Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe
Middle grade · ages 8–12 · 820L (~5th grade) · 310 pages · 2016
Why we'd hand it over
A genuine endurance test in the best sense—Defoe's methodical, unglamorous account of survival invention teaches problem-solving better than any modern survival manual, but the 18th-century prose and colonialist framing demand a confident reader and parent conversation.