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.
Did you find this review helpful?
Parent Categories
Action & Adventure Stories
50 Items found Print
Active Filters: Historical Fiction, 4th grade (Ages 9-10), New Books & Materials
Adam of the Road
Puffin Newbery Library
by Elizabeth Gray
from Puffin Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
1943 Newbery Medal winner
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.99
Adam of the Road
Puffin Modern Classics
by Elizabeth Gray
from Puffin Books
Historical Fiction for 3rd-8th grade
1943 Newbery Medal winner
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$8.99
Adara
by Beatrice Gormley
from Eerdmans
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.00 $5.00 (2 in stock)
Barbary Jihad
Monroe Family Chronicles #4
by Douglas Wilson
from Veritas Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.00
Black Pearl
by Scott O'Dell
Reprint from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Book of Boy
by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, illustrated by Ian Schoenherr
Frist Paperback from Greenwillow Books
for 3rd-7th grade
2019 Newbery Honor Book
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99
Book of Golden Deeds
by Charlotte M. Yonge
from Living Book Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$13.99
Boy of Old Prague
by S. Ish-Kishor
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$3.99
Boy of the Pyramids
by Ruth Fosdick Jones
from Purple House Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Breaking Stalin's Nose
by Eugene Yelchin
from Square Fish Publishing
for 4th-7th grade
2012 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Detectives in Togas
by Henry Winterfeld
from Harcourt
Humorous Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Dutch Color
by Doug Jones
from Canon Press
Historical Fiction for 4th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.00
Education of Patience Goodspeed
by Heather Vogel Frederick
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.99
Fear in the Forest
by Cateau de Leeuw
from Bethlehem Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
Fiddler's Green
from Rabbit Room Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99
Ghost in the Tokaido Inn
by Dorothy & Thomas Hoobler
from Puffin Books
for 4th-7th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99 $4.50 (2 in stock)
Golden Goblet
by Eloise J. McGraw
from Puffin Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
1962 Newbery Honor Book
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.99
Gone Crazy in Alabama
by Rita Williams-Garcia
Reprint from Amistad Press
for 4th-7th grade
Coretta Scott King Award
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
He Went with Champlain
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.99
He Went with Christopher Columbus
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.99
He Went with Drake
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.99
He Went with John Paul Jones
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.99
He Went with Magellan
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.99
He Went with Marco Polo
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.99
He Went with Vasco da Gama
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.99
House of Dies Drear
by Virginia Hamilton
Reissue from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99 $4.00 (4 in stock)
I Am David
by Anne Holm
from Harcourt
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Incident at Hawk's Hill
by Allan W. Eckert
from Little, Brown & Company
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
1972 Newbery Honor Book
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Indian Captive
by Lois Lenski
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 4th-9th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99 $4.50 (2 in stock)
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
King Arthur and His Knights
by Maude Redford Warren
2nd edition from Yesterday's Classics
Arthurian Legends and Myths for
$11.95
Listening for Lions
by Gloria Whelan
from HarperCollins
for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.99 $3.50 (1 in stock)
Mara, Daughter of the Nile
by Eloise J. McGraw
from Puffin Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Moccasin Trail
Puffin Newbery Library
by Eloise J. McGraw
from Puffin Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
1953 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg
by Rodman Philbrick
from Scholastic Press
for 3rd-6th grade
2010 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Mystery of the Roman Ransom
by Henry Winterfeld
from Harcourt
Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
One Crazy Summer
by Rita Williams-Garcia
Reprint from Amistad Press
for 4th-7th grade
2011 Newbery Honor Book, National Book Award, Coretta Scott King Award, Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
P.S. Be Eleven
by Rita Williams-Garcia
Reprint from Amistad Press
for 4th-7th grade
Coretta Scott King Award
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Red Falcons of Tremoine
by Hendry Peart
from Bethlehem Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-7th
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$13.95
Sallie Fox
by Dorothy Kupcha Leland
1st edition from Tomato Enterprises
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.95
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
Susan Creek
Monroe Family Chronicles #2
by Doug Wilson
from Veritas Press
Nautical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$15.00
Sword in the Tree
by Clyde Robert Bulla
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$5.99
Theras and His Town
by Caroline Dale Snedeker
from American Home-School Publishing
Action/Adventure for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$17.99
Two Williams
Monroe Family Chronicles #3
by Doug Wilson
from Veritas Press
Nautical fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$15.00
Voyage of Patience Goodspeed
by Heather Vogel Frederick
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
War Horse
by Michael Morpurgo
from Scholastic Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$7.99
Warhorse
by Don Bolognese
from Simon and Schuster
for 4th-7th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
When the Dikes Broke
by Alta Halverson Seymour, illustrated by Al Schmidt
from Purple House Press
for 4th-7th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Winged Girl of Knossos
by Erick Berry
First Paul Dry Books from Paul Dry Books
for 4th-8th grade
1934 Newbery Honor Book
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$15.95