Need some suspense to sizzle up your summer? Try one of these middle grade thrillers. Danger lurks just around the corner in each story. Chose your favorite style of adventure: From pirates to thieves, jungles to hurricanes, local legends to local sewers, you’re sure to find an adventure that sets your heart pounding.
Robbie Forester and the Outlaws of Sherwood Street by Peter Abrams
Robbie Forester always knew life wasn't fair, but she never thought she could do anything about it. Until one day a powerful charm comes into her possession, a charm that guides her, her three friends, and her dog Pendleton on the path to justice. But the charm doesn't seem to understand that the path has gotten dangerous, and Robbie and her friends find themselves in a menacing world of thievery, arson, big yachts, and even bigger bank accounts. Will Robbie and her band of thieves end up in more trouble than they ever could have imagined? Edgar Award–winning novelist Peter Abrahams weaves a tale of action, adventure, danger, and magic that keeps readers on the edge of their seats, guessing at every turn.
The Adventurer’s Guide to Treasure by Wade Albert White
At Saint Lupin's Completely Ordinary School Where Nothing Bizarre Ever Happens Most Especially Not Illegal Quests That Destroy Famous Landmarks, students are not taught about pirates. They're not taught how to identify them, how to befriend them, or even how to fight them...which leaves the school completely open to pirate invasion. And on the first day of classes, that's precisely what happens.
When a pirate captain and her crew steal an ancient Prophecy Medallion, Anne, Penelope, and Hiro are caught up in yet another adventure. After accidentally activating a quest, Anne and her friends have no choice but to complete the task and deliver the medallion to the supreme pirate ruler, Octo-Horse-Pirate. But the quest and the medallion are not what they seem, and Octo-Horse-Pirate is no run-of-the-mill villain. To complete the quest, Anne will have to uncover the truth about her mysterious past-and, just maybe, save the whole world in the process.
Filled to the brim with heart-pounding action, miniature dragons, attacking chickens, and (sometimes friendly) pirates, The Adventurer's Guide to Treasure (and How to Steal It) is a laugh-out-loud, fast-paced adventure that will leave you breathless.
Horizon by Scott Westerfeld
When a plane crash-lands in the arctic, eight young survivors step from the wreckage expecting to see nothing but ice and snow. Instead they find themselves lost in a strange jungle with no way to get home and little hope of rescue. Food is running out. Water is scarce. And the jungle is full of threats unlike anything the survivors have ever seen before--from razor-beaked shredder birds to carnivorous vines and much, much worse. With danger at every turn, these eight kids must learn to work together to survive. But cliques and rivalries threaten to tear them apart. And not everyone will make it out of the jungle alive.
Zane and the Hurricane by Rodman Philbrick
Zane Dupree is a charismatic 12-year-old boy of mixed race visiting a relative in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hits. Unexpectedly separated from all family, Zane and his dog experience the terror of Katrina's wind, rain, and horrific flooding. Facing death, they are rescued from an attic air vent by a kind, elderly musician and a scrappy young girl--both African American. The chaos that ensues as storm water drowns the city, shelter and food vanish, and police contribute to a dangerous, frightening atmosphere, creates a page-turning tale that completely engrosses the reader. Based on the facts of the worst hurricane disaster in U.S. history, Philbrick includes the lawlessness and lack of government support during the disaster as well as the generosity and courage of those who risked their lives and safety to help others. Here is an unforgettable novel of heroism in the face of truly challenging circumstances.
Summer of Forsaken Lake by Michael D. Beil
With their father en route to Africa for Doctors Without Borders, city-kids Nicholas and younger twin sisters Haley and Hetty are off to spend the summer with their Great-Uncle Nick at his house on Forsaken Lake. Despite some initial doubts, Nicholas is right at home in the country: he learns to sail, learns about his father as a boy, and makes fast friends with a local-girl, the tomboy Charlie.
The summer takes a turn toward the mysterious, though, when Nicholas discovers an old movie that his father made as a boy: it tells the story of the local legend, The Seaweed Strangler, but was never finished. Before long Nicholas wants answers both about the legend, and about the movie. Together, he and Charlie work to uncover the truth and discover some long-buried family secrets along the way.
Undertown by Melvin Jules Bukiet
In this fast-paced adventure story, Timothy and Jessamyn are towed through the streets of Manhattan riding in Timothy’s family’s sailboat, on their way to the Long Island shore, when the boat comes unhitched from its truck. The teens “sail” backward down a hill in Upper Manhattan, then fall down a huge construction site hole and into the vast sewer system below.
Thrust into an amazing adventure, the kids navigate waterfalls and rapids as they travel through the rain sewers. They meet a graffiti artist their own age, a homeless person named You, and rats the size of large dogs. They fall into the hands of a gangster who claims the sewers as her kingdom and the homeless as her subjects, and acts as a fence for luxury goods! Will she feed Timothy and Jessamyn to the rats?
~Jenny
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