Action & Adventure Stories

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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Parent Categories
Action & Adventure Stories
55 Items found Print
Active Filters: Mystery & Suspense, 10th grade (Ages 15-16)
Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
by Arthur Conan Conan Doyle
from Penguin Classics
for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$11.20
Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Sterling Classics
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 7th-12th grade
in Mystery & Suspense (Location: FIC-MYS)
By the Pricking of My Thumbs
A Tommy and Tuppence Mystery #4
by Agatha Christie
Reissue, 2012 from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Code Name Verity
by Elizabeth Wein
from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 9th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.99
Conference of the Birds
by Ransom Riggs
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Curtain: Poirot's Last Case
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #39
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reprint from William Morrow & Company
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$13.99
Curtain: Poirot's Last Case
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #39
by Agatha Christie
from Dodd, Mead & Co.
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Death in the Clouds
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #12
by Agatha Christie
from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Desolations of Devil's Acre
by Ransom Riggs
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Disappeared
by Francisco X. Stork
from Arthur A. Levine Books
for 7th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$10.99
Dumb Witness
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #16
by Agatha Christie
Reprint from William Morrow & Company
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$13.99
ECL: Casebook of Sherlock Holmes (abridged)
Educator Classic Library #7
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, illustrated by Don Irwin
from Classic Press
for 8th-Adult
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
Extraordinary Cases of Sherlock Holmes
Puffin Classics
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
from Puffin Books
Mystery for 6th-10th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$7.19
Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict
Mysterious Benedict Society #5
by Trenton Lee Stewart
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Four Adventures of Richard Hannay
by John Buchan
from David R. Godine
Action Adventure for 8th-10th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Great Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Puffin Classics
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
from Puffin Books
Mystery for 6th-10th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$7.19
Hollow City
Book 2
by Ransom Riggs
from Quirk Books
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Hollow City
by Ransom Riggs
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Hound of the Baskervilles
Whole Story Series
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
from Viking Press
Mystery for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Hound of the Baskervilles
Puffin Classics
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Reissue from Puffin Books
for 6th-10th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$6.39
Hound of the Baskervilles
Children's Classics
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, illustrated by Sergio Martinez and Sidney Paget
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Hound of the Baskervilles
Portland House Illustrated Classics
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, illustrated by Sergio Martinez and Sidney Paget
from Portland House
Mystery & Suspense for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Kidnapped
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by L'uboslav Pal'o
for 7th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Kidnapped
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-10th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Kidnapped (The Original Text)
by Robert Louis Stevenson, edited with an introduction and notes by Barry Menikoff
from Huntington Library
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Library of Souls
by Ransom Riggs
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Lord Peter Wimsey - The Complete Collection
by Dorothy L. Sayers
from HarperCollins
Murder Mystery for 9th grade-adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Man in the Brown Suit
A Colonel Race Mystery #1
by Agatha Christie
from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Man in the Brown Suit
A Colonel Race Mystery #1
by Agatha Christie
from St. Martin's Press
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Map of Days
by Ransom Riggs
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Arthur Conan Conan Doyle
from Reader's Digest
for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
by Arthur Conan Doyle, Illustrated by Sidney Paget
100th Anniversary Edition from SeaWolf Press
for 7th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$7.96
Mr. Benedict's Book of Perplexing Puzzles, Elusive Enigmas, and Curious Conundrums
Mysterious Benedict Society
by Trenton Lee Stewart
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
from Grosset & Dunlap
Mystery for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Mysterious Benedict Society - Boxed Set
by Trenton Lee Stewart
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-10th grade
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$50.00
Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey
Mysterious Benedict Society #2
by Trenton Lee Stewart
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma
Mysterious Benedict Society Book 3
by Trenton Lee Stewart
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Secret of Chimneys
A Superintendent Battle Mystery #1
by Agatha Christie
from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Sherlock Holmes and the Red Demon
by Larry Millett
from Penguin Classics
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Stories of Edgar Allan Poe
Sterling Classics
by Edgar Allen Poe, illustrated by Scott McKowen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Mystery & Suspense (Location: FIC-MYS)
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Whole Story Series
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Viking Press
Mystery/Suspense for 8th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Sterling Classics
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Scott McKowen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 7th-10th grade
in Mystery & Suspense (Location: FIC-MYS)
Taken at the Flood
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #27
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Tales of Edgar Allan Poe
Books of Wonder
by Edgar Allen Poe (illustrated by Barry Moser)
from HarperCollins
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Tales of Edgar Allan Poe
by Edgar Allen Poe, illustrated by Fritz Eichenberg
from Random House
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Calla Editions
by Edgar Allan Poe
from Dover Publications
for 7th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Portland House Illustrated Classics
by Edgar Allan Poe, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Portland House
for 7th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
by Edgar Allan Poe, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
$22.00
Tales of Mystery and Terror
Puffin Classics
by Edgar Allan Poe
from Puffin Books
Mystery/Horror for 8th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Tales of the Peculiar
by Ransom Riggs
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
They Came to Baghdad
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reissue from HarperCollins
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Thirty-Nine Steps
Dover Thrift Editions
by John Buchan
from Dover Publications
Action Adventure for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$3.00
Thirty-Nine Steps
by John Buchan
from Penguin Classics
Action Adventure for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$13.00
Thirty-Nine Steps
by John Buchan
from Houghton Mifflin
Action Adventure for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Under Dog and Other Stories
by Agatha Christie
2012 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)