50+ Amazing Adventure Chapter Books for Boys

50+ Amazing Adventure Chapter Books for Boys

It’s a common fact that girls read more than most boys.

Girls also score higher on reading assessments than most boys, too.

So how can we encourage boys to delve into a book and expand their reading?

Finding the right entertaining and engaging books will get them excited about reading!

Adventure Chapter Books for Boys

Westmark (The Westmark Trilogy)

A boy fleeing from criminal charges falls in with a charlatan, his dwarf attendant, and an urchin girl, travels with them about the kingdom of Westmark, and ultimately arrives at the palace where the king is grieving over the loss of his daughter.

The Iron Ring

Inspired by the classic mythology of India, virtuoso storyteller Lloyd Alexander creates dazzling visions of high adventure and deep humanity. 

The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen

Separated from his faithful servant, a prince finds himself fending off murderers, falling prey to trickery, and searching for a village girl who plays a magic flute.

It isn’t until he faces his most challenging personal trial that the heroic traveler fully realizes the astonishing power hidden in each humble gift.

Raleigh’s Page

Meticulously researched and brilliantly crafted, combining fictional characters with historical, Andrew’s tale offers up a vivid look at the cloak-and-dagger politics of the time and a genuine feel for what it must have been like for the first Europeans to set foot on the beautiful, bountiful, savage shores of America.

Peter and the Starcatchers (Peter and the Starcatchers, Book One)

Best-selling authors Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson have turned back the clock and revealed a wonderful story that precedes J. M. Barrie’s beloved Peter Pan.

Chance Fortune in the Shadow Zone

Teeming with supervillains exiled by the Brotherhood of Heroes, the Shadow Zone is a land of nightmares brought to life.

When Psy-Chick, Gothika, Iron Maiden, and Private Justice are kidnapped by the mysterious Shadowmen, Chance knows that he must set aside his doubts in order to save them.

The Name of this Book Is Secret (The Secret Series, Book 1)

When intrepid investigators Cass and Max-Ernest set out to discover the history of the mysterious Symphony of Smells, they become embroiled in a dastardly experiment involving kidnapped children and the secret of eternal youth. 

The Telling Pool

Expertly told, The Telling Pool transports young readers to the days of the Crusades, magic sorcery and the land where legends were formed. 

A Week in the Woods

The fifth-grade Week in the Woods is a beloved tradition of Hardy Elementary, where Mark Chelmsley (the Fourth) is pretty much killing time before his parents send him off to an exclusive prep school.

Then Mark realizes the Week might be a chance to prove to his teacher  that he’s not just another of the slacker rich kids the teacher can’t stand.

Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl, Book 1)

Twelve-year-old criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl has discovered a world below ground of armed and dangerous–and extremely high-tech–fairies.

He kidnaps one of them, Holly Short, and holds her for ransom in an effort to restore his family’s fortune. But he may have underestimated the fairies’ powers.

MVP*: Magellan Voyage Project

Every kid’s dream is to be named as the most valuable player.

How many ever dream that the game is a race around the world (no flying allowed) in just forty days?

The 7 Professors of the Far North

When Sam visits Zara and Ben and their great-uncle, the quirky inventor Professor Ampersand, he never expects to embark on a fantastical adventure.

When Professor Ampersand and his group of professor friends are kidnapped by the evil Professor Murdo, it’s up to Sam, Zara, and Ben to save them.

The Land of the Silver Apples (Richard Jackson Books)

Sometimes magic doesn’t always do what one intends… especially when one is a bard-in-training. 

The Sea of Trolls

In the year 793, siblings Jack and Lucy are captured by fearsome Vikings with a thirst for battle and pillaging.

Taken to the court of Ivar the Boneless, Jack and Lucy are sent on a perilous journey – full of dragons and giant spiders – deep into the magical kingdom of the trolls!

My Side of the Mountain

Terribly unhappy in his family’s crowded New York City apartment, Sam Gribley runs away to the solitude-and danger-of the mountains, where he finds a side of himself he never knew.

Getting Air

They can rule the half-pipe, but can they survive being stranded in the  middle of nowhere?

Far North

With winter fast approaching, and food running out, this family must all work together to keep from becoming trapped in the howling wilds.

Down the Yukon

As Dawson City goes up in flames, Jason Hawthorn itches to join the new rush for gold in Nome – nearly 2,000 miles away.

When a race to Nome with a $20,000 prize is announced, Jason and the girl he loves decide to attempt the journey together in their canoe.

The Maze

For the past four years, Rick Walker has been shuffled between foster care and group homes.

For Rick, life is a maze full of dead ends.

But when he is threatened at Blue Canyon and runs away, Rick finds himself in a real maze – the enormous rocky expanse of Canyonlands National Park in Utah. 

Eagle Strike (Alex Rider Adventure)

Sir Damian Cray is a philanthropist, peace activist, and the world’s most famous pop star.

Trouble is, only Alex Rider recognizes that it’s the world that needs saving from Sir Damian Cray. 

Voyage of Slaves (Castaways of the Flying Dutchman Series)

From the the New York Times bestseller author of Redwall and Angels of Command comes another swashbuckling tale about the cast of the Flying Dutchman pirate ship.

Alabama Moon

For as long as ten-year-old Moon can remember, he has lived out in the forest in a shelter with his father. 

After his father dies, the spirited and resourceful Moon encounters constables, jails, institutions, lawyers, true friends, and true enemies, he adapts his wilderness survival skills and learns to survive in the outside world, and even, perhaps, make his home there. 

The Wreckers (The High Seas Trilogy)

John Spencer is fourteen when his father’s ship, the ill-fated Isle of Skye, is shipwrecked on the coast of Cornwall as she makes for her home port. 

When John discovers that his father is alive but being held prisoner, he must try and rescue him — without knowing who can be trusted to help.

The Buccaneers (The High Seas Trilogy)

After 17-year-old John Spencer sets out on his first voyage to foreign lands, he and his crew are wary when they come across a stranger named Horn rowing a lifeboat in the middle of nowhere.

What is the man hiding?

Black Duck

It is spring 1929, and Prohibition is in full swing.

Ruben meets the daring captain of the Black Duck, the most elusive smuggling craft of them all, and it isn’t long before he’s caught in a war between two of the most dangerous prohibition gangs.

The Merchant of Death (Pendragon series)

D.J. MacHale’s New York Times bestselling middle grade fantasy series about Bobby Pendragon, a regular kid about to find himself and his two friends pulled into one epic adventure across worlds!

Tomorrow, When the War Began (The Tomorrow Series #1)

World War III becomes an unstoppable reality in the action-packed first installment of the Tomorrow series.

Shackleton’s Stowaway

Victoria McKernan deftly weaves the hard-to-fathom facts of this famous voyage into an epic, edge-of-your-seat survival novel.

Kensuke’s Kingdom

When Michael is washed up on an island in the Pacific after falling from his parents’ yacht, he struggles to survive on his own.

Following a close-run battle between life and death, the mysterious stranger – Kensuke – allows Michael into his world and they become friends, teaching and learning from each other, until the day of separation becomes inevitable.

The Squire’s Tale

Filled with rapier-sharp wit, jousting jocularity, and chuckleheaded knights, this is King Arthur’s court as never before experienced.

Hatchet

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.

Brian’s Winter

From three-time Newbery Honor-winning author Gary Paulsen comes a beloved follow-up to his award-winning classic Hatchet that asks: What if Brian hadn’t been rescued and had to face his deadliest enemy yet–winter?

The Voyage Of The Frog

Fourteen-year-old David Alspeth is the owner of a 22-foot sailboat, an inheritance from his uncle Owen, who recently died of cancer.

On the return trip home he is caught unawares by a freak storm.

Stranded, with no compass, no radio, and only a few cans of food, it seems as if things couldn’t get any worse. But they do.

Swallows and Amazons (Godine Storyteller)

Swallows and Amazons, the book that started it all in 1930, introduces the Walker family, the camp on Wild Cat Island, the able-bodied catboat “Swallow”, and the two intrepid Amazons, plucky Nancy and Peggy Blackett. 

The Chaos Code

Matt and his friend Robin traverse the globe, battling terrifying sand creatures and mercenaries alike in their efforts to stop the chaos code from being activated – and dooming the modern world to a catastrophe not seen since the days of Atlantis.

The Wadjet Eye

Fast-paced and suspenseful, this compelling historical novel combines page-turning excitement with a well-researched portrait of the ancient world.

The Trap

Johnny’s grandfather has taken far too much time to check his trap lines in the Alaskan snow.

The old man is proud and stubborn, and determined to be as independent as ever.

But Johnny is right to worry – his grandfather has caught his foot in his own trap. Wolves, plummeting temperatures and sheer hunger all menace him.

Does he have enough wilderness craft, strength and survival instinct to stay alive?

Peak (A Peak Marcello Adventure)

After Peak Marcello is arrested for scaling a New York City skyscraper, he’s left with two choices: wither away in Juvenile Detention or go live with his long-lost father, who runs a climbing company in Thailand.

Peak quickly learns that his father’s renewed interest in him has strings attached.

The Sign of the Beaver

Elizabeth George Speare’s Newbery Honor-winning survival story is filled with wonderful detail about living in the wilderness and the relationships that formed between settlers and natives in the 1700s.

Call It Courage

Relates how Mafatu, a young Polynesian boy whose name means Stout Heart, overcomes his terrible fear of the sea and proves his courage to himself and his people.

First Light

This remarkable and acclaimed debut novel by the Newbery-winning author of When You Reach Me introduces readers to a captivating, hidden world below the ice… 

Kidnapped

Young David Balfour is cheated out of his inheritance by his uncle, who then has him kidnapped and forced into servitude on a sailing ship bound for a long voyage.

What follows is one of the most spellbinding stories ever written.

The Cay

For fans of Hatchet and Island of the Blue Dolphins comes Theodore Taylor’s classic bestseller and Lewis Carroll Shelf Award winner, The Cay.

Ice Drift

This thrilling new adventure story from bestselling author Theodore Taylor is a moving testament to the bond between brothers–and to the strength of the human spirit.

Blind Mountain

By turns suspenseful and poignant, Blind Mountain is a gripping story of survival.

It will appeal to all readers who enjoy a blend of well-developed characters and nail-biting action.

The Thief (The Queen’s Thief Book 1)

New York Times best-selling author Megan Whalen Turner’s entrancing and award-winning Queen’s Thief novels are rich with political machinations and intrigue, battles lost and won, dangerous journeys, divine intervention, power, passion, revenge, and deception. 

Around the World in 80 Days

Take a thrilling whirlwind trip around the world with Phileas Fogg!

When Fogg — a man of habit whose every day is just like the one before — makes a bet that he can circle the globe and be back in his men’s club in just 80 days, the race is on.

The Survivors

Two years ago, the ash started falling like gray snow and the volcanoes erupted.

For Miles and his sister, Sarah, the real disaster started in the violent aftermath — when they were forced to leave their cushy suburban home and flee to the north woods for safety.

Miles got them to a cabin, but now winter is setting in. 

Blue Fingers: A Ninja’s Tale

Blue Fingers, a suspenseful, action-packed coming-of-age story set in feudal Japan, offers an up-close look at this noble, fierce way of life.

The Rogues

When the laird brutally evicts all of the people in his Scottish village, Roddy Macallan, determined to get revenge and save his family, embarks on a dangerous quest to find a treasure his mother once told him about and teams up with a Robin Hood-esque rogue who roams the Highlands.

Like these chapter books for boys? Find even more engaging book lists for kids with more than 100 book-themed reading lists!