Whether you're trapped in a leaking spaceship or a car that's gone off a bridge the basics of survival remain the same, beginning with Douglas Adam's famous advice: Don't Panic. Also, it helps to have a plan, and that's what this great little book is all about.

It's not the most serious book on survival ever written, but it may be the most readable one I've seen, and even the implausible (How to survive an encounter with an Abominable Snowman) scenarios contain nuggets of useful information. Survival isn't about knowing the one trick that will get you out of trouble, it's about staying cool, coming up with a plan that makes the best use of your assets, and working together with the people you've got on hand.

In the end, it might just as well have been named The Boy's Book of Survival on an Alien Planet, because the same skills and strategies are going to come in handy there.

Here's one more tip. If you happen to be young...say a pre-teen...and wanted to write a story full of hair raising adventure, this would be a great place to get ideas from. I guarantee that if your characters use the information in this book to survive, you'll come up with stories that are as cool as they are realistic. By the way, don't worry too much about the "Boy" thing in the title. It's shorthand for kids who are adventurous, like the outdoors, and are probably shy around members of the opposite sex. Even if you don't happen to be a "boy" there's plenty in here that you'll find useful, and it even might give you some useful information on how "they" think.