Five frat boys are stalked by a machete wielding maniac, after they are involved in a horrifying Devil's Night accident.

Out in the wilds, an aged man tells his grandchildren a tale of his own youth. After his mother dies, his usually-absent father, whom he barely knows, takes him into these same wilds to hunt for a grizzly. They find a mother bear with two cubs. The hunters capture the cubs, but the grizzly captures the lad. Somehow, boy and bear bond and trek across the forest with dad and an Indian friend on their trail. After a while, the boy figures out where he and his new mother are going: toward her cubs. Rifles, dogs, hunters, bear, cubs, father, and son are headed for a rendezvous.

A tale told over four seasons, starting in autumn when Juno, a 16-year-old high-school junior in Minnesota, discovers she's pregnant after one event in a chair with her best friend, Bleeker. In the waiting room of an abortion clinic, the quirky and whip-sharp Juno decides to give birth and to place the child with an adoptive couple. She finds one in the PennySaver personals, contacts them, tells her dad and step-mother, and carries on with school. The chosen parents, upscale yuppies (one of whom is cool and laid back, the other meticulous and uptight), meet Juno, sign papers, and the year unfolds. Will Juno's plan work, can she improvise, and what about Bleeker?