Life As We Knew It* by: Susan Pfeffer

Through journal entries, Miranda describes her family’s struggle to survive after a crashing meteor affects Earth.

Gone* by: Michael Grant

In a small town in California, everyone over the age of 14 suddenly disappears setting up a battle between the residents.

Hatchet* by: Gary Paulsen

After a plane crash, Brian must survive alone in the wilderness with the help of a hatchet his mother gave him.

The Hunger Games* by: Suzanne Collins

In a future North America, young Katniss is severely tested when she takes the place of her younger sister in the survival games.

The Cay by: Theodore Taylor

A privileged and prejudiced boy is stranded  on a remote island with a kindly, and wise West Indian man.

The Secret Journey by: Peg Kehret

After a storm destroys the slave ship she is on, Emma must try to survive in the jungle.

Wild Man Island by: Will Hobbs

Seemingly normal Bobby Pendragon is swept into an alternate dimension where he is hailed as a savior against evil.

Peak by: Roland Smith

A 14-year-old boy attempts to be the youngest person to climb Mount Everest.

Island Trilogy by: Gordon Korman

A boat full of troubled teens is left to fight for survival alone when the captain abandons the ship after a damaging storm.

The Sign of the Beaver by: Elizabeth George Speare

Left alone to guard the family’s wilderness home, a young boy is hard pressed to survive until Indians teach him their skills.

Nory Ryan’s Song by: Patricia Reilly Giff

When a terrible blight attacks Ireland’s potato crop in 1845, Nory Ryan finds the courage to help her family survive.

Alabama Moon by: Watt Key

After the death of his father, 10-year-old Moon must leave his forest shelter to live for the first time in the outside world in an Alabama institution.

Island of the Blue Dolphins by: Scott O’Dell

A young Indian girl is left on a remote California island for 18 years and through self-reliance begins to find happiness.

When the Road Ends by: Jean Thesman

Sent to spend the summer in the country, three foster children must try to survive alone when their caretaker leaves.

Daniel’s Walk by: Michael Spooner

With little more than a bedroll, 14-year-old Daniel LeBlanc, begins walking the Oregon Trail in search of his father.

Hugh Glass, Mountain Man by: Robert McClung

This is a fictionalized biography of the fur trapper who survived the attack of a bear.

My Side of the Mountain by: Jean Craighead George

A young boy relates his adventures after a year living alone in the Catskill mountains.

Robinson Crusoe by: Daniel DeFoe

An English sailor marooned alone on a desert island for 30 years is disturbed when he sees another human footprint.

Grasshopper Summer by: Ann Warren Turner

Sam moves with his family in 1874 to the Dakota Territories where harsh conditions and a grasshopper plague threaten them.

Night of the Howling Dogs by: Graham Salisbury

In 1975 a group of boy scouts camping in Hawaii finds their survival skills tested when an earthquake hits the island.

Adaline Falling Star by: Mary Pope Osborne

Feeling abandoned by her deceased Arapaho mother and explorer father, Adaline runs away to the wilderness.

Kensuke’s Kingdom by: Michael Morpurgo

When Michael is swept off his family’s yacht, he washes up on a desert island and struggles to survive until he finds he may not be the only one on the island.

Abel’s Island by: William Steig

Castaway on an uninhabited island, Abel, a civilized mouse, finds his skills tested to the limit as he struggles to survive.

Joshua’s Westward Journal by: Joan Anderson

In 1836, Joshua and his pioneer family survive disastrous hardships to establish a prosperous farm of their own.

Run Boy Run by: Uri Orlev

Based on a true story of a 9-year-old boy who escaped the Warsaw ghetto, and had to survive in the Polish countryside.

Fish by: L.S. Matthews

As fighting closes in on the village where Tiger’s family have been working, the three of them and a mysterious guide set off on a difficult journey.

Fever 1793 by: Laurie Halse Anderson

Matilda Cook is separated from her sick mother and learns self reliance during a deadly yellow fever epidemic.

The City of Ember by: Jeanne DuPrau

In the year 241, 12-year-old Lina, on Assignment Day trades jobs and becomes a messenger in her decaying city and begins to glimpse unknown regions.

* Denotes first book in a series