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
417 Items found Print
Active Filters: 7th grade (Ages 12-13), Hardcover
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Jules Verne, translated by Anthony Bonner and illustrated by Stephen Armes
from Grosset & Dunlap
Science Fiction for 5th-10th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Books of Wonder
by Jules Verne, translated by Anthony Bonner and illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon
from HarperCollins
Science Fiction for 5th-10th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
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)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Sterling Classics
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Scott McKowen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$14.95
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Richard M. Powers
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Children's Classics
by Mark Twain, Illustrated by Peter Fiore
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
for 5th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Illustrated Junior Library Series 1
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Books of Wonder
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Steven Kellogg
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Adventures of Robin Hood
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Paul Creswick, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth
1991 Edition from Reader's Digest
for 6th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (3 in stock)
Adventures of Robin Hood
by E. Charles Vivian, compiled by Cooper Edens
from Chronicle Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Troy Howell
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Sterling Classics
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-8th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain
from International Collectors Library
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Norman Rockwell
from Heritage Press
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Illustrated Junior Library Series 1
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-8th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Books of Wonder
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Barry Moser
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Ted Lewin
from Simon and Schuster
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Kamil Lohták
from Simon and Schuster
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-8th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Worth Brehm
from Harper & Brothers
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer / Tom Sawyer Abroad / Tom Sawyer, Detective
by Mark Twain
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
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)
Allegiant (Divergent Series)
Divergent #3
by Veronica Roth
1st edition from Katherine Tegen Books
for 6th-9th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
Among the Enemy
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
from Scholastic Inc.
for 5th-8th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Ann Thorne in America
by Rosamond Bertram
from Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Annotated Peter Pan
by J. M. Barrie
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Around the World in Eighty Days
Sterling Classics
by Jules Verne, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
Adventure for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Around the World in Eighty Days
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Jules Verne, illustrated by Robin Jacques
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Around the World in Eighty Days
Books of Wonder
by Jules Verne, illustrated by Barry Moser
from William Morrow & Company
Adventure for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Around the World in Eighty Days
by Jules Verne, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Heritage Press
for 7th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
At the Point of the Bayonet
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Banner in the Sky
by James Ramsey Ullman
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
1955 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Bark of the Bog Owl (May 2024)
Wilderking #1
by Jonathan Rogers
2nd edition from Rabbit Room Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$14.95
Bear Island
by Alistair MacLean
from Doubleday & Company
for 7th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Ben-Hur
by Lew Wallace
from Heritage Press
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Big Red
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Holiday House
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$17.99
Black Arrow
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Black Arrow
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth
from Atheneum
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Black Beauty
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Anna Sewell, illustrated by Fritz Eichenberg
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-8th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Black Falcon
by Armstrong Sperry
from John C. Winston
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Black Stallion
by Walter Farley
from Random House
for 4th-7th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Black Stallion
by Walter Farley
from Junior Deluxe Editions
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Black Stallion's Filly
Black Stallion #8
by Walter Farley
from Random House
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Black Star, Bright Dawn
by Scott O'Dell
from Houghton Mifflin
for 7th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Book of Adventure
Young Folks Library
by Nathan Haskell Dole, ed.
from Auxiliary Educational League
for 4th-7th grade
in Vintage Anthology Collections (Location: VIN-ANTH)
Book of Brave Deeds
Young Folks Library
by John T. Trowbridge, ed.
from Auxiliary Educational League
for 4th-7th grade
in Vintage Anthology Collections (Location: VIN-ANTH)
Book of Famous Travels
Young Folks Library
by Thomas Bailey Aldrich & G. A. Henty, editors
from Auxiliary Educational League
for 4th-7th grade
in Vintage Anthology Collections (Location: VIN-ANTH)
Book of Marvels: Marvels of the Occident
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-Adult
in International Landmarks & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANINT)
$23.79
Book of Marvels: Marvels of the Orient
by Richard Halliburton
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-12th grade
in International Landmarks & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANINT)
$23.79
Book Scavenger
by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
from Henry Holt and Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Boy's King Arthur
by Sidney Lanier (illustrated by N.C. Wyeth)
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Bronze Bow
by Elizabeth George Speare
from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Caddie Woodlawn
by Carol Ryrie Brink, illustrated by Kate Seredy
from Macmillan
Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
1936 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Caddie Woodlawn
by Carol Ryrie Brink
from Simon and Schuster
Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
1936 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$19.99
Call of the Wild
Portland House Illustrated Classics
by Jack London, illustrated by Paul Bransom
from Portland House
for 6th-10th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Call of the Wild
by Jack London, illustrated by Wendell Minor
1st edition from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 6th-10th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Call of the Wild
by Jack London
from Heritage Press
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Call of the Wild
G&D Famous Dog Stories
by Jack London
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Call of the Wild & White Fang
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Jack London
Unknown from Reader's Digest
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Call of the Wild & White Fang
Sterling Classics
by Jack London, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Camel Caravan
by Arthur Catherall, illustrated by Joseph Papin
from Seabury Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Camelot
by Jane Yolen
First Edition from Philomel Books
for 6th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Canyon Winter
by Walt Morey
1st edition from Dutton Juvenile
for 4th-7th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Captains Courageous
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Lawrence Beall Smith
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 5th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Captains Courageous
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Rudyard Kipling
from Reader's Digest
Nautical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Captive
by Scott O'Dell
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 5th-8th grade
Hans Christian Anderson Award
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Caravan to Oregon
by Herbert E. Arntson
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 4th-7th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Caught
Missing #05
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
from Simon and Schuster
for 4th-7th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
$7.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang
by Ian Fleming
from Random House
for 3rd-7th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Classic Library: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer & Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain
from Smithmark Publishers
for 6th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Colonel Thorndyke's Secret
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Commodore Perry in Japan
by Robert Reynolds
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 4th-8th grade
in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
Condemned as a Nihilist
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Continent for Sale
Winston Adventure Books
by Arthur Groom, illustrated by Joseph Bolden
First Ediition from John C. Winston
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Crispin: The End of Time
by Avi
from Balzer & Bray
for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Curse of Carne's Hold
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Danger Downriver
by Emmy West and Christine Govan, illustrated by Charles Robinson
First Ediition from Viking Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Danger to Windward
by Armstrong Sperry
1st edition from John C. Winston
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Dark Frigate
by Charles Boardman Hawes, illustrated by Warrenn Chappell
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
David Balfour
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Action/Adventure for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Dawn Wind
by Rosemary Sutcliff, illustrated by Charles Keeping
from Henry Z. Walck, Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Divergent (Divergent Series)
by Veronica Roth
1st edition from Katherine Tegen Books
for 6th-9th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
Doctor Dolittle's Zoo
Doctor Dolittle #6
by Hugh Lofting
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 3rd-7th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Don Quixote for Young People
by James Baldwin (adapted from Miguel de Cervantes)
from American Book Co.
for 5th-7th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
Drumbeats in Williamsburg
by Isabelle Lawrence
from Rand McNally
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
ECL: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Educator Classic Library #2
by Jules Verne, translated by Lewis Page Mercier and illustrated by Don Irwin
Complete and Unabridged Edition from Classic Press
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
ECL: Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Al Davidson
from BiblioLife
for 4th-8th grade
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
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: Black Arrow
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Don Irwin
from Classic Press
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
ECL: Book of King Arthur
by Howard Pyle, illustrated by Ron King
for 4th-8th grade
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
ECL: Call of the Wild
Educator Classic Library #11
by Jack London, illustrated by Ron King
Complete and Unabridged Edition from Classic Press
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
ECL: Captains Courageous
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Dick Cole
from Classic Publishing Corporation
for 4th-8th grade
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
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