Survival Stories
A Week in the Woods – Andrew Clements. The fifty grade’s annual camping
trip in the wood tests Mark’s survival skills and his ability to relate to a teacher who
seems out to get him.
Call It Courage – Armstong Sperry. Although he is afraid of the sea, the son
of a Polynesian chief, whose people worship courage, sets out alone in his
canoe to conquer his fear.
The Cay – Theodore Taylor. Phillip Enright, and the ship's cat are castaways
on a barren Caribbean island after their ship is torpedoed during World War II.
The book describes the struggle for survival.
Down the Yukon – Will Hobbs. In the wake of Dawson City’s Great Fire of
1899, Jason and his girlfriend, Jamie, canoe the Yukon River across Alaska in
an epic race from Canada’s Klondike to Cape Nome.
Hatchet - Gary Paulsen. After a plane crash, thirteen-year-old Brian spends
fifty-four days in the wilderness, learning to survive initially with only the aid
of a hatchet given by his mother, and learning also to survive his parents’
divorce.
Hunter – Joy Cowley. A Maori boy in 1803 and a plane crash survivor
marooned on a deserted island in 2003 experience interconnecting visions.
Island of the Blue Dolphins – Scott O’Dell. Records the courage and selfreliance of an Indian girl who lived alone for eighteen years on an isolated
island off the California coast when her tribe emigrated and she was left
behind.
Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Murpurgo. When Michael is swept off his
family’s yacht, he washes up on a desert island, where he struggles to
survive—until he finds he’s not alone.
On The Far Side of the Mountain –Jean Craighead George. Sam’s peaceful
existence in his wilderness home is disrupted when his sister runs away and his
pet falcon is confiscated by a conservation officer.
Rescue Josh McGuire – Ben Mikaelsen. When thirteen-year-old Josh runs
away to the mountains of Montana with an orphaned bear cub destined for
laboratory.
White Fang – Jack London. The rewarding but brutally honest tale of a wolfcub’s initiation into the world and his battle for survival against nature and
humankind.