Hatchet

Hatchet

Author: Gary Paulsen

ISBN: 1416936475

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Book for Young Readers, 2006

Age: 10-14
Genre: Adventure

Summary: Thirteen year old Brian Robeson is on his way to spend the summer with his father when the single engine plane in which he is flying crashes because the pilot suffers a heart attack.  Suddenly, Brian finds himself alone in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but a tattered windbreaker and the hatchet his mother gave him as a going away present – and the dreadful secret that has been tearing him apart since his parents’ divorce.  But now Brian has no time for anger, self pity, or despair – it will take all his know-how and determination, and more courage than he knew he possessed, to survive. 

Read A-likes: Brian’s Winter; Brian’s Return; Brian’s Hunt; Julie of the Wolves; and My Side of the Mountain.

Personal Thoughts: This book is raw and realistic, but so fantastic!  I read this many years ago as a teen and I remember the impact it had on me.  I had read and loved other survival stories like My Side of the Mountain and Julie of the Wolves, but this book is so much more personal than those books.  This feels real.  Like a real life account rather than a clever story written to entertain.  This book deals not only with survival, but also with the emotions that accompany divorce, and how it tears apart kids as well as the parents.  A very complex and well written book that I consistently suggests to tweens and teens, especially boys.