The first thing that came to mind when I’d heard that Gary Paulsen passed away was sitting in my fourth grade classroom listening to Mr. Taibbi introduce us to the unit on Hatchet. Right away I was hooked on the adventure and survival genre. I blew through the Hatchet books and a few other Paulsen titles before turning to The Call of the Wild, Kavik the Wolf Dog, and A Week in the Woods. This probably also explains my later fascination with shows like Survivorman and Man vs Wild, and also why I was mildly disappointed when my Girl Scouts troop went glamping instead of roughing it in the woods.
To this day I still see Paulsen’s books, especially Hatchet, at the top of summer reading lists. The genre he was most famous for writing in – the ‘character encounters the harshness of nature and has to survive with their wits and/or a single tool at their disposal’ – is still incredibly popular. I’ve put together this list of old and new favorites to share with readers looking for that next wilderness survival fix.
Do you know a kid who loves stories about adventure and survival? Were you (or are you still) that kid? Leave a message in the comments!
Across the Desert by Dusti Bowling
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Alone by Megan E. Freeman
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Backwater by Joan Bauer
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Chickadee by Louise Erdrich
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The Disaster Days by Rebecca Behrens
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Earthquake Shock by Marlane Kennedy and Erwin Madrid
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Hear the Wolves by Victoria Scott
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I Survived the Destruction of Pompeii, AD 79 by Lauren Tarshis
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Kavik the Wolf Dog by Walt Morey
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The Last Kids on Earth by Max Brallier and Douglas Holgate
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Mary and the Trail of Tears: A Cherokee Removal Survival Story by Andrea L. Rogers and Matt Forsyth
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Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes
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The Raft by S. A. Bodeen
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Refugee by Alan Gratz
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The Skeleton Tree by Iain Lawrence
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Tales of the Mighty Code Talkers by Lee Francis III
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Three Feathers by Richard Van Camp and K. Mateus
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A Week in the Woods by Andrew Clements
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Wild River by Rodman Philbrick
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A Wolf Called Wander by Rosanne Parry and Mónica Armiño
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Kidlit & Caboodle 