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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Action & Adventure Stories
40 Items found Print
Active Filters: Mystery & Suspense, Hardcover
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)
Alfred Hitchcock's Haunted Houseful
by Alfred Hitchcock, illustrated by Fred Banbery
from Random House
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Bill Bergson Master Detective
by Astrid Lindgren
from Viking Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase
by Wendy Mass
from Little, Brown & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.99
Chasing Vermeer
by Blue Balliett
1st edition from Scholastic Press
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$10.00 (2 in stock)
Crispin: The End of Time
by Avi
from Balzer & Bray
for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
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)
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)
Emil and the Detectives
by Erich Kästner
1st edition from Barnes & Noble
for 4th-7th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
by E.L. Konigsburg
37th printing from Atheneum
for 4th-6th grade
1968 Newbery Medal Winner
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.50 (2 in stock)
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
by E. L. Konigsburg
35th Anniversary Edition from Atheneum
Mystery/Suspense for 4th-7th grade
1968 Newbery Medal winner
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Invention of Hugo Cabret
by Brian Selznick
First Edition from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
2008 Caldecott Medal winner
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$29.99
Journey to the River Sea
by Eva Ibbotson
First Edition from Dutton Juvenile
for 5th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
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)
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)
Miss Pickerell on the Trail
by Ellen MacGregor and Dora Pantell, Illustrated by Charles Geer
from McGraw-Hill
for 2nd-5th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics
by Chris Grabenstein
1st edition from Random House Books for Young Readers
for 3rd-5th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
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
Mysterious Benedict Society #1
by Trenton Lee Stewart
from Little, Brown & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Mysterious Benedict Society and the Riddle of Ages
Mysterious Benedict Society #4
by Trenton Lee Stewart
from Little, Brown & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Nightbirds on Nantucket
Wolves Chronicles #3
by Joan Aiken
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Spy Who Came in from the Sea
by Peggy Nolan
from Pineapple Press
Adventure Stories for 2nd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
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
Sterling Classics
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Scott McKowen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 7th-10th grade
in Mystery & Suspense (Location: FIC-MYS)
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)
Thirty-Nine Steps
by John Buchan
from Houghton Mifflin
Action Adventure for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Three Times Lucky
Mo and Dale Mysteries #1
by Sheila Turnage
Reprint from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
2013 Newbery Honor Book
in Mystery & Suspense (Location: FIC-MYS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Traitor Among Us
by Elizabeth Van Steenwyk
from Eerdmans
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Trixie Belden #13
by Kathryn Kenney
from Whitman Publishing Company
for 3rd-5th grade
in Trixie Belden Mysteries (Location: SER-TRIX)
True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
by Avi
from Orchard Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Wish Giver
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)
Wright 3
by Blue Balliett
1st edition from Scholastic Press
for 6th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Wright 3
Balliet Art Mystery Series
by Blue Balliett
1st edition from Scholastic Press
for 6th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99