Incident at Hawk's Hill
by Allan W. Eckert
Middle grade · ages 10–14 · grades 5–9 · 760L · 191 pages · 1991
Why we'd hand it over
A genuinely unsettling survival story grounded in historical detail and animal naturalism—not a cozy wilderness tale; Ben's bond with a badger is earned through real predation and death, making his resilience feel earned rather than sentimental.