The Best Action & Adventure Teen & Young Adult Books 2026

1. Deathwatch, (Paperback)

"An exciting novel of suspense, based on a fight to the finish between an honest and courageous young man and a cynical business tycoon who believes that anything can be had for a price."--Horn Book. An ALA Best of the Best Books for Young Adults, Edgar Allan Poe Mystery Writers Award, A New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year, New York Public Library--Books for the Teen Age.

Deathwatch, (Paperback) Author: Laurel Leaf Library ISBN: 9780440917403 Format: Paperback Publication Date: 1973-10-15 Page Count: 224

2. Hatchet (Hardcover)

This award-winning contemporary classic is the survival story with which all others are compared--and a page-turning, heart-stopping adventure, recipient of the Newbery Honor. Hatchet has also been nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read. Thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson, haunted by his secret knowledge of his mother's infidelity, is traveling by single-engine plane to visit his father for the first time since the divorce. When the plane crashes, killing the pilot, the sole survivor is Brian. He is alone in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but his clothing, a tattered windbreaker, and the hatchet his mother had given him as a present. At first consumed by despair and self-pity, Brian slowly learns survival skills--how to make a shelter for himself, how to hunt and fish and forage for food, how to make a fire--and even finds the courage to start over from scratch when a tornado ravages his campsite. When Brian is finally rescued after fifty-four days in the wild, he emerges from his ordeal with new patience and maturity, and a greater understanding of himself and his parents.

Hatchet, (Hardcover) Author: Atheneum Books ISBN: 9780689840920 Format: Hardcover Publication Date: 2000-04-01 Page Count: 208

3. Lord of the Rings The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again, (Hardcover)

This deluxe collector's edition of Tolkien's modern classic is boxed and bound in green leatherette with gold and red foil stamping on the spine and cover. The text pages are printed in black with green accents. It includes five full-page illustrations in full color and many more in two color in addition to Thror's map--all prepared by the author. "In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit." So begins one of the most beloved and delightful tales in the English language. Set in the imaginary world of Middle-earth, at once a classic myth and a modern fairy tale, The Hobbit is one of literature's most enduring and well-loved novels. Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Bilbo reluctantly joins their quest, unaware that on his journey to the Lonely Mountain he will encounter both a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum. Written for J.R.R. Tolkien's own children, The Hobbit has sold many millions of copies worldwide and established itself as a modern classic.

Lord of the Rings The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again, (Hardcover) Author: Clarion Books ISBN: 9780395177112 Format: Hardcover Publication Date: 1973-10-24 Page Count: 316

4. Pre-Owned A Killing Frost

It's nearly six months since our country was invaded. We've lived in a war zone since January, and now it's July. So short a time, so long a time . . . I'm an expert on fear now. I think I've felt every strong feeling there is: love, hate, jealousy, rage. But fear's the greatest of them all. Nothing reaches inside and grabs you by the guts the way fear does. Nothing else possesses you like that. It's a kind of illness, a fever, that takes you over. Ellie and her friends return from a camping trip to find their country at war. Learning together, they fight back--battling fear, rage, and the invading army that has stolen their land, seized their homes, taken their families, and destroyed their future. Continuing the story begun in Tomorrow, When the War Began and The Dead of Night, John Marsden paints a shockingly realistic portrait of teenagers who take great risks to defend what is theirs.

Tomorrow A Killing Frost, (Hardcover) Author: Houghton Mifflin ISBN: 9780395837351 Format: Hardcover Publication Date: 1998-04-27 Page Count: 288

5. Memory Boy

Details Coming Soon

Memory Boy

6. After the First Death, (Paperback)

Who will be the next to die? They've taken the children. And the son of a general. But that isn't enough. More horrors must come...

After the First Death, (Paperback) Author: Random House Children's Books ISBN: 9780440208358 Format: Paperback Publication Date: 1991-02-01 Page Count: 242

7. The Boat Who Wouldn't Float

9780553277883

The Boat Who Wouldn't Float

8. After the War (Paperback)

Didn't the gas ovens finish you all off? is the response that meets Ruth Mendenberg when she returns to her village in Poland after the liberation of Buchenwald at the end of World War II. Her entire family wiped out in the Holocaust, the fifteen-year-old girl has nowhere to go. Members of the underground organization Brichah find her, and she joins them in their dangerous quest to smuggle illegal immigrants to Palestine. Ruth risks her life to help lead a group of children on a daring journey over half a continent and across the sea to Eretz Israel, using secret routes and forged documents -- and sheer force of will. This adventure will touch readers, who will marvel at the resources and inner strength of mere children helping other children to find a place in this world in which they can belong. Carol Matas, one of the foremost authors of historical fiction, brings the desperation and passion of this remarkable journey to life.

"Didn't the gas ovens finish you all off?" is the response that meets Ruth Mendenberg when she returns to her village in Poland after the liberation of Buchenwald at the end of World War II. Her entire family wiped out in the Holocaust, the fifteen-year-old girl has nowhere to go. Members of the underground organization Brichah find her, and she joins them in their dangerous quest to smuggle illegal immigrants to Palestine. Ruth risks her life to help lead a group of children on a daring journey over half a continent and across the sea to Eretz Israel, using secret routes and forged documents -- and sheer force of will. This adventure will touch readers, who will marvel at the resources and inner strength of mere children helping other children to find a place in this world in which they can belong. Carol Matas, one of the foremost authors of historical fiction, brings the desperation and passion of this remarkable journey to life.

9. The Dark Frigate (Newbery Medal Winner), (Paperback)

In seventeenth century England, a terrible accident forces orphaned Philip Marsham to flee London in fear for his life. Bred to the sea, he signs on with the "Rose of Devon," a dark frigate bound for the quiet shores of Newfoundland. Philip's bold spirit and knowledge of the sea soon win him his captain's regard. But when the "Rose of Devon" is seized in midocean by a devious group of men plucked from a floating wreck, Philip is forced to accompany these "gentlemen of fortune" on their murderous expeditions. Like it or not, Philip Marsham is now a pirate--with only the hangman awaiting his return to England. With its bloody battles, brutal buccaneers, and bold, spirited hero, this rousing tale will enthrall young listeners in search of seafaring adventure.

The Dark Frigate (Newbery Medal Winner), (Paperback) Author: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers ISBN: 9780316350099 Format: Paperback Publication Date: 1996-10-01 Page Count: 264

10. Orphan Train Adventures A Place to Belong, (Paperback)

Danny and his younger sister, Peg, are placed in St. Joseph, Missouri, with kind Alfrid and Olga Swenson. Danny is thrilled to have a "real" father again, but when Olga suddenly dies, he is devastated--until he thinks of an ingenious plan to find Alfrid a new wife.

Orphan Train Adventures A Place to Belong, (Paperback) Author: Rh Childrens Books ISBN: 9780440226963 Format: Paperback Publication Date: 1996-05-21 Page Count: 160