Action & Adventure Stories

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If pirates, jousting and horseback chases no longer appeal to you, you're too old or too boring. Adventure stories fell out of vogue among 20th century literary types who thought serious fiction had to be boring and depressing, but to those born with fire in their bones, adventure stories are deeply serious.

Not serious like existentialism or keeping a stiff upper lip, but serious like Robin Hood—devoted to protecting the downtrodden, committed to Maid Marian, sworn to fight injustice as long as a soul is in his body, always laughing and ready for a fight or a feast.

G. K. Chesterton wrote adventure stories because they best expressed the eternal joy that supported his generous frame. For those raised on Modern Adventure Stories, joy may seem an inappropriate word for an increasingly dark genre, but the fault lies with those who think adventures are forays into evil rather than romps with Gilbert Keith.

There's nothing evil about a good adventure. There may be bad guys (there ought to be), but if the Good Guy does his job there'll be more of his exploits to talk about than theirs. Because, should he be doing his job, the Hero will be sword-fighting, being clever, wooing, chasing and laughing to the detriment of his enemies on every page.

Average people don't have the adventures Heroes in Books have—they have the adventures of Modern Men in Books. But the way through the prosaic troubles of life isn't to immerse yourself in them, it's to let the Good Guys show The Way Out of Problems, and do your best to imitate them when you meet the less dramatic, but no less real, dangers of everyday existence.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.

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Action & Adventure Stories

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Used Books & Materials

	Adventures of Tommy Blake by Brother Ernest from St. Anthony Guild Press for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $12.00 (1 in stock)
	Alexi's Secret Mission by Anita Deyneka from School of Tomorrow for 1st-4th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $4.50 (1 in stock)
	Call it Courage by Armstrong Sperry 1963 printing from Macmillan for 2nd-6th grade 1941 Newbery Medal winner in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $10.00 (1 in stock)
	Canterbury Tales Selected, translated, adapted and illustrated by Barbara Cohen & Trina Schart Hyman from William Morrow & Company Medieval Literature for 3rd-6th grade in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $17.50 (1 in stock)
	Cowboy Boots by Shannon Garst from Abingdon-Cokesbury Press for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $12.00 (1 in stock)
	Danger on Shadow Mountain by Marian Rumsey, Illustrated by Lydia Rosier from William Morrow & Company for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $5.00 (1 in stock)
	Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin; illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats from McGraw-Hill for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $8.00 (3 in stock)
	Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin, Illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats from McGraw-Hill for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Danny Dunn and the Swamp Monster by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin; illustrated by Paul Sagsoorian from McGraw-Hill for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	ECL: Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne, illustrated by Don Irwin for 3rd-8th grade in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	ECL: Virginian Educator Classic Library #6 by Owen Wister, illustrated by Don Irwin Complete and Unabridged Edition from Classic Press in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL) $5.00 (2 in stock)
	Hidden Peril from Cupples & Leon for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $12.00 (1 in stock)
	Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis Reprint from HarperCollins for 3rd-9th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $10.00 (1 in stock)
	Jerry Todd and the Oak Island Treasure Jerry Todd #03 by Leo Edwards, illustrated by Bert Salg from Grosset & Dunlap for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $14.00 (1 in stock)
	Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Safaya Salter from Henry Holt and Company Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-6th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $9.00 (2 in stock)
	Last Battle Chronicles of Narnia Book 7 by C. S. Lewis from HarperCollins Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $9.00 (1 in stock)
	Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics by Chris Grabenstein 1^st edition from Random House Books for Young Readers for 3rd-5th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $9.00 (1 in stock)
	New York's Bravest by Mary Pope Osborne First Edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 1st-3rd grade in Oversized Biographies $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Pagemaster by David Kirschner, Ernie Contreras from Turner Publishing, Inc. for 3rd-6th grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $9.00 (1 in stock)
	Peter Pan (abridged) by J. M. Barrie, abridged by Vic Parker and illustrated by Claudia Venturini from Viking Press Fantasy for 2nd-5th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $7.20 (1 in stock)
	Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis from HarperCollins for 3rd-12th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Prince Caspian Read Aloud Edition Chronicles of Narnia Book 4 by C. S. Lewis from HarperCollins Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $12.00 (1 in stock)
	Rocky Point Campers by Jane Rietveld from Viking Press for 2nd-5th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $7.00 (1 in stock)
	Secret Journey of the Silver Reindeer by Lee Kingman, illustrated by Lynd Ward from Doubleday & Company for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor by John Yeoman (reteller), illustrated by Quentin Blake from Margaret K. McElderry Books for 3rd-6th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Ship's Boy with Magellan by Milton Lomask, illustrated by William Plummer from Doubleday & Company for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $20.00 (1 in stock)
	Shirley Temple Edition of Captain January & The Little Colonel by Laura E. Richards and Annie Fellows Johnston from Random House for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Swampfire by Patricia Cecil Hass, illustrated by Charles Robinson from Dodd, Mead & Co. for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $5.00 (1 in stock)
	Tom Swift and His Jetmarine Tom Swift Jr. #2 by Victor Appleton II from Grosset & Dunlap for 3rd-6th grade in Tom Swift (Location: VIN-SER) $6.00 (2 in stock)
	Tom Swift and His Jetmarine Tom Swift Jr. #2 by Victor Appleton II from Grosset & Dunlap for 3rd-6th grade in Tom Swift (Location: VIN-SER) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Triple-Threat Patrol Junior Literary Guild by Kenneth Gilbert, illustrated by Ernest Norling from Henry Holt and Company for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Tunnel of Hugsy Goode by Eleanor Estes, Illustrated by Edward Ardizzone from Harcourt Brace Jovanich for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $14.00 (1 in stock)
	Voyage of the Dawn Treader Chronicles of Narnia Book 5 by C. S. Lewis from HarperCollins Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $10.00 (2 in stock)
	Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman 1^st edition from Greenwillow Books for 3rd-6th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Wish Giver Three Tales of Coven Tree by Bill Brittain, illustrated by Andrew Glass from HarperCollins for 3rd-6th grade Newbery Honor Book in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $12.00 (1 in stock)

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