AdventuresIf you like… Adventure Stories

Tearaway tales

If you like stories about kids who have gone wrong and are trying to straighten themselves out …

CoverCry of the Taniwha by Des Hunt
Matt Logan isn’t looking forward to spending the school holidays in Rotorua with his grandmother and her new husband. Matt has taken his metal detector along, and when he and Juzza - the boy next door - unearth a handcuffed skeleton, a dangerous chain of events begins to coil around them.
Dare Club by Vince Ford
Adam has accidentally fired on the town’s toughest gang with his water cannon. As disaster looms Adam’s gang uncover secrets about one another - secrets that will either split them up or give them strength for their final test, a confrontation with the tough gang.
Too Many Secrets by Adele Broadbent
Becs moves to the country with her mother, stepfather and brand new stepsister so the family can renovate and sell a house for profit. To her horror, Becs discovers they’re going to be there a lot longer than she expected and worse, they’ll be living in a shack with a long drop and not the house itself. But Becs also discovers a secret, a runaway boy living in a tree and scrounging food from the bush.
Remote man by Elizabeth Honey
Email, reptile smuggling, frying-pans and TVs.
Holes by Louis Sachar
A stolen pair of basketball shoes sends Stanley Yelnats to Camp Green Lake to dig holes.
Small Steps by Louis Sachar
Armpit and X-Ray are living in Austin, Texas. It is three years since they left the confines of Camp Green Lake Detention Centre and Armpit is taking small steps to turn his life around. In this novel, Armpit is joined by many vibrant characters, and is learning what it takes to stay on course, and that doing the right thing is never the wrong choice.

Ripping Yarns

If you like stories full of unbelievable adventure and inexplicable coincidences...

Brotherhood of Pirates by William Gilkerson
In 1952, off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, fierce winds force a small boat into port. The captain is the eccentric Charles Johnson, who then takes up residence at the small inn run by a young boy, Jim, and his mother. Who is this man who tells such vivid stories about sailing on a pirate ship? And how can he possibly know so much?
Operation Red Jericho by Joshua Mowll
In the first of three nonstop-action tales of intrigue, a sister and brother’s search for their missing parents uncovers a mysterious secret society in an action-filled saga centered in 1920s Shanghai.
Boom! : (or 70,000 light years) by Mark Haddon
From the moment that Jim and his best friend Charlie bug the staffroom and overhear two of their teachers speaking to each other in a secret language, they know there’s an adventure on its way. But what does 'spudvetch’ mean, and why do Mr Kidd’s eyes flicker with fluorescent blue light when Charlie says it to him? Perhaps Kidd and Pearce are bank robbers talking in code. Perhaps they’re spies. Perhaps they’re aliens. Whatever it is, Jimbo and Charlie are determined to find out.
Piratica by Tanith Lee
Artemisia runs away from school to follow her memories of her mother’s life of piracy on the high seas.
Hot Money by Bill Nagelkerke
It’s not every day that ten thousand dollars lands at your feet. Miles and August are mucking around on their bikes after school when a bank robber’s proceeds are flung from a speeding car’s window, with the police in hot pursuit. Miles knows what he must do with the money: he must hand it in, right? But he and Dad could really use ten thousand bucks right now, they could move out of Gran’s place, maybe even buy a house of their own.
Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
Pirates, shipwreck and chaperones threaten to upset Kate and Matt’s search for the mysterious cloud cats.
Mortal engines by Philip Reeves
Imagine a future where all the great cities move across the countryside on huge caterpillar tracks, hunting and devouring the smaller towns.

A race against time

If you like stories about kids who running away to escape or racing to find a treasure...

The Rainbow Orchid (vol. 1) by Garen Ewing
Follow the story’s hero, Julius Chancer, as he embarks on a hazardous quest for the rainbow orchid - a mythical flower last mentioned by the ancient Greek philosopher, Theophrastus, and steeped in legend. His epic journey takes him from 1920s Britain to the Indian subcontinent and its mysterious lost valleys.
CoverThe Billionaire’s Curse by Richard Newsome
Gerald has just become the richest thirteen-year-old on the planet. The world’s most valuable diamond has been stolen, and it seems there has been a murder. Gerald has a billionaire’s survival kit, a couple of new friends and a mystery to solve.
Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan
What would happen if you discovered that your family was one of the most powerful in human history? What if you were told that the source of the family’s power was hidden around the world, in the form of 39 clues? What if you were given a choice - take a million dollars and walk away ... or get the first clue? If you’re Amy and Dan Cahill, you take the clue - and begin a very dangerous race.  The first book in the 39 Clues series.
Running Wild by Michael Morpurgo
When 10-year-old Will’s father dies in the Iraq war, his mother surprises him with a trip to Indonesia. But little could she have known what awaited them both there. The first Will knows that anything is wrong is when Oona, the elephant he is riding along the beach, begins to spook. Then, suddenly, she takes off into the jungle with Will on her back. And that’s when Will sees the wave come crashing in.