Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar

Tamaya Dhilwaddi and Marshall Walsh have been walking to and from school together for years.  It's a long four-mile walk around  the woods to their house.  Then one day, Marshall decides to take a "short cut" through the woods to avoid a school bully and Tamaya follows him into the woods.  They soon get lost.  Then they bully finds them.  Then they escape only to find that something in the woods was a lot more dangerous than they thought.

This was a great story of courage, suspense, adventure, and mystery.  The issues of bullying, telling the truth, and doing the right thing are handled with great care.  I would recommend this book to any reader.