W. R Philbrick

Thirteen-year-old Sam Castine is at summer camp while his mother is in rehab, but when the camp is evacuated ahead of a fast moving wildfire, he makes the mistake of going back for his phone, and finds himself left behind, disoriented, and running for his life, together with a girl, Delphy, from a different camp--finding an old jeep keeps them going, but in the wilds of Maine, there are only logging roads and the deadly crown fire is everywhere.

When a dam fails and rushing waters sweep away their adult supervisors, five middle schoolers on a white-water rafting adventure are left alone with few supplies and the opportunity to forge powerful bonds as well as develop dangerous disagreements.

Arthur Bash is the school thug-for-hire (paid in candy bars), mostly because he just looks the part, so when orphan Darius Drake offers him three candy bars to accompany him to the run-down Stompanado Housing Complex, and just look menacing, he agrees--and soon finds himself deep in a mystery involving Darius' estranged grandfather, the lost Dunbar Diamonds, and the villainous Jasper Jones.

Douglas Allen Deeds, an orphan from Missouri, recounts his experiences as part of the Donner Party expedition in 1846, in this book based on the actual events.