Action & Adventure

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West With the Night (1942) is a memoir by Beryl Markham. Markham writes about her childhood among indigenous Kenyans, who accepted and included the English girl in their traditional customs. The author grew up hunting with a spear and speaking Swahili while also learning about raising and training racehorses from her father, Charles Clutterbuck. The danger and adventure she experienced as a child became the hallmarks of her living experiences as an adult. A chance... Read West with the Night Summary

We Were Here is a Newbury-Award-winning, young adult novel written by Matt De La Pena. Published in 2011, the first person narrative is written in diary form in the voice of the teenaged protagonist, Miguel Castaneda. The story begins with Miguel’s description of his admission to juvenile hall, a detention facility near his family home in Stockton, California. His father, a member of the US Army, was killed in action the preceding year. While the... Read We Were Here Summary

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Chanrithy Him’s memoir, When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge, was first published in 2000. This study guide refers to the 2001 Kindle edition. In the text Him details her experiences as a young child in Cambodia. Him was only five when the autocratic communist Khmer Rouge took over the country, and she recounts the trauma she endured during the five years the regime remained in power. Him’s father was beaten to... Read When Broken Glass Floats Summary

When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405–1433 is a nonfiction book published in 1994 by Louise Levathes. In a narrative that predates the voyages of Christopher Columbus, Levathes examines a three-decade period in the early 15th century when China launched seven major sea voyages. Levathes holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and worked for ten years as a staff writer for National Geographic. In 1990, she... Read When China Ruled the Seas Summary

When the Sea Turned Silver by Grace Lin takes readers on a journey through a richly imagined world full of imagery and Chinese folklore. The novel follows the adventures of Pinmei and Yishan as they navigate themes of Finding and Creating Identity, The Power of Stories, and how Perception Shapes Reality. Recognized for its storytelling and cultural depth, When the Sea Turned Silver was a 2016 National Book Award Finalist. Critics praise the novel for... Read When the Sea Turned to Silver Summary

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin is a middle grade fantasy fiction novel that takes inspiration from Chinese folklore and details the journey of a young girl, Minli, as she embarks on a hero's quest to improve her family’s circumstances. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon became a New York Times bestseller and received a Newbery Honor Award and the 2010 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature. Lin penned a companion book... Read Where The Mountain Meets The Moon Summary

White Fang (1906) is a short novel by American author Jack London. The novel explores themes of survival, nature versus nurture, and improving oneself through discipline and adaptability. White Fang’s protagonist is a wild-born wolfdog named White Fang whose struggle for survival and eventual domestication comprise the novel’s narrative arc. London’s novel challenges humanity’s claim to superiority over nature and celebrates animals’ resilience, simple logic, and instinct. White Fang has been adapted into over a... Read White Fang Summary

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Wildwood is a 2011 children's fantasy novel written by Colin Meloy and illustrated by Carson Ellis, his wife. Meloy is the lead singer and songwriter for the folk-rock band The Decemberists. Ellis created album cover art for her husband’s band and provided more than 80 illustrations for Wildwood. Her artwork employs a dark but whimsical tone and has been compared to Edward Gorey.Wildwood was a New York Times best seller and won the 2012 Middle... Read Wildwood Summary

First published in 1994, Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod is a nonfiction young adult book by Gary Paulsen, who has won several awards for his outdoor adventure stories. The first-person narrative recounts Paulsen’s life as a novice dog-sled runner who takes on the challenge of Alaska’s iconic Iditarod race. The special cross-species relationship between Paulsen and his canine companions steers him through the perils of Alaska’s harsh terrain as he overcomes his... Read Winterdance Summary

Wolf by Wolf (2015) is the first title in an alternative history series by young adult author Ryan Graudin. The first book in the series was named an Amazon Book of the Year and also made the list of Huffington Post’s Top Ten Young Adult Books of the Year. The sequel, entitled Blood for Blood (2016), covers events that take place shortly after the end of Wolf by Wolf. The short fiction title Iron to... Read Wolf by Wolf Summary

Wonderstruck (2011) by Brian Selznick is a graphic novel for children and young adults. The book follows the story of Ben, a deaf boy traveling to New York in 1977, and Rose, a deaf/mute girl traveling to New York in 1927. The stories overlap and weave together, as both Ben and Rose seek family and belonging. The book was adapted into a feature-length film, for which Brian Selznick wrote the screenplay. Plot SummaryThe novel has two... Read Wonderstruck Summary

Published in 1991, the adventure biography Woodsong recounts novelist Gary Paulsen’s experiences as a dogsled driver, including his participation in the Iditarod race across Alaska. He describes the hard-won lessons he learns, the strange and wondrous things he witnesses, and the love and admiration he feels for the dogs he trains with. Three-time Newbury Honor winner Paulsen wrote more than 200 works, most of them for middle-grade and young adult readers. His books often tell... Read Woodsong Summary

Woods Runner, by Gary Paulsen, is a young adult, historical fiction novel. It takes place during the American War for Independence (1776) from the point of view of a 13-year-old frontier boy. The novel was published by Random House in 2010 and is a favorite in schools because of its educational passages that provide valuable historical information to the reader. Paulsen’s Author’s Note and Afterword explain his desire to show war for the grotesque and... Read Woods Runner Summary

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