The hero's/herione's journey is one that is prevalent in much popular fiction and has been developed over the years since 1949 when introduced by Joseph Campbell. It follows a journey structure where the hero's everyday life is disrupted and they return home transformed at the end of their journey. This blog provides a list of 30 books with hero's journey examples that can be used to demonstrate this structure to middle schoolers.
1. Holes by Louis Sacher
Stanley Yelnats is at a juvenile detention camp where he's digging holes, but he discovers that the warden is looking for something, but what could it be? This story takes some twists and turns as Stanley seeks the truth.
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2. Crossing the Wire by Will Hobbs
A 15-year-old Mexican boy endures a grueling journey to sneak across the U.S. border in an attempt to save his family from starvation. Victor doesn't have the coyote money some pay smugglers, so he has to travel on foot, and sneak onto trains and into trucks. Hobbs does an amazing job in telling a story that is true for many trying to "cross the wire".
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3. Peak by Roland Smith
Go to a juvenile detention center, or go stay with a distanced father? Peak Marcelo chooses his father, but it comes with some unknown expectations. His father seems to have little regard for human life when he expects 14-year-old Peak to climb to the summit of Mt. Everest in order to become the youngest person to ever do so. Peak is part of a 4 book series.
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4. False Prince by Jennifer Nielson
Nobleman Connor tries to reunite the kingdom by finding a replacement prince. Sage is one of four orphans that compete for the position, but he knows that Connor has ulterior motives. After crossing the field of adventure, Sage discovers a truth that is more dangerous than all the trials he's endured.
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5. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
In this heroine's journey, Ani has never been comfortable speaking with people but can communicate with animals, especially swans. She is sent away from home to marry but ends up with nothing. She takes a job where her unique talent saves her and helps her develop her voice. This story reminds me of Jane Eyre.
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6. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
An orphan boy, Nobody Owens or Bod, is being raised in a graveyard that he can't leave without the risk of being killed by the man that killed his family. This story depicts an unusual upbringing, where Bod has adventures with assistance from the inhabitants of the graveyard.
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7. Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine
It's 1958 and a 12-year-old girl named Liz begins school. She befriends a girl named Marlee and they become inseparable until Liz stops coming to school suddenly. It is believed that Liz was a light-skinned black girl that was passing for white, but Marlee doesn't care; she values human life and friendship over politics and takes a stand, even if it's in a small way.
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8. Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt
It's the 1960's, and Holling Hoodhood is beginning 7th grade. He dislikes his English teacher and his father is more concerned with his career than his family. Each chapter is a month in the year where we see Holling grow to appreciate Mrs. Baker and stand up for his family. Holling's journey accurately depicts everyday life for many families in the 60s, up until the end.
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9. Bull Run by Paul Fleischman
This book features not one, but sixteen different heroes from the first great battle in the Civil War. It is told in a series of vignettes by each fictional character who represents every race, color, and gender, as well as from both sides of the fight.
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10. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Delphine's heroine journey takes us on a cross-country trip from New York to California when she and her sister go to visit their estranged mother one summer. This work of popular fiction is relatable to many children.
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11. Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin
Jason Blake is twelve and struggles through each day due to autism. He enjoys posting stories online and discovers other writers with content like his. He wants to meet her in real life but fears it due to his disability. What this future hero doesn't realize, is that this fear is true for many people when making new friends.
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12. Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
Jason Blake is twelve and struggles through each day due to autism. He enjoys posting stories online and discovers other writers with content like his. He wants to meet her in real life but fears it due to his disability. What this future hero doesn't realize, is that this fear is true for many people when making new friends.
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13. Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick
Steven is your typical teenager until his little brother gets sick. He's trying to hold everything together and make it through high school. This work of popular fiction will take you on a roller coaster ride of emotions.
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14. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
The lines of genuine science fiction are blurred in this futuristic take on Cinderella. Cinder is a cyborg who is blamed for bad things happening to her family. She ends up in an intergalactic struggle, where this hero ventures into unknown places and discovers secrets from her past that help her world's future.
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15. Origin by Jessica Khoury
Pia had one purpose in life to start an immortal race until she sneaks out of her village and falls in love with a boy from a different village. She must choose to either follow her destiny or her love. It's hard to tell the difference between genuine science fiction and a heroine's journey in this story.
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16. Jump Into the Sky by Shelley Pearsall
13-year-old Levi travels across the country near the end of WW2 to find his father, who is an elite, black paratrooper. Along the way, he learns how blacks are treated in the South, and once he arrives, he learns that his father is about to leave for a dangerous mission.
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17. The League of Seven by Philip Reeve
Archie gets a team of 7 together in order to save the world from the Mangleborn, monsters who thrive on electricity. They had been trapped in underground prisons for years because there was no electricity, but all that changes when it is rediscovered and a Mangelborn brainwashes the people responsible for detaining them.
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18. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Woodson tells her life story in a series of poems, each written from a child's point of view. Her journey, looking for her place in the world, when civil rights were just being better established for blacks, is evident through her use of vivid language.
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19. The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson has always struggled in school and is labeled as a troublemaker. To top it all off, he's accused of stealing Zeus's master lightning bolt. With the help of two friends, this hero ventures across the country from New York to California in order to find the true thief and discover who his father really is. This is book 1 of 9 and has become quite popular fiction among middle schoolers.
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20. Half Bad by Sally Green
Nathan is in search of his father, who is supposed to give him three gifts on his seventeenth birthday so he can come into his own as a witch, however, he faces many difficulties along the way and learns he can trust no one. At times the journey structure is blurred, but Nathan completes his journey in the end.
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21. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
Edward Tulane is an unlikely hero, as he's a china rabbit. He goes from being well cared for to being lost. We see Edwards' journey to multiple places, which teaches him how to love and lose that love over and over again.
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22. The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore
Future hero, Lolly Rachpaul is met with the struggle of joining a gang in Harlem, like his older brother had, or not. A community center project building a Lego city stops him from following in his dead brothers' footsteps. Lolly shows us how important it is to choose your own path in life rather than take the easy way out.
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23. Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas
Bree is stuck in Swim 101 for her elective, which she is not happy about, but with the help of a neighbor, she finds herself trying to turn around her school's bad luck with swim competitions. Here we see an example of a heroine that goes against Joseph Campbell's opinion that they are the hero's mother.
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24. Solo by Kwame Alexander
Blade wants nothing more than to distance himself from his drug addict father, despite his family thinking he's headed down the same path given his songwriting skills. One day he discovers a family secret which leaves him in a position to find what he's been looking for in life or leave him more lost than ever.
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25. Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Ally has dyslexia, but didn't know it for some time. With the help of a new teacher, she learns how to overcome her disability and grows her confidence.
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26. Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly
This book brings four different points of view together, in order to find a missing boy and show a bully the error of his ways in this adventure by assistance.
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27. The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan and Peter Sis
Neftali follows a mysterious voice into the field of adventure through the rainforest, sea, and the rain on a journey of self-discovery. This story is told through a variety of mediums and depicts the early life of Pablo Neruda.
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28. Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
After fleeing Vietnam, Ha and her family travel to the U.S. Told in verse, you'll experience a range of emotions.
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29. Stranded by Jeff Probst
What starts out as a family vacation, quickly turns into a story of survival. Four siblings end up shipwrecked with no adults and must learn how to survive on their own.
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30. As Brave as You by Jason Reynolds
Genie is trying to decide what bravery looks like. First, he thinks that his blind grandfather is brave, but then he discovers that he never leaves the house. Then he thinks his brother is brave, but then changes his mind when he shows no interest in learning how to shoot a gun.
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