Lord of the Files, by William Golding

During a wartime evacuation, a plane full of prep-school boys crashes on a remote island in the Pacific.  Two of the boys, Ralph and Piggy, quickly set to work taking care of the survivors.  The initial relief to be alive quickly passes, however, as the boys turn to focus on the day-to-day work of survival.  Conflict arises when the group breaks up into two separate, competing camps, leading to an epic ending that no reader could possibly see coming!

While this book is a classic and a staple of most schools’ required reading lists, it’s important to know in advance that “Lord of the Flies” has several disturbing parts.  Violence is not glossed over in this story, and I think that Mr. Golding shows his readers a lot of respect by not doing so.  Whenever you’re ready for it, pick up a copy and dive in.  I guarantee, this is one story you’ll never forget!

Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain

I expect an unusual amount of adventure from my books if the main character is a boy named Huckleberry, and this classic surely didn’t disappoint.  Huck Finn lived in the town of St. Petersburg, Missouri, a frontier town where danger waits on its borders.  When Huck’s alcoholic father kidnaps him from his new court-appointed guardian, it’s up to Huck and his friend Tom Sawyer to make their escape.  Once free in the wild, the boys partner up with Jim, a runaway slave, and set off on a mission to help him free his own family.

One fact that’s often overlooks in this classic adventure story is the downright brutality of everyday life in the frontier South.  The original book has been banned many times for its use of the word “nigger”, and subsequent versions have been edited to remove this phrase.  As with most of Mr. Twain’s other works, though, the author is not known for pulling any punches with his writing.  His stories and books are often gritty, but they are always honest.  Huck Finn, one of the best examples of Mr. Twain’s writing, is certainly no different.