Small Game by Blair Braverman

Having grown up off the grid, Mara now works at a school teaching people how to survive in the outdoors. With her experience, she figures that joining a reality show called Civilization could be something she would do well at. The five contestants have to live six weeks in the elements, getting their food only from the land and being able to choose only one item or tool to possess. Anyone who makes it until the end receives $100,000. The game starts with the contestants jumping out of a helicopter into a lake near where they contestants will live. Soon, Mara begins to get to know the others. Daily life is tough, food is not easy to find, and the experience begins to wear on all involved. One morning, the group awakes to find the camera crew gone--they have been abandoned in the wild. Will the contestants be able to get out alive? Small Game creates a great sense of place for living in the wilderness and slowly builds into a novel that's hard to put down.