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
340 Items found Print
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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)
$9.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
Hornblower Series #11
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
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)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Robin Hood
Puffin Classics
by Roger Green, illustrated by Arthur Hall
from Puffin Books
Legends and Folklore for 5th-9th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$8.99 $4.50 (2 in stock)
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 (2 in stock)
Adventures of Robin Hood
by E. Charles Vivian, illustrated by Jules Gotlieb
from Airmont Publishing Company, Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
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 Tommy Blake
by Brother Ernest
from St. Anthony Guild Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Alexi's Secret Mission
by Anita Deyneka
from School of Tomorrow
for 1st-4th grade
in Clearance: Fiction (Location: ZCLE-FIC)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
All the Mowgli Stories
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Richard M. Powers
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Alpine Fugitives
by Ambrose Haynes
1969 Reprint from Christian Literature Crusade
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Among the Barons
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
from Simon and Schuster
for 5th-8th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
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)
Apache Gold
by Joseph A. Altsheler
from Appleton-Century-Crofts
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Art of Keeping Cool
by Janet Taylor Lisle
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
2001 Scott O'Dell Award
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$2.50 (2 in stock)
Banner in the Sky
by James Ramsey Ullman
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
1955 Newbery Honor Book
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.99 $4.50 (2 in stock)
Battle for Skandia
Ranger's Apprentice #04
by John A. Flanagan
Reprint from Philomel Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Bears on Hemlock Mountain
by Alice Dalgliesh
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Realistic Fiction for Kindergarten-2nd grade
1953 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.99 $3.50 (1 in stock)
Bears on Hemlock Mountain
by Alice Dalgliesh
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Realistic Fiction for Kindergarten-2nd grade
1953 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Black Hearts in Battersea
Wolves Chronicles #2
by Joan Aiken
from Dell Yearling
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Black Stallion
Black Stallion #1
by Walter Farley
from Yearling
Realistic Animal Fiction for 5th-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$8.99 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Black Stallion
Black Stallion #1
by Walter Farley
from Harcourt
Realistic Animal Fiction for 5th-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Black Stallion and Flame
Black Stallion #15
by Walter Farley
from Random House
Realistic Animal Fiction for 5th-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$6.99 $3.50 (1 in stock)
Black Stallion Revolts
Black Stallion #9
by Walter Farley
from Scholastic Press
Realistic Animal Fiction for 5th-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
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 Fawcett Books
for 7th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$1.50 (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)
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)
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 of the Pyramids
by Ruth Fosdick Jones
from The Good and the Beautiful
for 3rd-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$4.00 (2 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)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Brethren
by H. Rider Haggard
from Christian Liberty Press
Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.75 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Buddy's Crazy True-Life Adventures
Buddy Davis Amazing Adventures
by Buddy Davis
from Answers in Genesis
for 3rd-6th grade
in Short Stories (Location: LIT-ANTH)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Call it Courage
by Armstrong Sperry
from Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 2nd-6th grade
1941 Newbery Medal winner
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$1.50 (1 in stock)
Call it Courage
by Armstrong Sperry
from Simon Pulse
for 4th-6th grade
1941 Newbery Medal winner
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
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)
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 (1 in stock)
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)
Cay
by Theodore Taylor
from Yearling
Realistic Fiction for 2nd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Chasing Vermeer
Balliet Art Mystery Series
by Blue Balliett, Brett Helquist (Illustrator)
from Scholastic Inc.
Mystery & Suspense for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$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 (1 in stock)
Chokra and Tags
by John Michael
from Macmillan
for 6th-9th grade
in Clearance: Fiction (Location: ZCLE-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Choose Your Own Adventure 04
by R. A. Montgomery
from Chooseco
for 3rd-6th grade
in Series Books (Location: SER-MISC)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Choose Your Own Adventure 06
by R. A. Montgomery
from Chooseco
for 3rd-6th grade
in Series Books (Location: SER-MISC)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Classic Adventures
by Sir H. Rider Haggard
from New Orchard Editions
for 8th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Commodore Hornblower
by C. S. Forester
1st edition from Little, Brown & Company
for 9th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Computer Nut
by Betsy Cromer Byars
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Countdown
by Ben Mikaelsen
from Hyperion Books for Children
for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Crying for a Vision
by Walter Wangerin Jr.
from Simon & Schuster Macmillan
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
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 on Shadow Mountain
by Marian Rumsey, Illustrated by Lydia Rosier
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Dangerous Journey
by Oliver Hunkin (abridger)
from Eerdmans
Allegorical and Moral Stories for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$25.00 $15.00 (2 in stock)
Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin; illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (3 in stock)
Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin, Illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin, Illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Danny Dunn and the Swamp Monster
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin; illustrated by Paul Sagsoorian
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Danny Dunn and the Universal Glue
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin, Illustrated by Paul Sagsoorian
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Danny Dunn and the Voice from Space
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin, Illustrated by Leo Summers
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Danny Dunn on a Desert Island
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin, Illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats
1971 printing from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Danny Dunn on the Ocean Floor
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin; illustrated by Brinton Turkle
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Dark Frigate
by Charles Boardman Hawes, illustrated by Warrenn Chappell
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Darkness and the Dawn
by Thomas B. Costain
from Doubleday & Company
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Day They Came to Arrest the Book
by Nat Hentoff
from Laurel-Leaf Books
for 10th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (abridged)
Eclectic English Classics
by Daniel Defoe, edited by Kate Stephens
from American Book Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Detectives in Togas
by Henry Winterfeld
from Harcourt
Humorous Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Dobie Sturgis and the Dog Soldiers
by Carl G. Hodges
First Edition from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Dolphin Adventure
by Wayne Grover
from HarperTrophy
for 3rd-7th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$5.99 $3.50 (4 in stock)
Dolphin Treasure
by Wayne Grover
from HarperTrophy
for Ages 8-12
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$5.99 $3.50 (2 in stock)
Door in the Dragon's Throat
The Cooper Kids Adventure Series #1
by Frank Peretti
from Crossway Books
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Door in the Dragon's Throat
The Cooper Kids Adventure Series #1
by Frank Peretti
from Crossway Books
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Drackenberg Adventure
by Lloyd Alexander
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Ear, the Eye, and the Arm
by Nancy Farmer
from Puffin Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Endurance
by Alfred Lansing
from Tyndale House
for 9th-Adult
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$16.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Endymion Spring
by Matthew Skelton
from Delacorte Press
for 4th-7th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Erak's Ransom
Ranger's Apprentice #07
by John A. Flanagan
from Philomel Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Escape from the Island of Aquarius
The Cooper Kids Adventure Series #2
by Frank Peretti
from Crossway Books
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Famous Five #20
by Enid Blyton
in Mystery & Suspense (Location: FIC-MYS)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Fifty Famous Stories Retold
by James Baldwin
from Yesterday's Classics
for 1st-4th grade
$11.95 $7.00 (1 in stock)
Fifty Famous Stories Retold
by James Baldwin
from New West Press
for 1st-4th grade
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Five Get Into Trouble
Famous Five #8
by Enid Blyton
from Hodder Children's
for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Five Go Adventuring Again
Famous Five #2
by Enid Blyton
2001 Printing from Hodder Children's
for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Five On Kirrin Island Again
Famous Five #6
by Enid Blyton
Revised 2010 edition from Hodder Children's
for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Flame Over Tara
by Madeleine Polland, illustrated by Omar Davis
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Flames of Rome
by Paul L. Maier
2nd edition from Kregel Publications
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
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)
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 (1 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)
General Butterfingers
by John Reynolds Gardiner
Reprint from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 2nd-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.95 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Geronimo Stilton #01
Geronimo Stilton #1
by Geronimo Stilton, Translated by Edizioni Piemme
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-4th grade
in Series Books (Location: SER-MISC)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
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 (1 in stock)
Gilgamesh the Hero
by Geraldine McCaughrean
from Eerdmans
for 4th-8th grade
$20.00 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Girl in Blue
by Ann Rinaldi
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Girl Named Disaster
by Nancy Farmer
First Printing Dec.2011 from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
Newbery Honor Book
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Gods and Generals
by Jeff Shaara
from Ballantine Books
Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio
by Lloyd Alexander
from Scholastic Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$3.50 (1 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)
$9.99 $5.00 (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 (1 in stock)
Good Comrades
by Felix Salten
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
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