Twelve-year-old Erik Carlson has plans, big plans. He is finally old enough to get his New York State hunting license. He's passed the hunter safety course, and is actually going to go hunting with his friend Patrick, Patrick's dad, and their bird dog Hot Spots.

But what good does it do for a kid to make plans? Suddenly, Erik's parents are deployed overseas as Army Reservists and he is sent to the Middle of Nowhere, North Dakota, to live with grand-parents he barely knows. Oma, his meek and mild grandmother, is okay. But why is his grandfather Big Darrell so mean? And what's the big deal about the closed room at the top of the stairs?

When Erik fids and rescues a dog that's been stuck by a porcupine, big Darrell says the dog can stay one night and no longer. But Erik has already named her Quill and can't bear to give her up. He sets off, taking the dog and a gun, determined that they can make it on their own out on the prairie. In this story of adventure and survival, Erik learns about the challenges and satisfactions of living off the land, the power of family secrets, and the pain of losing what you love.