Looking for books that will keep teens on the edge of their seat? These thrilling adventure stories are packed with danger, discovery, and heart-racing moments. From lost treasure to epic quests and survival against the odds, this list features the best adventure books for teens who love a fast-paced read. Perfect for fans of action, courage, and unforgettable journeys.
The Traitor's Trilogy by Erin Beaty is a brilliant mixture of espionage, romance and adventure, perfect for readers aged 13+. Sage Fowler's story begins as she accepts an apprenticeship with a matchmaker. So she matches ladies with noble gentlemen, but things get much more interesting when a handsome solider recruits Sage to infiltrate the enemy ranks. What follows is a mixture of romance, unlikely alliances, political strategies, assassination attempts and a whole lot of adventure as war is at play.
The Cherub series is a group of spy novels for teenagers written by Robert Muchamore which revolve around a top-secret branch of the British Security Service called CHERUB, which employs bright children, predominantly orphans, under the age of 17, as intelligence agents. They are trained to slip under adult radar and discover information that sends criminals to jail because, unlike adult-spies, they are unlikely to be suspected of anything. For official purposes, these children do not exist.
The Power of Five series is a YA fantasy full of adventure, action, superpowers and BIG revelations. From the first page we're introduced to Matt Freeman, a young thirteen-year-old who has always known he has unusual powers. And when he is sent to a rehabilitation programme in Yorkshire, he discovers it's not just him who has something otherworldly inside. There are in fact other teenagers like him, and their job is to protect the world from the 'Old Ones', beings banished long ago. So he meets Pedro, Scott, Jamie and Scarlett throughout the books, and they must work together if they want to save the world from evil forces.
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This is a truly incredible series for readers aged 12+ who also love football and elements of mystery, which has won both the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. In each book in the series, a sports journalist called Paul Faustino meets a new football personality to report on. From El Gato, the world's greatest goalkeeper and El Brujito, "the Little Magician", who has a mysterious past of corruption and murder, to nation football star, Otello, whose career gets destroyed under Paul's eyes, each character he meets has secrets that Paul must uncover...
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We recommend the Battalion of the Dead to all lovers of YA, queer romance, historical fiction and adventure reads. These books are a whirlwind of action, science, rebellion and magic reveals. Set in 18th century Paris and London, we're at the heart of the French Revolution. Camille, our courageous protagonist and aristocrat in hiding, is on a mission to lead a band of rebels. The job involves cheating death time and time again, searching for Olympe de l'Aubespine, a girl born of magic and mayhem wanted by both the Royalists and Revolutionaries, and even defeating the terrible Robespierre. The glittering and macabre bals des victimes and the eerie catacombs make for a perfect magical read set in one of the most incredible times in history.
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This series is written by Kathy Reichs, Professor of Forensic Anthropology, practicing Forensic Anthropologist and writer and producer for the 12-season series Bones. Living on a secluded island off Charleston in South Carolina called Loggerhead Island is fourteen-year-old protagonist Tory Brennan. Together with a group of technophile friends called the Virals, she will dig deeper into the mysteries of their island with each new book, discovering that behind some mysterious deaths is a lab secretly conducting experiments. The friends will solve murders, go on treasure hunts, discover who the evil government agents behind the secret lab are and even develop their own set of superpowers, making for truly unputdownable books that just get better with each new title.
Each of us will have heard the name Terry Pratchett at least once... The Discworld series is a pillar of middle grade fantasy fiction, and we think every child deserves a taste of Pratchett's magical world. There are 41 books in the series in total, but you don't have to read them all in order. You can also use the Discworld Book Generator to figure out which book to start (or continue) with. Each book is set in a world balanced on elephants' backs and throughout the series you meet a variety of characters, from sister witches, wizards who are not very good at spells, history monks, some villains and even Death itself. If you love fantastical worlds full of magic, the Discworld series will steal your heart.
View Discworld Novels SeriesFor more book series for readers aged 13 and 14, do take a look at our:
Best Action and Adventure Books for Teens
Best Historical Fiction Books for Teens
Best Non-Fiction Books for Teens
