A boy lives with his father each summer, typically passing the time by reading and watching television. Their week-long camping trip yields new self-knowledge for the boy and shows another dimension of the dad's interests, particularly his strongly expressed concerns about crowded recreation areas. A first-person narrative, lots of dialogue, and well-composed full-page watercolor paintings are hallmarks of a father-and-son story involving an Asian-American family which grows closer in spirit the farther they go into the wilderness. (Ages 4-9)