The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Freeman, Megan E. Alone. New York: Aladdin Books, 2021.

As the novel begins, Maddie is about to turn 13, and she is struggling with her home life since both of her parents remarried after divorcing. Now Maddie has stepbrothers and a half-brother to share spaces with. She worries that she does not really have a place to belong anymore and risks being forgotten by her parents.

After planning a secret sleepover with her friends, Maddie is the only one to show up after they get sick and cannot attend. Maddie is unwilling to return home from her grandparents' vacant home where she planned to host the party and so she sleeps over there while a mysterious disaster necessitates the evacuation of her entire town. As she had told each parent that she would be sleeping over at the others' house as part of her ruse, Maddie is left behind. When she first returns home, she has no idea what has happened, but it slowly dawns on her that without cell service, nobody knows she has been left behind.

Maddie begins to fend for herself and finds her neighbor's dog, George. He is her only company as she searches the surrounding houses for food and dreams of her family coming back for her. For the first few days, she enjoys the feeling of peace and quiet without her younger brothers around or her mother there to nag her. She believes that everybody will return to the town in a few days and her parents will find her.

As the days pass, Maddie worries that nobody is coming back, and she has not seen another person since before the disaster. Every day, she ventures further from the house to find supplies and search for any source of life. She always returns back to the house as she figures this is the first place her parents would come if they were searching for her.

The seasons change and Maddie forages and learns how to survive in all weather conditions, planting a garden and spending all of her time with George. He is her only support and the pair cling to each other to combat the loneliness. Maddie learns from books at the library on how to grow different plants, cook, and keeps current on her reading to help pass the time.

Months turn into years and Maddie has been fending for herself for four years without any word from her parents. Just as she begins to give up hope, Maddie feels the presence of God and resolves to continue living her life to the fullest even if she has to live it alone. When she visits the creek behind her house, she hears voices and goes back to the house to investigate. Maddie finds her parents there waiting for her. They are shocked to find each other as they embrace and rejoice. Maddie knows now that family and love are the most powerful forces in life.