Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.
Exposition
Going to the Island
The beginning of the book sets up the story by introducing us to Cole Matthews, a teenage delinquent who is in big trouble for beating up another boy at his school, Peter Driscal. Cole is on the way to a remote Alaskan island to go through an alternative justice system called Circle Justice that his parole officer, Garvey, set him up with. By agreeing to go to an island and work off the land for a year, Cole is supposed to forgo his prison sentence…provided that he learns from the experience and reforms.
Rising Action
Fighting Spirit Bear
Unfortunately, Cole hasn't learned all that much yet. In fact, he's not even planning to stay on the island and instead tries to escape, convinced he can make it out of there and disappear forever. When that doesn't work out, he tries to tough it out on the island until he can try again. However, he ends up running into the Spirit Bear—an all white bear—that Edwin (the Tlingit elder who brought him to the island) told him about. Instead of respecting the mystical bear, Cole tries to kill him. Surprising Cole (but not us), this turns out to be a terrible idea and Cole is almost killed when the bear mauls him violently.
Climax
A Second Chance
Things come to a head when Cole passes out on the island with broken limbs and a lot of lost blood, convinced that he's going to die. Thankfully, Edwin and Garvey come back to check on him and save his butt. He gets sent back to Minneapolis, where he's in the hospital for a while and somewhat repairs his relationship with his alcoholic mother, although his abusive father remains unavailable. Cole desperately wants to go back to the island and get another chance at Circle Justice, but he knows that the likelihood of that happening is slim since he's messed up so badly.
Falling Action
Island Living
Because Garvey and Edwin can see some change in Cole, they advocate for him to go back to the island. Things start turning around as Cole learns to live off the land—and more importantly, becomes more in-touch with the natural world. At the same time, he reflects a lot on what he's done wrong and how he can make things right for both himself and for Peter Driscal. When he hears about how Peter Driscal has tried to commit suicide several times, he plans something drastic: having Peter come to the island to heal his emotional scars.
Resolution
Making Amends
Peter shows up at the island with Garvey there to chaperone them, and at first things seem like they're not going to ever change. Peter obviously hates Cole, and he doesn't want to hear any of his apologies or even talk to him. But by spending time on the island and seeing Cole's transformation, Peter starts to change, too, and eventually both boys become less angry and come to an understanding about each other. They even see Spirit Bear again, marveling together at his greatness.