Action & adventure booklist. Last updated: January 2018
Enjoy action and adventure? When no-one suspects a teenager Chris Bradford Bodyguard series Connor Reeves is a trained bodyguard who is also only 14 years old. Joe Craig Jimmy Coates series Jimmy Coates is part-boy, part-weapon. How did he get these strange powers and who are the mysterious strangers on his trail? Anthony Horowitz Alex Rider series When Alex’s guardian dies, he finds he wasn’t a banker but an agent for M16. Before long, he too is approached by spy masters to join the world of espionage. Sam Hutton Special Agents series Three teenagers help to combat crime working for Police Investigation Command. Andy McNab and Robert Rigby The Boy Soldier series Danny thinks his chances of becoming a soldier are nil because his imprisoned grandfather was a traitor who betrayed the SAS. When he finds out he is free and living under a secret identity he sets out to find him. Robert Muchamore CHERUB series ‘The reason for CHERUB’s existence is simple: adults never suspect that children are spying on them.’ Hodder Children’s Books Chris Ryan Agent 21 series When Zak Darke’s parents are killed in a suspected terrorist attack, he is recruited by a shadowy government agency. Allen Zadoff Boy Nobody series (The Hit, The Mission, The Traitor) A brainwashed teenage assassin finds his attitude changing towards the government organisation that employs him when he gets to know the daughter of his next victim.
Action & adventure booklist. Last updated: January 2018
Enjoy action and adventure? Where all the adults have disappeared or turned into zombies Michael Grant Gone series Teenagers trapped inside a force-field and no adults in sight. Events are sometimes violent and gory as the characters develop supernatural powers. Charlie Higson The Enemy series Gangs of young people are in hiding in London trying to avoid adults who have turned into zombies. If you like your action with plenty of horror, this is for you.
When it’s not quite the real world John Flanagan The Ranger’s Apprentice series Will’s job as an apprentice Ranger is to protect the Kingdom of Araluen. Plenty of Lord of the Rings type action in this extensive series. M.G. Harris The Joshua Files series Joshua Garcia investigates his father’s death in a Mexican plane crash and gets caught up in the search for an ancient Mayan script. Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler Defender of the Realm series Not only is Alfie the heir to the throne, he is the Defender against an ancient mythical enemy. Rick Riordan Percy Jackson series The fast-paced adventures of Percy Jackson – half mortal, half Greek god.
Action & adventure booklist. Last updated: January 2018
Enjoy action and adventure? Where villains are the ‘heroes’ Eoin Colfer Artemis Fowl series Eoin Colfer calls his book ‘Die Hard with fairies’. Artemis is a genius, a millionaire and a criminal. Mark Walden H.I.V.E. series Otto Malpense is sent to the Higher Institute of Villainous Education to learn to be a criminal mastermind.
When you are trying to survive the wilderness Tom Hoyle Survivor Survival story set in the Australian outback. Gary Paulsen Hatchet series Gripping and believable story of Brian who is forced to survive alone in the Canadian wilderness after a plane crash.
Dan Smith Big Game When Oskari is sent to the wastes of Finland on a survival exercise he finds the US president stranded in the snow because terrorists have shot down Air Force One. Boy X Ash is stranded on a tropical island and must rescue his mother from prison. Below Zero A plane crash leaves Zak stranded alone in the Antarctic.
Action & adventure booklist. Last updated: January 2018
Enjoy action and adventure? When you may be the only one who can solve the crime Kevin Brooks Travis Delaney series Travis takes over the private detective agency his parents were running before their deaths in a car crash. Matt Dickinson Mortal Chaos series Inspired by chaos theory and the butterfly effect, these interconnecting stories show how a chain of events is set in motion by the smallest incident. Matt Dickinson Everest Files series Exciting trilogy set on the world’s highest mountain, which the author has climbed more than once. Sam Hepburn If You Were Me When Aliya’s family escapes Afghanistan to come to Britain, her brother is accused of terrorism. Can she clear his name?
Sam Hepburn Chasing the Dark Joe stumbles on some clues that suggest his mum’s death in a car crash was not the accident everyone supposes. Sophie McKenzie Missing series (Girl Missing, Sister Missing, Missing Me) High-speed plot inspired by the real-life story of a missing toddler.
Sophie McKenzie Split Second and Every Second Counts Charlie and Nat are connected by the same terrorist event. Graham McNamee Acceleration Duncan gets a summer job in the lost-and-found department of a Toronto metro station where he finds a creepy book that he believes belongs to a serial killer who is stalking his next victim. Dark and disturbing and recommended by CHERUB author Robert Muchamore.
Action & adventure booklist. Last updated: January 2018
Enjoy action and adventure? Simon Mayo Itch series Fourteen-year-old Itchingham Lofte’s hobby of elementcollecting leads him to be pursued by an assortment of villains. Chris Ryan Code Red series These stories, featuring fourteen-year-old Ben Tracey, usually have a military background.
Chris Ryan Alpha Force series Five teenagers, who are initially shipwrecked on an island, form a group to fight wrong-doing Ali Sparkes Car-Jacked Unknown to the hi-jackers, Jack is inside his parents’ car when it is taken.
Where it’s a different and dangerous world Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games series In the annual Hunger Games, where young people are forced to fight to the death, Katniss Everdeen takes her younger sister’s place to hunt, trap and fight her way to the top. James Dashner The Maze Runner series You are trapped in a stone maze with a crowd of unknown boys and no-one has any idea how they got there. One day, a girl arrives with a terrifying message. C.J. Harper The Disappeared and The Wilderness Jackson is sent to a cruel and violent academy where young people are being trained to work in factories and where they have created a community based on fighting ability. Patrick Ness Chaos Walking series (The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer, Monsters of Men) A world inhabited only by men and boys where every thought can be heard. One day, Todd discovers a patch of silence and from then on the plot unfolds at breakneck speed.
Action & adventure booklist. Last updated: January 2018
Enjoy action and adventure? Jon Robinson Nowhere series Teenagers are imprisoned as criminals in a giant cube but none of them remember ever committing a crime. Mark Walden Earthfall series Sam is immune to the signals from alien spaceships that invade Earth. Is he the only one?
Where you are a target Tim Bowler Blade series Street-smart Blade is being pursued by those who want him dead. Andrew Fukuda The Hunt series Gene has to hide the fact that he is a human in a world of vampires.
Tom Hoyle Adam Grant series (Thirteen and Spiders) Adam is the target of a murderous cult leader. The Challenge A couple of cool kids suggest some games to newcomer Ben, but things very quickly get out of hand.
Erin Lange Rebel Bully Geek Pariah Four teenagers decide to escape a party that is raided by the police but find the car they take is full of stolen drugs. Should they try to escape or hand themselves in? Anthony McGowan The Knife That Killed Me Anthony McGowan excels at getting inside the heads of bullies and their victims. An all-too-believable tale of school bullying.
Action & adventure booklist. Last updated: January 2018
Enjoy action and adventure? When the past was a dangerous time Chris Bradford Young Samurai series It’s seventeenth century Japan and shipwrecked Jack Fletcher is being trained as a Samurai warrior. Charlie Higson Young Bond series (now written by Steve Cole) The adventures of James Bond as a teenager in the 1930s.
Robert Muchamore Henderson’s Boys series Set during the Second World War, this series follows the adventures of Charles Henderson the founder of CHERUB. Classic adventure series aimed at adult readers Geoffrey Household Rogue Male First published in 1939, this is a first-class thriller about a plot to assassinate Hitler.
John Buchan The Thirty-Nine Steps Written in 1913, this has been called one of the greatest chase stories in literature. Erskine Childers The Riddle of the Sands One of the first spy stories dating from 1903.
When villains use science Matt Dickinson Lie Kill Walk Away There are some great chase scenes in this plot about bioweapons. Sophie McKenzie Blood Ties and Blood Ransom Theo and Rachel uncover a human cloning project.
Action & adventure booklist. Last updated: January 2018