Robinson Crusoe

Robinson Crusoe is the classic castaway novel by Daniel Defoe published in 1719, and it is considered by some to be the first real novel in English. It has inspired adventure lovers and pioneer types for nearly 300 years: its images of the shipwrecked Crusoe going about his daily routine of growing corn, raising goats, and generally subsisting on a desert island for 28 years. But things spice up a bit when a band of cannibals show up to the island like it's their local Applebee's.

Critics have read all sorts of elements into the work like cultural imperialism, the acceptance of slavery (in Crusoe's manservant Friday), and Christian proselytizing, but all in all it's a great adventure book. It's sold a bagillion copies and has enticed kids for hundreds of years to jump ship and fend for themselves on some lonely island - at least in their imaginations.