Survival
These two items, one metal and one stone, are what Brian strikes together to create life-saving sparks.
What are his hatchet and flint-like rock?
This massive herbivore attacks Brian at the lake for no apparent reason, badly injuring his ribs and nearly drowning him.
What is a moose?
Brian manages to retrieve this specific item from the submerged plane, which contains the tools that ultimately lead to his rescue.
What is a survival pack?
Brian discovers "The Secret" while riding his bicycle with Terry and sees his mother sitting in a station wagon with this person.
Who is the man with short blond hair (the stranger)?
After his suicide attempt fails, Brian experiences a mental shift and begins calling himself by this two-word name to signal his new outlook.
Who is "The New Brian"?
After realizing self-pity is useless, Brian celebrates a specific milestone when he finally catches and eats his first bird.
What is "First Meat Day"?
This sudden weather event destroys Brian's shelter and tools, but ironically flips the crashed plane, allowing him to access this survival pack.
What is a tornado?
While digging through the survival pack, Brian is disgusted by this item, feeling it makes him a "different person" who doesn't need to work for his food.
What is a rifle?
This is the specific location where Brian witnessed his mother’s secret affair, involving a car parked in front of a shopping mall.
What is the blank?
Brian notices his body has undergone this major physical change, describing his stomach as "drawn in" and his skin as "leathery."
What is a significant weight loss (or becoming lean and muscular)?
To ensure a steady supply of fresh food, Brian builds this type of structure in the lake to trap fish until he is ready to eat them
What is an underwater enclosure (or fish pen)?
These " vampires of the woods" are Brian's first major obstacle, swarming him in thick clouds every morning and evening.
What are mosquitoes (of black flies)?
Brian accidentally leaves this device turned on after finding it in the pack, unaware that it is broadcasting his location to nearby pilots.
What is a emergency transmitter (or distress beak)?
Brian’s mother thinks the reason for the divorce is simply "broken trust," but Brian knows the truth because he saw his mother doing this.
What is kissing the stranger?
Brian develops this heightened sense, which allows him to see "the shape inside the shape" to spot birds and fish that were previously invisible to him.
What is refined vision (or "seeing" rather than just looking)?
Brian learns to protect his shelter more effectively after this animal enters at night and injures his leg with its quills.
Brian learns the hard way not to corner a mother of this species after he is sprayed in the face, causing temporary blindness.
What is a skunk?
At the exact moment he is rescued, Brian was preparing to eat this "delicacy" he had found in the survival pack.
What is a freeze-dried beef stroganoff (or peach whip)?
Throughout the book, Brian refers to the memory of his mother’s infidelity by this two-word capitalized phrase.
What is "The Secret"?
This internal change involves Brian no longer reacting to danger with fear or panic, but with this focused, analytical state of mind.
What is patience (or calm observation)?
This is the total number of days Brian survives alone in the wilderness before he is accidentally rescued by a passing pilot.
What is 54 days?
After the pilot dies of a heart attack, Brian;s first brushes with death are the "green wall" of trees and this body of water during the crash landing.
What is the L-shaped lake?
This is the profession of the person who finally lands his floatplane on the lake to pick Brian up.
Who is a fur buyer?
Even after being rescued and returning to live with his mother, Brian chooses to do this regarding "The Secret" and his father.
What is keep it to himself (or never tell his father)?
Toward the end of his ordeal, Brian realizes that while his body has changed, the most important transformation is his loss of this "city" trait, replaced by a deep connection to the woods.
What is self-pity (or helplessness)?