My offering is NOT "end of the world" fiction by any means.

The novel that really turned me onto the need to know about "survival" techniques and the desire to know more was:

"My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

The illustrations are not all that great but they are sufficient where necessary to illustrate a point in the book. I first read this novel at about the 7th or 8th grade. It is written for that student reading level.

Let us not forget the classics of "Swiss Family Robinson" or "Robinson Caruso".