Will Hobbs Books in Order
Explore Will Hobbs books in order, with summaries, series background, and simple guidance on where to start with his outdoor adventures.
Last updated: July 14, 2026
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Will Hobbs books in publication order
23 books
Changes in Latitudes
by Will Hobbs
1988
During a family vacation in Mexico, sixteen-year-old Travis learns about endangered sea turtles while realizing his own family is in trouble. A week that begins with sun and escape becomes a painful lesson in loss, responsibility, and love.
Bearstone
by Will Hobbs
1989
Fourteen-year-old Cloyd Atcitty is sent to work for an aging Colorado rancher. A trip to reopen an old gold mine brings Cloyd face-to-face with a threatened grizzly and a trophy hunter, testing his courage and loyalty.
Downriver
by Will Hobbs
1991
Jessie and six teens ditch their outdoor program, borrow rafting gear, and launch into the Grand Canyon without adults or a map. Huge rapids, injuries, pursuit, and rising conflict turn their escape into a serious survival test.
The Big Wander
by Will Hobbs
1992
Fourteen-year-old Clay stays in the Southwest after his brother gives up their search for a missing uncle. With a burro and a dog, he crosses remote canyon country and finds his uncle caught up in a fight to save wild horses.
Beardance
by Will Hobbs
1993
Cloyd and Walter return to Colorado's high country in search of a lost gold mine. When orphaned grizzly cubs need help, Cloyd stays behind in the advancing winter and takes on a dangerous fight for their survival.
Kokopelli's Flute
by Will Hobbs
1995
At an ancient cliff dwelling, thirteen-year-old Tep Jones finds a bone flute abandoned by artifact thieves. Its magic traps him in an animal's body each night, and he must uncover the site's secrets to save himself and his ill mother.
Far North
by Will Hobbs
1996
A float-plane failure strands Gabe Rogers and his boarding-school roommate, Raymond Providence, in Canada's Northwest Territories. With winter closing in around Deadmen Valley, two boys from different cultures must rely on each other to stay alive.
Beardream
by Will Hobbs
1997
When spring arrives, every mountain bear wakes except the Great Bear. Worried that he may starve, a village boy called Short Tail climbs into the mountains and enters a magical dream in search of him.
Ghost Canoe
by Will Hobbs
1997
After a shipwreck off Cape Flattery, lighthouse keeper's son Nathan refuses to believe there were no survivors. With his Makah friend Lighthouse George, he follows eerie clues through sea caves toward a mystery involving treasure, betrayal, and murder.
River Thunder
by Will Hobbs
1997
Jessie, Troy, and the crew from Downriver return to the Grand Canyon when the Colorado River is running at historic flood levels. Jessie wants to row her own raft, but huge rapids and old tensions demand real teamwork.
Bearstone And Other Selected Works
by Will Hobbs
1998
This classroom-oriented collection centers on Bearstone, Hobbs's story of troubled Ute teenager Cloyd Atcitty and an elderly Colorado rancher. Their mountain journey, a hidden mine, and a threatened grizzly become a test of trust and responsibility.
Howling Hill
by Will Hobbs
1998
Hanni, a young wolf pup, is swept away from her pack on a river log. Alone in the snowy North, she must face dangerous water and wind, find her way home, and discover the howl inside her.
The Maze
by Will Hobbs
1998
Fourteen-year-old Rick is on the run when he reaches Utah's redrock Maze and meets a biologist releasing California condors. When threatening men arrive, Rick risks his life to protect his new friend and the endangered birds.
Jason's Gold
by Will Hobbs
1999
After hearing news of Yukon gold, fifteen-year-old Jason Hawthorn races north toward the Klondike. With Jamie, a rescued husky, and even young Jack London crossing his path, he must survive the Chilkoot Pass and a punishing river journey.
Down the Yukon
by Will Hobbs
2001
Jason Hawthorn and Jamie Dunavant join a race from Dawson City toward Nome, where another gold rush is beginning. Dangerous rivals, the Yukon River, and open sea stand between Jason and his plan to win back his family's sawmill.
Wild Man Island
by Will Hobbs
2002
Separated from his sea-kayaking group in southeast Alaska, Andy Galloway reaches remote Admiralty Island. While searching for answers about his archaeologist father's death, he encounters wolves, bears, a mysterious hunter, and a cave full of danger.
Jackie's Wild Seattle
by Will Hobbs
2003
Visiting Seattle, fourteen-year-old Shannon helps her uncle at a wildlife rescue center, saving animals from dangerous situations. When her uncle is injured, Shannon steps up while trying to understand troubled volunteer Tyler and the secrets surrounding him.
Leaving Protection
by Will Hobbs
2004
Robbie finally gets a dream job deckhanding on an Alaskan salmon boat, but his captain has a hidden agenda. A hunt for valuable Russian possession plaques and a violent storm leave Robbie wondering whether he knows too much.
Crossing the Wire
by Will Hobbs
2006
Falling crop prices push fifteen-year-old Victor Flores to leave Mexico and seek work in the United States. Without money for smugglers, he rides trains, hides on trucks, and crosses the Arizona desert in a desperate bid to help his family.
Go Big or Go Home
by Will Hobbs
2008
A meteorite crashes through Brady Steele's roof in South Dakota, and he and his cousin Quinn claim the extraordinary space rock. Rival boys, a possible discovery of alien life, and Brady's alarming symptoms turn the find into a threat.
Take Me to the River
by Will Hobbs
2010
Dylan travels to Big Bend to paddle the Rio Grande with his cousin Rio. A hurricane, border tension, and a frightened kidnapped boy pull them into danger as floodwaters turn their remote canyon trip into a race for survival.
Never Say Die
by Will Hobbs
2013
In Canada's Arctic, Inuit teen Nick Thrasher joins his newly met half brother on a caribou expedition down the Firth River. After disaster strikes, they must survive the tundra while a dangerous grizzly-polar bear hybrid stalks them.
City of Gold
by Will Hobbs
2020
In 1900 Colorado, fifteen-year-old Owen follows a rustler across the mountains after his family's mules are stolen. His search leads to Telluride, a determined girl named Molly, and the dangerous world around Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch.
Where to start with Will Hobbs
For mountain adventure and wildlife: Bearstone → Beardance
For whitewater danger and group drama: Downriver → River Thunder
For historical gold-rush adventure: Jason's Gold → Down the Yukon
For tense contemporary survival stories: Far North → Ghost Canoe → Wild Man Island
Will Hobbs sub-series and character series
Bearstone books in order
Explore this seriesJason's Gold books in order
Explore this seriesRiver books in order
Explore this seriesWill Hobb's Picture Books books in order
Explore this seriesWill Hobbs collections, short stories, and related book types
Standalone Will Hobbs books

Changes in Latitudes
by Will Hobbs
1988
The Big Wander
by Will Hobbs
1992
Kokopelli's Flute
by Will Hobbs
1995
Far North
by Will Hobbs
1996
Ghost Canoe
by Will Hobbs
1997
The Maze
by Will Hobbs
1998
Wild Man Island
by Will Hobbs
2002
Jackie's Wild Seattle
by Will Hobbs
2003
Leaving Protection
by Will Hobbs
2004
Crossing the Wire
by Will Hobbs
2006
Go Big or Go Home
by Will Hobbs
2008
Take Me to the River
by Will Hobbs
2010
Never Say Die
by Will Hobbs
2013
City of Gold
by Will Hobbs
2020
Author bio
Will Hobbs was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1947, but his childhood was rarely still. His father was in the Air Force, and the family lived in the Panama Canal Zone, Virginia, Alaska, California, and Texas. Those moves gave him a feel for wide-open country early on, especially during his years in Alaska.
Alaska stayed with him. He later wrote about loving its mountains, rivers, fishing, baseball, and books, interests that show up again and again in his fiction. His young characters are often far from home, learning the rules of a place where weather, water, animals, and distance all matter.
The outdoors wasn't just scenery for Hobbs. It was the point.
He studied English at Stanford University, earning a bachelor's degree in 1969 and a master's degree in 1971. After he and his wife, Jean, moved to southwestern Colorado, both found work in schools. Hobbs spent 17 years teaching reading and English, including years in the Durango area, before becoming a full-time writer in 1990.
Teaching gave him a practical sense of what young readers might actually want from a story. He wrote books with momentum, clear stakes, and characters who have to make choices when the adults aren't able to solve things for them. His first novel, Changes in Latitudes, arrived in 1988, sending a teenager and his family to Mexico amid a story involving endangered sea turtles.
Then came the mountains, rivers, canyons, and cold country.
In Bearstone and Beardance, Ute teenager Cloyd Atcitty finds a hard-won connection with an older rancher and the threatened grizzlies of Colorado's high country. Downriver follows a group of teenagers rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon without adults, maps, or permission. In Far North, two boys from very different backgrounds must survive a Canadian winter after a plane emergency leaves them stranded near the Nahanni River.
Hobbs also enjoyed putting young people inside real history. Jason's Gold sends fifteen-year-old Jason Hawthorn toward the Klondike during the gold rush, while City of Gold takes readers to 1900 Colorado, where a boy pursues stolen mules through mining country and into the orbit of Butch Cassidy's gang. Later books such as Crossing the Wire and Never Say Die pair fast-moving survival plots with questions about family, work, borders, wildlife, and climate.
His work earned a long list of reader and book awards. Seven of his novels were named Best Books for Young Adults, and Downriver and Far North were included on a major list of the twentieth century's best young adult books. Ghost Canoe received the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery.
Hobbs and Jean spent years backpacking and running rivers, often returning to places that shaped his settings. He lived in Durango, Colorado, for many years and died there on March 31, 2025. His books leave behind a simple invitation: get outside, pay attention, and keep going when the route gets rough.
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