North Woods Manhunt (A Sugar Creek Gang Story)

"North Woods Manhunt (A Sugar Creek Gang Story)" by Paul Hutchens is a children's adventure novel written in the mid-20th century. The story revolves around a group of young boys, known as the Sugar Creek Gang, who find themselves in thrilling escapades while camping in the North Woods. The plot begins with the gang discovering ransom money hidden inside stuffed fish and encountering danger from a fierce man named Old Hook-nose John Till. The opening of the story sets the stage for an exciting adventure as the gang is in the midst of retrieving ransom money from an icehouse. Just as they are about to escape with their find, they realize that a potentially dangerous man, John Till, is nearby. In a daring move, one member of the gang, Circus, locks Till inside the icehouse, leaving the boys to decide how to handle the situation. After devising a plan to get help from their camp, they set off in a stolen boat to fetch reinforcements. As the story unfolds, themes of bravery, friendship, and moral dilemmas come to the forefront, making for an engaging and thought-provoking read for young readers. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Paul Hutchens was an American author. In addition to writing The Sugar Creek Gang, a series of 36 Christian-themed juvenile fiction books about the adventures of a group of young boys, he also wrote numerous adult fiction books, many with a romance theme. The author was a graduate of Moody Bible Institute. The Sugar Creek Gang books have been popular in evangelical Christian homes and have remained in print through multiple format and cover art changes. The books have also been dramatized on the radio, and in 2004, the stories were made into a series of movies, directed by Joy Chapman and Owen Smith. His books were originally published by Wm. B. Eerdmans, and later reprinted by other publishers such as Van Kampen Press and Moody Press.