Less than forty-eight hours after Chris sets off on a sailing trip down the Alaskan coast with his uncle, their boat sinks. The only survivors are Chris and a boy named Frank, who hates Chris immediately. Chris and Frank have no radio, no flares, no food. Suddenly, they begin to forage, fish and scavenge the shore for supplies. Chris likes the company of a curious, friendly raven more that that of the prickly Frank. But the boys have to get along if they want to survive. Because as the days get colder and the salmon migration ends, survival will take more than sheer force of will. Eventually, in the wilderness of Alaska, the boys discover an improbable bond- and the compassion that might truly lead them down the path to recuse.