Something I love about YA survival stories is the versatility within the genre. Some of these stories are traditional dropped-in-the-wilderness tales. Others follow escapes from war, oppressive political regimes, and other very real factors that make people flee their homes. These stories can help build empathy for people in these dangerous situations while still providing the heart-pounding thrills of a survival story. I take real inspiration from these books. As someone with some kind of inability to reliably identify poison ivy (don’t worry, I get plenty of flak for this from people I know in real life), I’d be a sitting duck in an actual survival situation. So I deeply admire characters with the grit to persevere against seemingly incredible odds. Let’s meet a few of them, shall we? If you’d like to continue with thrilling YA reads, try some gothic fiction or just some straight-up horror. However you like to give yourself nightmares is your business! If the Titanic is a topic that fascinates you, we’ve got some more recommendations.
