friendship to get out of the forest alive.
path of the red fox
Published: September 15, 2020
francie and her parents are on a spring road trip: driving from british columbia, canada, to hike in the grand canyon. when a short cut takes them down an old logging road, disaster strikes. her truck hits a rock and cleans out the oil pan. They are stuck in the middle of nowhere. Francie can’t help but feel a little excited: she had often imagined how she would survive if she was stranded in the bush, and now here she is. But will her survival skills (making fire, gathering dandelion leaves and fir needles for tea) be enough when hours turn into days?
beyond the shining sea
Published: September 18, 2018
Twelve-year-old Raven has lived her entire life on a small, isolated piece of the beautiful Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts. Abandoned and adrift in a small boat when she was just a few hours old, Raven’s only companions are Osh, the man who rescued and raised her, and Miss Maggie, her fierce and caring neighbor across the sandbar.
the raven has always been curious about the world around her, but it is not until the night a mysterious fire appears in the water that the unspoken question of her own history forms in her heart. Soon, an unstoppable chain of events is unleashed, leading Raven down a path of discovery and danger.
scar island
Published: January 3, 2017
dan gemeinhart brings his trademark blend of action, heart, and beautiful writing to a story of misfits struggling to survive. above the ocean. it’s dark, dank and dreary. and it’s just the place jonathan thinks he deserves. because jonathan has done something terrible. and he is willing to accept any punishment that comes his way. However, just as he is getting used to his new situation, a freak accident leaves the troublesome slabhenge boys without adult supervision. suddenly the kids are free, with an entire island to themselves. but freedom brings an unexpected danger. And if Jonathan can’t come to terms with the sins of his past and bring his new friends to safety… then every child on the island is doomed. in peril, and a story of redemption that sheds light on dark truths to reveal that the strongest prisons of all are the ones we build for ourselves.
I survived the sinking of the titanic
Published: October 1, 2011
History’s most terrifying events come 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 places to explore, but when George ventures into the first class storage cabin, a terrible crash shakes the entire ship. Suddenly, water is everywhere and George’s life changes forever. Lauren Tarshis brings history’s most exciting and terrifying events to life in this New York Times bestselling series. Readers will be transported by stories of incredible children and how they survived!
the way home from santiago
Published: May 5, 2020
The coins in Santiago’s hand are for the bus fare back to his abusive grandmother’s house. except that he refuses to return; he will not be missed. His future is uncertain until he meets kind, motherly Maria Dolores and his young daughter, Joy, who help Santiago decide what’s next: he’ll accompany them to the other side, the United States of America. they embark with little, only backpacks with water and a little food. Traveling together will require trust from all parties, and Santiago is used to doing it alone. None of the three travelers realize that the trip through Mexico to the border is only the beginning of their story.
a long walk to the water
Published: November 15, 2010
The New York Times bestseller A Long Walk to Water opens with two stories, told in alternating sections, about two eleven-year-olds in Sudan, a girl in 2008 and a boy in 1985. the girl, nya , is attractive water from a pond that is a two-hour walk from her house: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, saved, becomes one of the “lost boys” of Sudan, refugees who travel on foot across the African continent in search of their families and a safe place to stay. Enduring all odds, from loneliness to being attacked by armed rebels and contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story intersects with Nya’s in an amazing and moving way.
axe
Published: April 1, 2000
Thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson, haunted by his secret knowledge of his mother’s infidelity, travels by single-engine plane to visit his father for the first time since the divorce. When the plane crashes, killing the pilot, the only survivor is Brian. he is alone in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but his clothes, a tattered windbreaker, and the ax his mother had given him as a gift.
At first consumed with despair and self-pity, brian slowly learns survival skills: how to make a shelter for himself, how to hunt, fish and forage, how to make a campfire, and even finds the courage to start. from scratch when a tornado rips through his camp. When Brian is finally rescued after fifty-four days in the wild, he emerges from his ordeal with new patience and maturity, and a greater understanding of himself and his parents.
a wolf called wanderer
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Published: May 7, 2019
This gripping novel of survival and family is based on the true story of one wolf’s incredible journey to find a safe place to call home. Illustrated throughout, this compelling tale from award-winning author Rosanne Parry is for fans of Sara Pennypacker’s Pax and Katherine Applegate’s one-of-a-kind Ivan.
swift, a young wolf pup, lives with his pack in the mountains learning to hunt, competing with his brothers and sisters for the pecking order, and raising a new litter of pups. then a rival pack attacks, and swift and his family scatter.
alone and scared, swift must run away and find a new home. His journey takes him an extraordinary thousand miles across the Pacific Northwest. The journey is full of danger and Swift encounters forest fires, hunters, highways, and hunger before finding her new home.
diaries of survivors overboard
Published: July 4, 2017
a series of high-risk adventures perfect for fans of the series i survived and the axe. eleven-year-old travis and her family are whale watching off the washington coast when disaster strikes. the ship capsizes, throwing everyone into the chaotic icy waves. Separated from their families and struggling to stay afloat, twelve-year-old Travis and Marina must use all their courage and knowledge to survive. With seventeen years of hands-on experience and training in remote areas, survival expert Terry Lynn Johnson (Ice Dogs; Dog Sledding School) creates stories that will keep you on the edge of your seat and featuring the real-world skills kids need to survive a disaster. This book includes Coast Guard-approved cold-water survival tips; You may have a better chance of surviving a real-life cold water disaster after reading this book.Keep Calm. stay smart survive.
zane and the hurricane: a katrina story
Published: February 25, 2014
newbery honor author rodman philbrick presents a gripping yet poignant novel about a 12-year-old boy and his dog who become trapped in new orleans during the horrors of hurricane katrina.
Zane Dupree is a charismatic 12-year-old mixed-race boy visiting a relative in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hits. Unexpectedly separated from his entire family, Zane and his dog experience the terror of Katrina’s wind, rain and terrifying floods. Facing death, they are rescued from an attic vent by a kindly elderly musician and a feisty young woman, both African American. the chaos that ensues when stormwater floods the city, shelter and food disappear, and the police contribute to a dangerous and terrifying atmosphere, creating a page-turning story that completely absorbs the reader. based on the facts of the worst hurricane disaster in the us uu. Philbrick’s story includes the lawlessness and lack of government support during the disaster, as well as the generosity and courage of those who risked their lives and safety to help others. Here is an unforgettable novel of heroism in the face of truly challenging circumstances.
the last book in the universe
Published: November 1, 2000
In a future where civilization has been destroyed, an old man named Ryter has the crazy idea of writing a book, even though he may be punished with death for doing so, in a chilling and inspiring story from the author of Freak the Mighty.
evacuees from mars
Published: February 17, 2015
When Earth is attacked by aliens, hilarious heroine Alice Dare and a select group of children are sent to Mars. But things get very strange when the adults disappear into thin air, the kids face off against an alien named thsaaa, and it’s up to Alice and her friends to save the galaxy!
Because when plucky twelve-year-old Alice Dade finds out she’s being kicked out of the muckling abbott school for girls and sent to another planet, no one knows what to expect. this is one wild ride that will have kids laughing every time.
refugee
Published: July 25, 2017
Josef is a Jewish boy living in 1930s Nazi Germany. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world. . .isabel is a cuban girl in 1994. with riots and riots raging in her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety in america. . .mahmoud is a syrian boy in 2015. with his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he and his family embark on a long journey to europe. . .the three children undertake harrowing journeys in search of refuge. everyone will face unimaginable dangers, from drowning to bombing and betrayal. but there is always hope for tomorrow. And though Josef, Isabel and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, shocking connections will tie their stories together in the end. This action-packed novel tackles themes both current and timeless: courage, survival, and the search for home.
island of the blue dolphins
Published: September 9, 1960
Far off the California coast looms a hard rock known as San Nicolas Island. Dolphins sparkle in the surrounding blue waters, sea otters play in the vast kep beds, and elephant seals lounge on pebbly beaches.
here in the early 1800’s, as the story goes, an Indian girl spent eighteen years alone, and this beautifully written novel is her story. It is a romantic adventure full of drama and anguish, since the mere subsistence in such a desolate place was not only almost a miracle, but Karana had to face the ferocious pack of wild dogs that had killed her younger brother, constantly guard against the Aleutians. sea otter hunters and maintain a precarious food supply.
more than this, it is an adventure of the spirit that will haunt the reader long after the book has been put down. Karana’s quiet courage, her Indian self-sufficiency, and her acceptance of fate, transform what for many would have been a devastating ordeal into an uplifting experience. From loneliness and terror come strength and serenity in this medal-winning Newbery classic.
the days of the disaster
Published: October 1, 2019
we were alone, in a shaken and destroyed house, in the dark. and I was in charge.
hannah steele loves living on pelling, a small island near seattle. she has always felt totally safe there.
so when one day they ask her to babysit after school, nothing happens. zoe and oscar are her next door neighbors, and ella hannah just took a babysitting class, which makes her an expert. she doesn’t even care that she left her inhaler at home.
then the shaking starts.
The terrifying earthquake only lasts four minutes, but it changes everything: it damages the house, knocks out power, and makes cell service non-existent. Worse yet, the ferry and bridge connecting the children to help, and their parents, are blocked, meaning they are stranded alone. And Hannah is in charge as things go from bad to worse.
blowing storm
Published: July 16, 2019
A major hurricane is hitting the southern United States and two unsuspecting kids are about to have the adventure of a lifetime. perfect for kids who love high-stakes plotlines and natural disaster movies, and anyone interested in extreme weather!
A little rain and wind, don’t worry alejo, they are part of life on the beach. As his godfather says, as long as there are birds in the waves, it’s safe. However, when people begin to evacuate, Alejo realizes that things could be worse than he thought. and they are. a hurricane is headed straight for puerto rico.
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emily’s brother, elliot, has been very ill. he can’t leave his house in new orleans, so emily decides to have an affair for him. she is on a secret mission to the little island that elliot loves. she doesn’t expect to meet an injured goose or a shy turtle. And nothing has prepared her for Megastorm Valerie. Soon Alejo and Emily will be in Valerie’s deadly path. who will survive?
ice dogs
Published: February 4, 2014
Victoria Secord, a fourteen-year-old Alaskan dog sled racer, gets lost on a routine outing with her dogs. With no food and dropping temperatures, her survival and that of her dogs and the mysterious boy she meets in the woods is entirely up to her.
Author Terry Lynn Johnson is also a musher, and her crackling writing puts readers in the reins as Victoria and Chris experience setbacks, mistakes, and small triumphs on their wilderness adventure.
connect the stars
Published: September 22, 2015
When thirteen-year-old Aaron and Audrey meet at a desert camp, they think their quirks are enough to keep them from having friends. But as they walk through the challenging and unforgiving landscape, they learn that each has what it takes to make the other whole.
Bright and clever, Connect the Stars tackles some big topics of the day: bullying, understanding where you fit in, and learning to live with physical and mental challenges, all in a light-hearted adventure kids will love!
a week in the forest
Published: August 1, 2002
mark didn’t ask to move to new hampshire. or to go to a small-town school like hardy elementary. and he certainly didn’t ask mr. maxwell as his teacher. Mr. Maxwell doesn’t like rich kids, or lazy, or know-it-alls. and he has decided that the brand is all of those things. Now the whole school is headed for a week of camping: Hardy’s famous week in the woods. It sounds silly at first, but then Mark begins to open up to country life and decides it might be nice to learn something new. it might even be fun. but things go wrong for mark. the week in the woods is not what anyone planned. especially not mr. Maxwell With his uncanny ability to get straight to the hearts of children, Andrew Clements asks and answers questions about first impressions, fairness, loyalty and courage, and exactly what it takes to spend a week in the woods.
the last children on earth
Published: October 13, 2015
Ever since the monstrous apocalypse hit town, average thirteen-year-old Jack Sullivan has been living in his tree house, which is armed to the teeth with catapults and a moat, not to mention video games and a supply endless oreos and mountains. dew collected from abandoned shops. But Jack alone is no match for the hordes of zombies and the winged wretches and the vine thingies, and especially not the eerily intelligent monster known only as Blarg. so jack forms a team: his best friend his fool, quint; reformed high school bully Dirk; Jack’s loyal pet monster, Rover; and the fiercest girl jack knows, june. With his help, Jack is going to kill Blarg, accomplish the ultimate feat of apocalyptic success, and never be average again! can you do it?
lifeboat 12
Published: September 4, 2018
With the Nazis bombing London every night, it’s time for thirteen-year-old Ken to escape. he suspects his stepmother is glad he’s leaving, but his father says he’s one of the lucky ones, one of the ninety boys and girls who sailed aboard the ss city of benares to safety in Canada.
Life aboard the luxury ship is grand: nine-course meals, new friends, and a life away from bombs, rations, and your stepmother’s gaze. and after five days at sea, the ship’s officers announce that they are out of danger.
they are wrong.
Later that night, an explosion throws ken from his bunk. have been beaten. torpedoed! the benares is sinking fast. Terrified, Ken climbs aboard Lifeboat 12 with five other children. will they escape? Will they survive?
distress signal
Published: October 20, 2020
In this edge-of-your-seat survival story, four classmates are stranded in a wild desert after a flash flood separates them from the rest of their grade. Will they be able to get to a safe place?
Lavender’s class is on a field trip to the Chiricahua Desert National Monument, hiking through a ravine, when a flash flood occurs!
As the water rushes down the ravine, everyone runs for safety. Lavender runs in the opposite direction from the rest of her class and climbs a tree as the torrential river rages past.
When the waters finally recede, Lavender finds herself stranded in the brutal desert heat with only her ex-best friend Marisol, mean girl Rachelle, and a boy named John. they are shocked, disoriented and have only a pack of supplies and the most basic knowledge of the desert. can they find their way back to safety? they will have to learn to work together despite their differences, if they want to survive.
hit in the middle of maybe
Published: July 10, 2018
How far would you go to find something that may not even exist?
All her life, cricket’s mom has told her stories about a secret room painted by a mysterious artist. now mom has run away and cricket thinks the room could be the answer for her to come back. if it’d exist. and if she can find it.
The only cricket pitch is a coin from an adult ghost town in the woods. So with his dad’s old guidebook and a coat full of stolen cash ‘n’ carry snacks, cricket sneaks out to find the room. Surviving in the forest is not easy. while cricket camps out in an old tree house and searches for clues, he meets the ghost town’s last resident, runs into a poetry-loving dog (who might hold the key to a piece of the puzzle), and discovers that sometimes you have to get lost a bit. . . to really find your way.
through the desert
Published: October 12, 2021
Twelve-year-old Jolene spends every day she can in the library watching her favorite live stream: The Desert Aviator, where twelve-year-old “Addie Earhart” shares her adventures flying over the desert in a microlight aircraft. . As she watches this daring girl soar through the sky, Jolene can dream of what it would be like to fly with her, away from her own troubled home life, where her mother struggles with an addiction to narcotics. And Addie, grieving the loss of her father, finds solace in her online conversations with Jolene, his biggest and only fan.
Then one day, everything goes wrong: Addie’s engine abruptly stops and Jolene watches in horror and helplessness as the ultralight plummets to the ground and the video blacks out. Jolene knows Addie won’t survive long in the extreme heat of the summer desert. With no one to turn to for help and armed with only a hand-drawn map and a stolen cell phone, Jolene must find a way to save the desert flyer. Full of adventure and heart, Across the Wilderness speaks to the resilience, hope, and strength within each of us.
there they are: 28 of the best middle grade survival books to read! which of these books have you read? And which one would you recommend?
See Also: Ellen Hopkins – Book Series In Order
more book lists
- middle grade action adventure books
- middle grade science fiction books
- middle grade cozy mysteries and adventurers