Start with high-confidence violence & safety books, then narrow by subgenre or adjacent topics.
Ghost of Spirit Bear
Ben Mikaelsen
Pax
Sara Pennypacker
I Want to Be a Police Officer
Laura Driscoll
Here in the Real World
Fuzzy Mud
Louis Sachar
The Monument
Gary Paulsen
Where the Red Fern Grows
Wilson Rawls
Holes
A Boy and a Jaguar
Alan Rabinowitz
The Seventh Most Important Thing
Shelley Pearsall
Morgy Makes His Move
Maggie Lewis
Technically, It's Not My Fault
John Grandits
Small As an Elephant
Jennifer Richard Jacobson
The Tiger Rising
Kate DiCamillo
Don't Feed the Boy
Irene Latham
Brand New Boy
David Almond
The Invisible Boy
Trudy Ludwig
