A boy, a forest, and the summer that changed everything.

It’s the summer of 1957, and ten-year-old Herbie Hereford is afraid of the woods across the street.

When three neighborhood kids invite him to explore them, he says yes. Together they wade into ponds, track deer, build a boat, and learn to read a wild place that becomes as familiar as home—one of the last remnants of the great eastern forest of the American Midwest.

For Herbie, the woods offer something he can’t find at home, where his father’s silences and sudden anger press on everything. That summer, he learns that courage isn’t only something you find in the forest.

A middle-grade coming-of-age novel about friendship, family, and the wild places that shape us. For fans of Because of Winn-Dixie, Hoot, and Dandelion Wine.

Christopher Johnson
Softcover: 978-1-961905-22-1 | $12.95
E-book: 978-1-961905-21-4 | $5.99
September 2026 | 256 pages | Ages 10-14 years

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Wholesale inquiries from retailers and schools are welcome via our Contact page. Schools receive a 10% discount on all purchases. 12 Willows titles are also available through all major bookseller platforms. Download the sell sheet.

Wholesale inquiries from retailers and schools are welcome via our Contact page. Schools receive a 10% discount on all purchases. 12 Willows titles are also available through all major bookseller platforms. Download the sell sheet.

“Maybe this is how we save the world around us—through the eyes of children who can see the magic that fades in the years spent growing old.”
—Bill Kurtis, television journalist, author, and environmentalist
“Johnson has an unerring touch for describing how Herbie confronts not only his own fears but the frightening emotions of his troubled parents.“
—L. Sue Baugh, award-winning author of Echoes of the Earth
“In the Heart of the Woods is Christopher Johnson’s remarkable debut novel. In time, like a snake shedding its skin, Herbie will grow into himself.“
—Char Miller, W. M. Peck Professor of Environmental Analysis
“A compelling coming-of-age story—with a second readership among those who were themselves young in the fifties. Highly recommended!”
—A. M. Linden, author of The Druid Chronicles
“The woods become a kind of fifth character, a realm of freedom with a magnetism and wisdom of its own.“
—Rich Elliott, author of The Secret History of Famous People