But the survivors didn’t know that yet. They weren’t meant to; it wasn’t the way of nature. They packed the canoe and lifted their paddles. They pushed away from shore.

Acknowledgments

Small Game was shaped by countless conversations. A phone call with the wonderful Esmé Weijun Wang spurred me to sit down and begin the first page. Lori Lober offered encouragement and ideas—she’s a brilliant reader and a great friend. Sarah Marshall talked structure and character with me on long walks in the woods, as we watched the seasons change around us. (She is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to foraging for ramps.)

Rachael Drechsel shared her extensive knowledge of plants and mushrooms of the Northwoods. She and Colleen Michelson led me on a foraging expedition; how they can spot lion’s mane mushrooms in the far distance from the back of a bouncing four-wheeler through a cloud of dust, I’ll never know. Conversations with my friends Lloyd Gilbertson, Craig Fox, Owen Morgan, Jesse Krikorian, and Kathie Bollenbach helped narrow down details for accuracy.

I wrote much of the book during a winter dogsled season, living in the woods with our team of sled dogs, and I want to thank the online community around the team (hi #uglydogs!) for the friendship, laughs, and shared excitement. You all astonish me with your kindness and humor. And of course, thank you to the sled dogs themselves, who couldn’t care less about a book acknowledgment but will be happy to accept pork chops of appreciation.

A few years ago I got the chance to be on an unscripted survival show, after years of being fascinated by the genre. My experience could not have been more different from the one in this book. In fact, it was the crew’s and my teammates’ complete professionalism and dedication, in the face of truly wild circumstances, that made me sensitive to how different the situation would be if that weren’t the case: if survival was this beautiful and vulnerable with the best possible human team, what would it be like with an unscrupulous one? Thank you to Rachel Maguire, who’s one of the toughest people I know, and Kip Robbins, whose presence brought warmth to all situations. I learned a tremendous amount from survivalists Gary Golding, Matt Wright, and Molly Jansen.

It was a great privilege to have Alice Truax as an early reader. She has an uncanny talent for noting exactly the things I’m stuck on, and her insight helped click key elements of the book into place.

I’m incredibly grateful to agent Andrea Blatt, whose positivity shines through everything she does. She helped Small Game find its place in the world and nourished it along the way. Editor Sara Birmingham has a keen eye for flow and detail, and a deep sense of story. It’s an honor to be in your capable hands.

To the rest of the team at Ecco: thank you so much for the care and passion you put into your work! It is such a delight to work with you. Thank you to TJ Calhoun, Meghan Deans, Jin Soo Chun, Miriam Parker, and Caitlin Mulrooney-Lyski.