Action & Adventure

Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World

by Jennifer Armstrong

Publication year 1998

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Themes Safety & Danger, Place, Teamwork

Tags Action & Adventure, Inspirational, World History, Children`s Literature, Education, Education, Biography

Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance by American author Jennifer Armstrong is a work of narrative non-fiction that tells the story of the survival of explorer Ernest Henry Shackleton and the crew of the ship Endurance after they were shipwrecked in the Antarctic Circle. Published in 1998, the book was the winner of the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction and was also named an... Read Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World Summary

Shogun

by James Clavell

Publication year 1975

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Religion & Spirituality, Loyalty & Betrayal, Language, Shame & Pride, Power & Greed, Politics & Government, Wins & Losses

Tags Historical Fiction, Action & Adventure, Asian History, Politics & Government, Military & War, American Literature, World History, Fantasy, Japanese Literature, Classic Fiction

Shogun is a 1975 novel by American author James Clavell. It is one of six books in Clavell’s Asian Saga, which chronicles the ways Europeans interacted with countries in Asia from the 17th to the 20th centuries. The novel tells the story of English ship pilot John Blackthorne, loosely based on the real life navigator William Adams, who becomes intimately involved in the rise to power of Yoshi Toranaga, a fictionalized version of Tokugawa Ieyasu... Read Shogun Summary

Siege and Storm

by Leigh Bardugo

Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Perseverance, Power & Greed, Wins & Losses, Safety & Danger, Religion & Spirituality, Good & Evil, War, Self Discovery, Animals, Loneliness

Tags Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Addiction & Substance Abuse, Leadership, Love & Sexuality, Military & War, Politics & Government, Trauma & Abuse, Religion & Spirituality, Romance

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Silverwing

by Kenneth Oppel

Publication year 1997

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Animals, Teamwork, Fear, Shame & Pride, Good & Evil

Tags Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Animals, Relationships, Children`s Literature

Kenneth Oppel’s 1997 award-winning middle-grade novel Silverwing is a high-fantasy work that follows a young bat’s journey to find his colony. The novel has sold over a million copies and been adapted for television as an animated children’s series. This book is the first of four in The Silverwing Book Series.Other works by this author include Inkling, Bloom, Half Brother, and Airborn.Plot SummaryThe novel is divided into three parts, and it shifts point of view... Read Silverwing Summary

Sing Down the Moon

by Scott O'Dell

Publication year 1970

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Community, Gender Identity, Colonialism

Tags Historical Fiction, Action & Adventure, US History, Children`s Literature, World History, Classic Fiction

Scott O’Dell’s children’s novel Sing Down the Moon (1970) is a work of historical fiction focusing on a mid-19th-century Navajo teen girl who calls herself Bright Morning. She and her people live as shepherds and farmers in Canyon de Chelly in Arizona. Bright Morning faces a series of trials in the novel: First, she is taken captive and sold into slavery; after she escapes home, white soldiers force her people to leave their village and... Read Sing Down the Moon Summary

Six of Crows

by Leigh Bardugo

Publication year 2015

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Revenge

Tags Fantasy, LGBTQ+, Action & Adventure

Published in 2015, Leigh Bardugo’s young adult fantasy novel Six of Crows, the first in a two-part series, received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, VOYA, and Kirkus Reviews. A fantasy heist story, the novel shifts between the alternating points of view of five teenagers who team up to pull off the ultimate prison break.Six of Crows begins in Ketterdam, an invented version of 17th-century Amsterdam, and the novel’s main characters hail from the seedy criminal... Read Six of Crows Summary

Skyward

by Brandon Sanderson

Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Space, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Shame & Pride, Coming of Age, Family, Teamwork, Social Class, Politics & Government, War

Tags Fantasy, Science Fiction, Action & Adventure

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Small as an Elephant

by Jennifer Jacobson

Publication year 2011

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Fear, Perseverance, Hope, Love, Mental Health, Childhood & Youth, Animals, Place, Family, Mothers, Self Discovery, Community, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt

Tags Realistic Fiction, Action & Adventure, Mental Illness, Children`s Literature, Modern Classic Fiction

Small as an Elephant is a middle grade realistic fiction novel written by Jennifer Richard Jacobson and originally published in 2011. In addition to writing, Jacobson teaches literacy workshops across the US. She grew up in Maine, which is the inspiration for the setting of many of her stories. Small as an Elephant examines several themes related to unstable attachment, support, and hardship. The novel received more than 10 awards, including the Maine Lupine Award... Read Small as an Elephant Summary

Small Steps

by Louis Sachar

Publication year 2006

Genre Novel, Fiction

Tags Realistic Fiction, Romance, Action & Adventure, Children`s Literature, Modern Classic Fiction

Small Steps was written by internationally acclaimed American author Louis Sachar. The novel was first published in 2006 by Delacorte Press (US) and Bloomsbury (UK). Louis Sachar is an award-winning young adult mystery and comedy writer, best known for his Wayside School series (1978-2020), and his novel Holes (1998), which won the John Newbery Medal and the National Book Award. Small Steps is a sequel to Holes and focuses on Theodore “Armpit” Johnson, a supporting... Read Small Steps Summary

So Far Gone

by Jess Walter

Publication year 2025

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Gender Identity, Indigenous Identity, Masculinity, Mental Health, Aging, Environment, Family, Self Discovery, Community, Politics & Government, Justice, Literature, Loyalty & Betrayal, Religion & Spirituality

Tags Action & Adventure, Mystery & Crime Fiction

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Soldier X

by Don L. Wulffson

Publication year 2003

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Guilt, Memory, Language, Race, Coming of Age, The Past, Friendship, War, Safety & Danger

Tags Historical Fiction, Action & Adventure, Military & War, World War II, Holocaust, Education, Education, World History

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Solimar

by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Coming of Age

Tags Fantasy, Coming of Age, Children`s Literature, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Action & Adventure

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Song for a Whale

by Lynne Kelly

Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Disability, Childhood & Youth, Friendship

Tags Realistic Fiction, Symbolic Narrative, Children`s Literature, Inspirational, Disability, Relationships, Animals, Modern Classic Fiction, Action & Adventure

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