Brian Robeson is the 13-year-old son of divorced parents. As he travels from Hampton on a Cessna bush plane to visit his father in the oil fields of Northern Canada for the summer, the pilot suddenly suffers a massive heart attack and dies. Brian tries to land the plane, but he runs out of fuel and sees nowhere to go, so ends up crash-landing into an L-shaped lake in the middle of a vast forest. Brian survives the crash with only a few minor to severe injuries.
Throughout the summer, Brian learns how to survive on his own in the vast wilderness, with nothing but his windbreaker and a hatchet—a gift his mother gave him shortly before his plane departed.[4] He discovers how to make fire with the hatchet, and eats whatever food he can find, from rabbits and ruffed grouse – which he nicknames “fool-birds” – to turtle eggs, fish and berries. Simultaneously, he deals with many of Nature's dangers, including mosquitoes, a porcupine, two huge bears – one of which is a mother with her cubs, a pack of three wolves, a skunk, a bad-tempered female moose, and even a tornado.
Over time, Brian develops his survival skills and becomes a fine woodsman. He crafts a bow, some arrows, and a fishing spear to aid in his hunting. He also fashions a shelter out of the underside of a rock overhang. During his time alone, Brian struggles with memories of home as well as the bittersweet memory of his mother, whom Brian had caught cheating on his father before their divorce.
When a sudden tornado hits the area, it draws the tail of the plane toward the shore of the lake. This triggers Brian's thoughts that there may be a survival pack of some sort on the plane. He makes a raft from a few broken-off treetops to get to the plane. When he cuts his way into the tail, he drops his hatchet in the lake and dives in to get it. Once inside the plane, Brian finds a survival pack that includes additional food, an emergency transmitter, and a .22 AR-7 rifle.
Back on shore, Brian activates the transmitter, but not knowing how to use it, he thinks it is broken and throws it aside. However, his distress call is heard by a passing airplane, and he is rescued. In the end, Brian spends the remainder of the summer with his father but does not disclose his mother's affair.[4]
