Action & Adventure

Twilight

by Stephenie Meyer

Publication year 2005

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Community, Love, Sexual Identity

Tags Fantasy, Romance, Action & Adventure, Science Fiction, Religion & Spirituality

Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer, is a young adult adventure-romance about a teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire. Her struggle to build a relationship in a world filled with suspicion and danger helped make the book a number-one New York Times bestseller. The novel launched the Twilight book series including New Moon (2006), Breaking Dawn (2008), and Midnight Sun (2020), which has sold more than 100 million copies and received multiple young reader... Read Twilight Summary

Two Degrees

by Alan Gratz

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Environment, Apathy, Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Hope, Grief, Indigenous Identity, Justice, Safety & Danger, Science & Technology, Fathers, Friendship, Teamwork, Mothers, Animals, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Death, Plants, Place, Politics & Government, Community

Tags Action & Adventure, Survival Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age, Children`s Literature, Natural Disaster, Climate Change, Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction

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Two Old Women

by Velma Wallis

Publication year 1993

Genre Novel, Fiction

Tags Women`s Studies, World History, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Fairy Tale & Folklore, Action & Adventure

In the 1993 novella Two Old Women by Velma Wallis, the harsh Alaskan climate and rigidity of tribal life set the stage for a life-changing journey marked by perseverance and passion. Faced with seemingly insurmountable odds, two elderly women find themselves in the fight of their lives, a fight they rise to with beauty and determination. The story of these two women, Sa’ and Ch’idzigyaak, has come to reverberate through the ages. Part of an... Read Two Old Women Summary

Two Wolves

by Tristan Bancks

Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Fathers, Daughters & Sons, Family, Self Discovery, Justice, Good & Evil

Tags Realistic Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Action & Adventure, Children`s Literature, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction

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Typee

by Herman Melville

Publication year 1846

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Fear, Place, Self Discovery, Colonialism, Community, Politics & Government, Justice, Religion & Spirituality, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

Tags Travel Literature, Action & Adventure, Life-Inspired Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction, American Literature, World History

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Uglies

by Scott Westerfeld

Publication year 2005

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Beauty, Community, Truth & Lies

Tags Science Fiction, Children`s Literature, Romance, Action & Adventure, Fantasy

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld is a young adult dystopian/science fiction novel and the first book of the Uglies Quartet. Published in 2005, Uglies was awarded the ALA 2006 Best Books for Young Adults award, the ALA 2006 Popular Paperback for Young Adults award, the Kirkus Editor’s Choice award, and the SLJ Best Book of the Year award. Uglies is followed by Pretties, Specials, and Extras.This guide uses the May 2011 Simon & Schuster BFYR paperback... Read Uglies Summary

Undaunted Courage

by Stephen E. Ambrose

Publication year 1996

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Indigenous Identity, Mental Health, Race, Environment, Self Discovery, Colonialism, Nation, Politics & Government, Justice, Safety & Danger

Tags US History, American Literature, Travel Literature, Action & Adventure

Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West is a landmark work of historical nonfiction by historian and author Stephen E. Ambrose, first published in 1996. A leading scholar of American military and political history, Ambrose was the author of numerous acclaimed books, including Band of Brothers and D-Day: June 6, 1944. In Undaunted Courage, Ambrose turns his attention to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, presenting it as both a... Read Undaunted Courage Summary

Under a Painted Sky

by Stacey Lee

Publication year 2015

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Friendship

Tags Historical Fiction, Western, Action & Adventure, Romance, Coming of Age, World History

Under a Painted Sky is a young adult historical novel set on the Oregon Trail during the 1849 Gold Rush. It is a debut novel by Stacey Lee, inspired by her own family history as a fourth-generation Chinese American. The novel won several prizes, including an American Library Association award. Her corpus focuses on Chinese culture and Chinese American experiences. Her other works with these themes include Outrun the Moon (2016), The Downstairs Girl (2019), Luck of... Read Under a Painted Sky Summary

Under the Never Sky

by Veronica Rossi

Publication year 2011

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Perseverance, Fear, Guilt, Love, Coming of Age, Self Discovery, Community, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Safety & Danger, Science & Technology, Truth & Lies

Tags Science Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Action & Adventure, Religion & Spirituality

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Unplugged

by Gordon Korman

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Friendship, Animals, Loneliness

Tags Realistic Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Humor, Action & Adventure, Children`s Literature, Modern Classic Fiction

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Unsinkable

by Gordon Korman

Publication year 2011

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Loneliness, Shame & Pride, Gender Identity, Childhood & Youth, Death, Fathers, Mothers, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Social Class, Equality, Justice, Safety & Danger, Science & Technology

Tags World History, Action & Adventure, Children`s Literature

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Unwind

by Neal Shusterman

Publication year 2007

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Loyalty & Betrayal

Tags Science Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Fantasy, Action & Adventure

Unwind (2007) is a young adult novel by Neal Shusterman. It is the first book in the Unwind Dsytology, which includes UnWholly, UnSouled, and UnDivided, as well as the short story “UnStrung” and the UnBound anthology. This dystopian narrative takes place in a future United States where citizens fought a Second Civil War over abortion. As a result, parents can now opt to have children between 13 and 18 “unwound”—dismembered—in special harvest camps. Because most... Read Unwind Summary

Varjak Paw

by S. F. Said

Publication year 2003

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Animals, Friendship, Self Discovery, Loyalty & Betrayal

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

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Villa Coco

by Andrew Sean Greer

Publication year 2026

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Joy, Death, Self Discovery, Order & Chaos

Tags Literary Fiction, Humor, Action & Adventure

An older narrator named Geoffrey looks back on himself as a 21-year-old American arriving at a small Tuscan train station near the end of the millennium. A recent college graduate with a degree in Archives and Record Management, Geoffrey has answered a newspaper advertisement for an "adjutant" to catalog the collection of a Baronessa, an Italian baroness, at a country house in Tuscany before Christmas. His college adviser, who disapproved of both his academic major... Read Villa Coco Summary

Walden On Wheels

by Ken Ilgunas

Publication year 2013

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Coming of Age, Animals, Environment, Plants, Objects & Materials, Place, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Economics, Education, Nation, Politics & Government, Beauty, Justice, Power & Greed

Tags Science & Nature, Business & Economics, Travel Literature, Action & Adventure, Biography

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Warcross

by Marie Lu

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Safety & Danger, Grief

Tags Chinese Literature, Asian Literature, Technology, Science Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Action & Adventure

Marie Lu’s young adult science fiction Warcross (2017) is the first book in the Warcross series. Set in the future, bounty hunter Emika Chen takes part in an international online game to track down her mark. Lu writes primarily dystopian and science fiction for young adults and is well known for her bestselling trilogy, Legend. Kirkus Reviews included Warcross on its Best Teen Science Fiction books of 2017. This guide references the 2017 Random House... Read Warcross Summary

Washington Black

by Esi Edugyan

Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Tags Historical Fiction, Race & Racism, World History, Action & Adventure

Set in the 1830s and beginning on a slave plantation in Barbados, Esi Edugyan’s Washington Black tells the story of the eponymous Washington and his unlikely adventures as he meditates upon the complexities of race, relationships, science, and art. In 1830, Wash is an uneducated, orphaned slave boy around 10 or 11 years old taken under the wing of Big Kit, a powerful and intimidating field slave. Big Kit protects him from the other slaves... Read Washington Black Summary