Ricky baker, the protagonist of Hunt for the Wilder-people, is a 13 year old boy that came from a dark background. ricky is a large sized kid. Ricky has also been found guilty for many charges that include, stealing, breaking stuff, spitting, and setting objects on fire. He ended up going into a foster home where he meet a lady named Bella ( auntie) and Hec( uncle ). Ricky would always sneak out at night times or early in the morning but would be found by his auntie. Since Bella passes away, Ricky is no longer allowed to stay in the family. 

Child welfare and the police come to take Ricky baker, but he is not there when they come to get him, now Ricky is on the run and is very worried that he will be caught and taken to another foster home. At the end of the story Ricky and Hec end up getting caught by the police and Ricky goes to another foster family, and Hec goes to jail. Ricky ends up loving his new foster family and then Ricky went to see Hec after he got out of jail. Then Ricky and Hec decide that they want to go back out into the wild to face some more adventures.