Summary

I Hole Up in a Snowstorm – Twelve-year-old Sam Gribley journals on birch bark during a massive snowstorm in his treehouse, a small cave-like dwelling he has burned and hacked out of a massive hemlock tree. He has even constructed a fireplace to keep warm in the winter. He believes it is either December 4 or 5, but does not know for sure, for he has lost count. He has been too busy smoking venison and collecting berries, nuts, and small game for survival. His light source is a candle made from a turtle shell and deer fat with a strip of his old pants for a wick.

Sam explains that eight months before, he ran away from home to live on the land, and the food in...