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
48 Items found Print
Active Filters: Nautical Fiction, Trade Paperback
AIO Imagination Station Book #14
by Marianne Hering, Nancy I. Sanders
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
All But Lost - Volume I
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
All But Lost - Volume II
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
All But Lost - Volume III
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Barbary Jihad
Monroe Family Chronicles #4
by Douglas Wilson
from Veritas Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.00
Big Six
Swallows and Amazons #9
by Arthur Ransome
from David R. Godine
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Black Buccaneer
Dover Evergreen Classics
by Stephen W. Meader
from Dover Publications
for 3rd-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$5.99
Blue at the Mizzen
Aubrey/Maturin #20
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Coot Club
Swallows and Amazons #5
by Arthur Ransome
from David R. Godine
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$14.95
Cruise of the Arctic Star
by Scott O'Dell
from Beautiful Feet Books
for 6th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$13.95
Curse of Carne's Hold
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Dark Frigate
by Charles Boardman Hawes
from Little, Brown & Company
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1924 Newbery Medal winner
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Dark Frigate
by Charles Boardman Hawes
Dover 2018 from Dover Publications
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1924 Newbery Medal winner
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99
Fiddler's Gun
by A. S. Peterson
1st edition from Rabbit Room Press
for 7th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99
Flint's Island
by Leonard Wibberley
from Bethlehem Books
Nautical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$11.95
Fortune of War
Aubrey/Maturin #6
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Golden Ocean
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (2 in stock)
Great Northern?
Swallows and Amazons #12
by Arthur Ransome
from David R. Godine
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
H.M.S. Surprise
Aubrey/Maturin #3
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Hidden Foe
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
John Hawke's Fortune
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower
by C. S. Forester (based on the works of), C. Northcote Parkinson
from Sutton Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Master and Commander
Aubrey/Maturin #1
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Master and Commander
Aubrey/Maturin #1
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Midshipman Bolitho
by Alexander Kent
from McBooks Press
for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Missee Lee
Swallows and Amazons #10
by Arthur Ransome
A Godine Storyteller from David R. Godine
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Moby-Dick (retold)
by Herman Melville, presented by Jane Needle, illustrated by Patrick Benson
1st edition from Candlewick Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Picts & the Martyrs
Swallows and Amazons #11
by Arthur Ransome
from David R. Godine
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Pigeon Post
Swallows and Amazons #6
by Arthur Ransome, illustrated by Mary Shepard
from David R. Godine
for 5th-9th grade
1936 Carnegie Medal
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$15.95
Post Captain
Aubrey/Maturin #2
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
S.O.S
by K. Norel
First English from Paideia Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Secret Water
Swallows and Amazons #8
by Arthur Ransome
Revised from David R. Godine
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$16.95
Smugglers
by Iain Lawrence
from Yearling
for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Surgeon's Mate
Aubrey/Maturin #7
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
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
Swallows & Amazons Collection
by Arthur Ransome
from David R. Godine
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Swallows and Amazons
by Arthur Ransome
from David R. Godine
Family stories/boating for 7th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$16.95
Swallows and Amazons
Swallows and Amazons #1
by Arthur Ransome
from Overlook Press
Family stories/boating for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Treasure Island
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2 Paperback
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Norman Price
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
by Avi
from Scholastic Press
for 3rd-7th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
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 the Frog
by Gary Paulsen
Revised from Yearling
for 7th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$1.20 (1 in stock)
Wanderer
by Sharon Creech
from HarperCollins
for 4th-6th grade
2001 Newbery Honor Book
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99
Wanderer
by Sharon Creech
First Scholastic Printing from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea
Swallows and Amazons #7
by Arthur Ransome
from David R. Godine
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$15.95
Westward Ho!
by Charles Kingsley
from Beautiful Feet Books
Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Winter Holiday
Swallows and Amazons #4
by Arthur Ransome
from David R. Godine
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$15.95 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Yussuf the Guide
by George Manville Fenn
from Salem Ridge Press
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)