These are books about children or teens who are on their own or for some reason have to take care of themselves. They may be prodigies or have some supernatural abilities. Or they may be in some post-apocalyptic world with few or no adults. Or they might just have little supervision based on their everyday circumstances. Whatever the cause, these children and young adults prove their resilience, intelligence, and creativity by staying strong no matter what happens. (Books like Harry Potter, where children are clearly supervised by many adults most of the time, DO NOT fall under this category).