Action & Adventure

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The Reptile Room is a middle-grade novel published by Daniel Handler under the pen name of Lemony Snicket in 1999. It is the second in the 13-book series A Series of Unfortunate Events, which chronicles the lives of the Baudelaire children (Violet, Klaus, and baby Sunny) after the untimely death of their parents. In the first book, a well-intentioned but oblivious man named Mr. Poe places the children under the care of their distant relative... Read The Reptile Room Summary

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The Right Stuff is a lively account of the early American space program and its roots in the subculture of military test pilots that developed after World War II. Wolfe’s eclectic, wide-ranging narrative combines numerous elements: technological advancements in mid-20th-century flight; the generation of daring pilots who pushed innovations to their limits; and reflections on the moral, cultural, and political significance of the first astronauts at the height of the Cold War. Taken together, these... Read The Right Stuff Summary

The River by Gary Paulsen was published in 1991 as a sequel to Paulsen’s first story about Brian’s survival in the woods, Hatchet (1987). Paulsen wrote this young adult adventure novel in response to letters from fans asking to know what happened to Brian after his rescue in Hatchet. Later, Paulsen wrote more stories about Brian including Brian’s Winter (1996), Brian’s Return (1999), and Brian’s Hunt (2003). Paulsen drew from his own experiences in creating... Read The River Summary

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The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey (2005) is a work of nonfiction by Candice Millard, a former writer and editor for National Geographic. The book describes Roosevelt’s 1914 expedition down an unexplored river in the Amazon rainforest, which nearly cost him his life. Despite poor preparation for the trip, Roosevelt and the group managed to overcome the Amazon’s physical and psychological challenges and placed a 1,000-mile river on the map in a historic... Read The River of Doubt Summary

The Roar by British novelist Emma Clayton was published in 2008. It is a middle-grade, post-apocalyptic science fiction novel set in the British Isles. Clayton’s world is rife with lies and conspiracies, with mutant children and authoritarianism, but at its core, it’s a story of the bond between siblings and the lengths to which they will go to remain together. The Roar is the first of a two-book series, the second of which, The Whisper... Read The Roar Summary

In The Ruins of Gorlan, a Medieval adventure-fantasy novel for middle-grade readers, young Will learns the arts of the secretive Ranger tracker-warriors and defends his kingdom against an evil baron. Released in 2004 by author John Flanagan, The Ruins of Gorlan won multiple awards, spawned the bestselling Ranger Apprentice book series, and has been published in 18 countries. A television adaptation is in the works.Following a long career in advertising, author Flanagan shifted to book... Read The Ruins of Gorlan Summary

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Published in 1905, The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Baroness Emma Orczy, is a historical romance adventure novel about a wealthy English baronet with a secret life as a hero who rescues the innocent from the French Reign of Terror. Told mainly from the viewpoint of his wife, the book—based on the successful London play of the same name—birthed a series of Scarlet Pimpernel novels, movies, and TV productions. It ushered in the secret-identity genre of adventure... Read The Scarlet Pimpernel Summary

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The Scorch Trials is a Young Adult novel by James Dashner, and is the second installment in the Maze Runner Series. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, the novel deals with the mysterious and devastating events surrounding a group of teenagers who are being manipulated and tested by a seemingly omnipotent agency known as WICKED. The novel takes place immediately after the events that take place in The Maze Runner, leaving Thomas, Teresa and their friends... Read The Scorch Trials Summary

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Book DetailThe Sea of Monsters, published by Miramax Books in 2006, is the second installment of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians fantasy adventure series for young readers. The novel begins the summer after the first book in the series, The Lightning Thief, ends and follows returning heroes Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase on a quest to save Camp Half Blood. The Sea of Monsters was a New York Times best seller and Book... Read The Sea of Monsters Summary

The Season of Styx Malone (2018) is a contemporary realistic middle grade novel written by Kekla Magoon. Caleb Franklin, 10, seeks a summer of unique adventures to prove he is the opposite of ordinary, despite his father’s insistence that Caleb and his brother Bobby Gene never stray beyond the town limits. Then Caleb meets Styx Malone, a cool, daring 16-year-old boy in the foster care system who shows the Franklin brothers a quick way to... Read The Season of Styx Malone Summary

Jack London’s novel The Sea-Wolf, originally published in 1904, draws inspiration from an ocean voyage London took in the Pacific nearly a decade prior to his writing the novel. London himself was an avid adventurer and once spent seven and a half months on the crew of the Sophia Sutherland. This study guide references the Signet Classics 2013 edition of The Sea-Wolf.Along with London’s other famous works, The Call of the Wild and White Fang... Read The Sea-Wolf Summary

First published in the New Yorker in 1939, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is James Thurber’s short story about the flamboyant fantasy life of a timid suburban Everyman. A gentle satire of the human imagination (among other things), the story struck an immediate and lasting chord in the midcentury American imagination and is widely regarded as a comic masterpiece. Its distinctive mixture of pathos and parody made it one of the most anthologized short... Read The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Summary