The protagonist of The Sign of the Beaver, 12-year-old Matthew Hallowell must guard his family’s new cabin, deep in the forests of Maine, while his father brings the rest of their family. The expected seven-week task stretches out to half a year. Matt loses his rifle and most of his food to human and animal poachers, and nearly dies trying to obtain honey from a beehive. Penobscot elder Saknis nurses him back to health; in return, Matt teaches Saknis’s grandson, 14-year-old Attean, how to read English. The two boys hunt and fish in the forest, and Attean teaches Matt crucial survival skills.

Over the course of the novel, Matt slowly achieves self-reliance and becomes a man who can take care of himself and others. From the Penobscot village, he learns lessons of compassion and understanding, as its people are generous and wise (unlike the stereotypes perpetuated by European colonists). In overcoming the many challenges of living in the woods and forming a friendship with Attean, Matt learns to survive without help—and ultimately becomes more open-minded.

Matt’s family name, Hallowell, is an honored name in Maine. The city of Hallowell, roughly 30 miles up the Kennebec River along the Atlantic Coast, is an old shipbuilding town next to the state capital, Augusta.