Yeah.... that's true. But I knew she wasn't going to read it, so at least that way, she had some idea ;-)

I did, too, and esp. that the boy wasn't trying to feed him, etc., too. I just kept hoping he'd survive somehow, anyway :-P

I think I sort of remember that story of the hikers. It's even worse when things like that happen in real life :-(

I don't remember the bit with the phone -- but I'm thinking the story was probably written before phones for younger people got *so* prevalent. Even ~5 years ago, not *as* many teens (esp. younger teens) would've had cell phones as often. And I seem to remember that the boy seems older in the film than the story, too, so that might also be part of the reason, potentially.