Pap dies from infection after breaking his leg, leaving ten-year-old Moon alone in their forest shelter.

Moon visits Mr. Abroscotto seeking advice about Alaska, but the storeowner secretly calls the authorities.

Mr. Wellington tricks Moon by calling Mr. Gene instead of searching for Alaska maps as promised.

Moon escapes from Mr. Gene's car by hitting him hard and flees back to his forest shelter.

Constable Sanders arrests Moon at a bridge as Moon attempts to leave for Alaska with his wheelbarrow of supplies.

Sanders takes Moon to Pinson boys' home following a brief stay in the Livingston county jail.

Moon defeats Hal Mitchell in two separate fights, establishing his toughness among the boys at Pinson.

Moon, Kit, and Hal escape Pinson using a sheet-tin bridge across the fence and Hal's ability to drive the bus.

After a cold, wet night without shelter, Hal decides to leave the forest camp and find his father.

Kit becomes critically ill in the forest camp and Moon's herbal remedies completely fail to help him.

Moon builds a makeshift stretcher and drags Kit through the woods to a road, where a couple rescues him.

Sanders catches Moon leaving Kit's hospital room, handcuffs him, and marches him toward the old shelter at leashpoint.

Mr. Wellington records Moon's full story, retrieves Sanders's pistol from the forest camp, and delivers Moon to Tuscaloosa County jail.

Wellington exposes Sanders's lies at the court hearing using bullet and marksmanship evidence, and Sanders is arrested.

Kit dies in the hospital, and Moon later meets Uncle Mike and leaves with him for a new life in Mobile.

After Pap dies from infection, Moon sets out alone with a wheelbarrow for Alaska, only to be arrested by Constable Sanders and placed in a boys' home called Pinson. Moon escapes Pinson with Kit and Hal and attempts to survive deep in the Talladega National Forest, but Kit falls critically ill and Moon must risk capture to save him. Sanders continues to hound Moon while lying publicly about his actions, until Mr. Wellington steps forward to gather evidence and defend Moon in court. At the hearing, Sanders is exposed as a liar and arrested, freeing Moon from the system that has pursued him throughout the story. Kit dies before Moon can see him one last time, but Uncle Mike arrives to take Moon into his family, closing the door on Moon's old life and opening a new one.

Moon's journey from wilderness orphan to finding a new family.

Before dying, Pap explains his philosophy of owing nothing to anyone and tells Moon to head for Alaska.

Overcome by loneliness after burning a letter to Pap, Moon runs through the dark woods until he finds Wellington's lit lodge.

Moon arrives at the Livingston police station, takes his first ever hot shower, and spends a comfortable night in a cell.

Moon meets pale, quiet Kit Slip at Pinson, who befriends him and explains the boys' home's daily routines.

Moon spots the kitchen delivery door at Pinson and begins forming a detailed escape plan around it.

Sanders sends two bloodhounds to track the escaped boys, but both dogs befriend the group instead of catching them.

Moon, Kit, and Hal share stories of their pasts around a campfire while eating fish caught from a forest pond.

Moon tracks and kills a doe with his homemade bow, then uses every part of the deer to supply the camp.

Moon builds a vine snare that traps Sanders near the creek, then walks up and takes Sanders's army pistol.

A reporter broadcasts from the rescue site, calls Moon Alabama Moon, and reveals Sanders has been lying about the boys.

Hal brings Moon to stay at Mr. Mitchell's trailer and takes Moon mudding at high speed in the clay pit.

Mr. Mitchell lets Moon fire his Vietnam-era machine gun at bottles and praises Moon's exceptional marksmanship.

Moon visits Mr. Abroscotto and learns that Pap's experiences in the Vietnam War likely fueled his deep distrust of government.

Moon visits Kit in the hospital and the two shake hands on a future plan to live freely in the forest.

Moon visits the old shelter one final time, hangs Kit's deerskin cap on the wall, and bids farewell to his parents' graves.

Before dying, Pap plants in Moon the conviction that Alaska is the only right destination, but Moon's encounters with others begin quietly reshaping everything he was taught. At Pinson, Moon befriends Kit, who listens with wonder to every survival story, and the two form a genuine bond unlike anything Moon has ever experienced. In the Talladega forest, Moon discovers what it means to care for others as he hunts deer, builds shelter, and outsmarts a wandering Sanders. A series of experiences away from the forest—mudding with Hal, firing Mr. Mitchell's machine gun, and learning about Pap's Vietnam past—shift Moon away from isolation and toward a hunger for connection. By the story's end, Moon honors Kit's memory at the old shelter before saying a quiet goodbye to the life Pap gave him.

The friendships and experiences that changed Moon's worldview.

Pap and Moon discover surveyors examining their shelter and learn a lawyer named Wellington has bought the nearby land.

Mr. Abroscotto cuts open Pap's ammunition box, revealing old photos that suggest Pap had an unknown brother.

Moon falls asleep watching Wellington through the lodge window and wakes to find Wellington standing over him outside.

Moon is locked in a Livingston jail cell and tells fellow prisoner Obregon all about his life in the woods.

Moon invites all the Pinson boys to escape on the bus, but only Kit and Hal follow him into the forest.

Moon finds a forest pond and teaches Kit and Hal to corral and spear fish for their first shared meal in the wild.

A cold overnight rain soaks Kit and Hal without shelter, pushing Hal to his breaking point with forest life.

Moon test-fires Sanders's captured pistol twice into a log and is amazed by its power compared to his rifle.

While dragging Kit through the woods, Moon admits aloud he no longer cares about Alaska and only wants Kit to live.

Hal hears a reporter broadcast Kit and Moon's story and drives to the forest to find Moon and offer him shelter.

Moon writes a smoke letter to Pap at Hal's trailer, admitting for the first time he does not want to live alone.

Moon calls the hospital from a pay phone to reach Kit but hangs up when staff asks his name to report to Sanders.

Moon uses the stars to navigate back to Wellington's lodge in the dark and chooses to give himself up.

At a shooting range, Moon hits a distant medicine bottle with a single shot, proving his precision to the judge.

Moon sleeps outside Wellington's lodge after Kit's death and writes a long letter to Kit by firelight.

The arrival of surveyors near Moon's shelter triggers the chain of events that will upend his entire life, and a box of old photographs hints that Moon has family he never knew existed. Moon's escape from Pinson and life in the Talladega forest force him to confront the limits of what Pap taught him, from watching the other boys choose the safety of the system over freedom to admitting he no longer wants Alaska but simply wants Kit to survive. After Kit is rescued, Moon pieces together Pap's past while sheltering with Hal and Mr. Mitchell, and he begins to understand that Pap's choices were shaped by war and loss rather than wisdom alone. A corrupt constable, a sympathetic judge, and a determined lawyer converge to determine Moon's fate in a courtroom showdown that hinges on Moon's own skills as proof. When Kit dies, Moon finds a measure of peace at the old shelter before stepping into a new life with Uncle Mike, trading hard-won solitude for the family connection he now knows he needs.