Five Boys in a Cave

This story is perfect for teens and bright pre-teens. Although it was written many years ago, the only sense you get of dated-ness is in the language, which might seem somewhat stilted to today's audience; the story itself is totally modern. Five boys become friends of sorts over a summer vacation. They discover a cave and decide to explore it. In the process they become trapped and must try to find a way out. Each boy shows the kind of person he really is: in how he responds to stress, how he helps with or worsens the situation. This collusion of character is much more typical of an adult genre, but will be totally recognizable by any young adult. Combine this with the excellent description of the cave and a tension that is unrelenting, and you have a great story that is more than a match for the typical teen-stuff published today.

I read this book when it first came out (1951 or so) when I was about 12 & liked it very much. It's a great plot to introduce the concequences of certain decisions (good lessons for all young people, especially boys) & to show that our assumptions about a friend's character & his place in the "pack" may not be what we had thought.... & all told in a good old fashioned adventure tale. This has remained 1 of my all time favorite books. It should be required reading in school. Makes for good out-loud reading, too, w/ lots of opportunity to share ideas about pre-conceptions & responsibility.

i read this book when i was in sixth grade, i am now 33 years old and i still remember what a great story it was to me, so much so that i bought it this christmas for my son who is now in sixth grade.Any story that does that must be brilliant, and it is

From page one this story reminds one of the adventures of youth. The miracle of discovering a cave and the anticipation and fear involved in exploring it seems to be bred into every young man.Much like Golding's "Lord of the Flies," this story shows us the depth of a child's mind. The cave, both as a setting and as a metaphor, challenges the boys to become men in a crisis situation.I highly recomend this book, if it can be found. It had the earmarks of classic literature.