A Week in the Woods is a middle-grade novel by Andrew Clements, the author of Frindle and The Landry News.
Mark is the new kid at school, a bit resentful that his parents decided to move to the middle of nowhere as part of a gap year. Away from his friends, he tries to not participate and makes a bad impression on his teacher, Mr. Maxwell. Then he tries turning over a new leaf, but Mr. Maxwell has already fixed his opinion of Mark. When the latter organizes an annual Week in the Woods, Mark follows the rules but his friend Jason doesn't and brings a knife. Mark goes for Taking the Heat, but gets offended when Mr. Maxwell claims this is an expulsion offense. He wanders off on a hiking trail, not knowing that it's been closed off ages ago.
Tropes for this include:
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Mr. Maxwell admits to Mark that he overreacted about the knife when they're spending the night outside with the sleeping bag, and that he should have behaved better
- Failed a Spot Check:
- The camp director gives Mr. Maxwell a What the Hell, Hero? for this when asking if the knife belonged to Jason when the latter is calling the housekeeper watching Mark. He then shows that Jason Frazer carved his name into the handle, quite prominently.
- When wandering off in a huff, and deciding to use a loop to head back to the camp, Mark climbs over a log in the path without thinking much of it. Mr. Maxwell knows the log is there because the trail was closed off years ago due to it becoming too dangerous for passersby.
- Idiot Ball: Lampshaded by Mark when he realizes that Jason brought a Swiss-Army knife. He knows it's cool, but reminds Jason that the rules for A Week In The Woods are there for a reason. Mr. Maxwell after he and Mark return to camp talks to Jason about this, with his only punishment being that Mr. Maxwell confiscates the knife for the week.
- Jerkass Realization:
- After being standoffish for a week, Mark realizes that he has acted like a spoiled kid. He resolves to be nicer to his classmates and to Mr. Maxwell.
- Mr. Maxwell has this when he realizes that Mark was trying to cover for Jason, and didn't even bother to check the name on the knife handle. Then Mark disappears, and Mr. Maxwell admits he understands why.
- Missing Child: Mr. Maxwell goes Oh, Crap! when he finds Mark missing, just after promising to drive the kid home from A Week in the Woods for bringing a knife and further administrative punishment. He then resolves to go into the woods on realizing he went there. They end up spending the night outdoors, and Mr. Maxwell has a broken ankle while nearly succumbing to the cold, while Mark tends to him.
- Moment of Weakness: Mr. Maxwell considers trying to kick Mark out of camp for carrying a knife — he finds out too late that the knife belonged to his friend Jason— this. Namely, the fact that his harshness causes Mark to walk off down a trail that has been closed off for years. When they reunite, he apologizes to him, saying that as the adult in the situation he should have been more mature.
- Parental Abandonment: This is partly why Mark is acting out at the beginning of the book; his parents moved out to the middle of nowhere and are constantly traveling. The housekeeper and her husband are serving as Mark's caretakers. Mark is not amused.
