Our children are bombarded daily by a world that sometimes seems intent on destroying the moral fabric of our family and our culture. At times, we have a natural instinct to want to pull back and protect them from the themes and ideas that threaten our belief systems. We try to “preach” to them our values, our messages and just hope and pray that our morals and beliefs have been communicated in a way that they will embrace what we perceive to be the “right” beliefs. Good teen adventure books can communicate those values in fun reads.
It is in the teen years especially that the pressure on them becomes even more difficult. They are afraid they won’t fit in with their peers and we’re afraid they will fit in too much! But if you’ve done the work as a parent to lay a strong foundation then your teen is prepared to handle what comes his or her way. One of our families strongest foundation was the language and ideas of great and classic teen adventure books.
As young teens grow and develop argumentative and debate skills, and rhetoric becomes a valued trait in their thinking processes, reading together, or at the very least discussing good teen adventure books, can be an effective way to continue to instill shared core beliefs and values about what we, as parents, deem to be important to know and believe. Good teen adventure books can open up our minds, our hearts to great truth. They spark our imagination, open up the world and allow us to see a truth deeper than the latest teen fad, music or heart-throb. But how do we convince our reluctant teen readers who might prefer to hang out playing video games that reading a teen adventure book iis worth the time? We do it by finding great books that will speak to them and here are some of my favorite teen adventure books.
Teen Adventure Book Recommendations
Watership Down by Richard Adams in 1972
In this teen adventure book a group of rabbits learns that their home is going to be destroyed by a housing development and so they take off to find a new home, meeting danger and temptations along the way. That sounds boring and simple, right? Well, Watership Down has stood the test of time, published in 1972, this is a terrific story and grabs the reader from the first line. The rabbits, with their human characteristics, have vivid personalities and share a myth based religious belief, a government and even a history. While Watership Down is really an allegory for our own world, it’s an epic adventure that will hold the reader spellbound. Lots of discussion material for families with parallels to many historical elements like totalitarian dictators through creation stories, to cultural and civilization decay.
Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden 1993
John Marsden has written a teen adventure book that puts teens in control of their environment and their own independence, completely taking away parental control. But this book is no Lord of the Flies and we believe the story as it moves forward in one of the most exciting plots I’ve read in a young adult book. This is a book the whole family will love reading together as it deals with the themes of what constitutes a true family and how peers can be negative or positive in our lives.
The plot involves seven Australian teens who go camping in a remote bush region called Hell. When they return a week later, they find that their country has been invaded by a (unidentified enemy) foreign country. Their parents are all captured and missing, their farms destroyed. The story revolves around how they cope, work together to remain free and how to contrive to “fight” the war as teens against their enemy. It’s not a coincidence that “Hell” is the name of the outback as these teens struggle to find courage, strength, wisdom and refuge. Is Hell a literal place for them? It’s great discussion material and a fun, exciting read.
The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinle 1988y
Any Robin McKinley book allows the reader to be drawn into a historical reality or fantasy that seems absolutely authentic. She develops complete characters that we can align with as readers and then takes them on journeys and adventures where we grow as much as the character in the book.
In this teen adventure book, she retells the story of Robin Hood and his merry band including Marian, who is a better archer than Robin, the legend is brought to life. In the afterword, the author says that during her research she came to believe that the Robin Hood stories have always reflected what the teller and the audience needed him to be at the time of the telling. Legends endure throughout the ages, because we need the power of their stories in our everyday lives, depending upon what’s happening in our world. Great discussion material here for the themes of what constitutes true theft or crime, and how law and convention are honored or discarded.
Any book by Gary Paulsen! Tracker, Dogsong, The Crossing, and Hatchet are just four of my favorites. Garry Paulsen surely must be a teen at heart. His teen adventure books are so powerful and so full of truth. While all of these were written in the 1980’s, they have stood the test of time and don’t appear dated. He places his characters in tough situation where they must learn deep truths to survive and prosper. We read along cheering them on, and in doing so we grow as people. Survival in a Gary Paulsen book is much more than learning some tricks or tips, it’s about learning and understanding our own hearts and strengths.
Kit’s Wilderness by David Almond in 1999
This teen adventure book asks its characters and us as we read it, if good and evil can co-exist in one person. This book allows us to discuss with our teens our own religious faiths and thoughts and beliefs about good and evil and if we should write people off because of their evil actions. It’s a deep book, but a worthy one.
Kit Watson and his parents have moved to a run down mining town to live with his grandfather after the death of his grandmother. . Kit meets some troubled friends who involve him in a game called Death that is played in an abandoned old mine. Kit becomes determined to “save” the soul of the ringleader of the gang, a troubled but impressive teen, John Askew.
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
This teen adventure book will really give a different perspective on WW2 Germany, as it’s from the views of a young German teen girl growing up with a foster family. It will make you cry and think and talk as a family. Historical perspective books are always great for discussion. It’s important to talk about history in perspective of the people involved and this book will do that for sure!
Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah
Every girl loves a Cinderella story and we think that they’ve all been written a thousand ways, but this is a true life account of a young girl growing up in China. The horrible stepmother is horrific. The heroine young girl is inspiring, but there’s not a true happy ending. While the story is sad, it was leave you thinking and full of hope. I loved this teen adventure book when I read it with my teen daughter. Lots of opportunity for discussion about happiness, and dreams and the often silly expectations we have for a Cinderella princess life.
Speakby Laurie Halse Anderson
Speak is a teen adventure book that deals with the bullying of teens by other teens. It’s a powerful book that shows the often cruel nature of life in high school. The ending is shocking and disturbing but it certainly offers up lots of material for discussion about peer pressure and negative stereotyping of each other. I would not allow my young teen to read this book without sharing it with them. It’s very strong, but strong books build strong people.
Any teen adventure book by Katherine Paterson such as Angels and Other Strangers,Jacob Have I Loved, and Park’s Quest.Katherine Paterson is an amazing writer whose books never fail to captivate. Themes of courage, redemption, dealing with sorrow, anger, truth permeate her books but not in a preaching way. You live with the characters as they face circumstances and events of their lives.
In Park’s Quest a young boy searches for the truth about his father who was killed in Viet Nam. The Quest becomes a Holy Grail search as the author takes Park into a fantasy world of knights in shining armour and dragons that need to be slain. The blending of the modern quest and his dream fantasies blend into a reality that is so meaningful.
In Jacob Have I Loved, we hear the phrase Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated told by a bitter, Bible spouting grandmother intent on hurting Louise, a young girl who has to deal with sibling rivalry with her more talented and favored twin sister. The struggle that Louise engages in to overcome bitterness and embrace a more loving way of being in the world will bring tears to your eyes and offer up lots of material for discussion with your own teen. It’s a beautiful, touching, sad story full of redemption and hope.
Choose some great teen adventure books to recommend to your teen today or to read with them. This is just a short list, there are so many amazing adventure books for teens. While most teens will never live on a deserted island alone like Alec in the Black Stallion, or be part of a pirate crew like David in Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson, they can imagine and grow with the characters who face adventure and survive and conquer it with their own admirable traits of courage, loyalty, intelligence, and friendship.
