Dan Carter-- Cub Scout

The year is 1952. Four boys in uniform sit in a cramped cabin, rain hammering the roof, spirits undiminished. This is Dan Carter and his Cub Scout den, and they're determined to make the most of their camping trip even when the weather won't cooperate. When Dan and their leader venture out to survey the conditions, they meet Saul Dobbs, a man who looks at them like they've already done something wrong. They haven't. But they are on his land, or so he claims, and his suspicion sets everything alight. What follows is a story about what happens when boys with good intentions meet an adult who won't listen. There's a pheasant farm to explore, a mystery about who actually owns the land, and a test of whether honesty and teamwork can overcome stubbornness. The rain keeps falling. Dobbs keeps brooding. But Cub Scouts are trained to be prepared, and Dan's den learns that courage isn't the absence of fear, it's showing up anyway. For readers who like their adventures wholesome, their mysteries low-stakes, and their protagonists young enough to still wear uniforms and mean it.