Middle Grade Books About Wilderness Survival Plus Two Great New Releases

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Margaret Kingsbury grew up in a house so crammed with books she couldn’t open a closet door without a book stack tumbling, and she’s brought that same decorative energy to her adult life. Margaret has an MA in English with a concentration in writing and has worked as a bookseller and adjunct English professor. She’s currently a freelance writer and editor, and in addition to Book Riot, her pieces have appeared in School Library Journal, BuzzFeed News, The Lily, Parents, StarTrek.com, and more. She particularly loves children’s books, fantasy, science fiction, horror, graphic novels, and any books with disabled characters. You can read more about her bookish and parenting shenanigans in Book Riot’s twice-weekly The Kids Are All Right newsletter. You can also follow her kidlit bookstagram account @BabyLibrarians, or on Twitter @AReaderlyMom.

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Happy Sunday, kidlit friends! This week we’ve been battling our first school illness. It really does feel like a battle! I’m still hoping we have fewer illnesses this year than last, but it’s not looking promising.

Speaking of surviving, today I review four great middle grade books about wilderness survival, plus two phenomenal new releases.

New Releases

Lion Dancers by Cai Tse

This is a wonderful middle grade graphic novel about Chinese lion dancing. Wei and Hung used to be best friends, and both danced together in a lion dancing team. However, after Wei’s dad dies, Hung and Wei fight, Wei quits lion dancing, and his friendship with Hung falls apart. Years later, Wei has joined the team again, but Hung isn’t happy about it. The two need to reconcile their differences to win a lion dancing championship, especially since Wei is the head and Hung the tail.

Cover of Godfather Death by Sally Nicholls & Júlia Sardà

Godfather Death by Sally Nicholls, illustrated by Júlia Sardà

This is a dark retelling of the Grimm Brothers fairytale of the same name, gorgeously illustrated by Júlia Sardà. A poor fisherman has a new son and wants to find him a godfather that is honest. He dismisses God and the Devil as dishonest, but then he meets Death on the road and realizes he is the most honest person there is. Death agrees to be the godfather and gives the fisherman a tip on how to be a wealthy physician. The tip works, but when the fisherman tries to cheat Death, it comes at a cost. A lovely, spooky read.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

I remember reading Hatchet by Gary Paulson and The Call of the Wild by Jack London when I was in middle school and loving them. While the idea of surviving in the wilderness holds zero appeal to me (I like hot showers, y’all, and beds are nice), many tweens love reading about this topic. If you’re looking for some fresh updates on wilderness survival books, here are some good ones!

Ash’s Cabin by Jen Wang

Ash, who is nonbinary and Chinese American, is mourning the death of their grandfather. They’re also frustrated that no one else is as concerned about climate change. They decide to move to a plot of land in the California wilderness that their grandfather owned and once dreamed of building a cabin on. They take their dog as well but soon realize that living in the wilderness is hard. This is technically YA, but it could be read and enjoyed by middle schoolers as well. The illustrations are wonderful.

Spin to Survive: Deadly Jungle by Emily Hawkins

My entire family loves the Spin to Survive series. Each book follows a traveler who gets stranded in a different setting. Readers can spin a compass to help make decisions for the traveler. This one follows a kid who gets stuck in the Amazon Rainforest while trying to find the fabled Lost City of the Jaguar God with their Grandma Beatriz, who wants to preserve artifacts there. They need to get there before smugglers do, but unfortunately, the child gets separated from the rest of the party. Each page includes facts about jungle survival, the rainforest, the Indigenous peoples who live in the rainforest, and other people who have survived there. The other books in the series are Spin to Survive: Frozen Mountain and Spin to Survive: Pirate Peril.

How to Stay Invisible by Maggie C. Rudd

Twelve-year-old Raymond Hurley’s parents have left without telling him where they went, turning in their trailer key before leaving. That means Raymond and his dog Rosie have nowhere to stay. Raymond makes a home in a hollowed tree in the woods by his middle school and does the best he can to stay invisible. When Rosie is bitten by a coyote, however, Raymond chooses to find help instead of remaining hidden. This is a heartwrenching story of survival.

The Trail by Meika Hashimoto

Toby, who lives with his grandmother, plans to walk the Appalachian Trail with his best friend Lucas over the summer. But Lucas can’t make it, so Toby decides to run away from home instead and hike it alone. He doesn’t bring enough provisions and soon finds himself relying on the other hikers he meets to help him survive on the trail. A dog he names Moose begins following him, and the pair meet many interesting people on the trail. This is a really engaging survivalist novel.