Hatchet

Title: Hatchet

Author: Gary Paulsen

Publisher: Bradbury Press

Date: July 1987

Number of pages: 195

Reading Level: Ages 10-14

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Summary:  A 13 year old boy named Brian Robeson is stranded alone in the Canadian wilderness following the pilot of the single-engine Cessna bush plane suffers a heart attack while traveling. Brian is forced to try to land the plane, but ends up crash-landing into a lake. He just manages to escape as the plane sinks 

Brian figures out how to build a fire. He becomes thrifty and scourges the land to find food he wouldn't dream of eating prior. He endures trials throughout the book building his character and proving his worth and growth into a man.He becomes quite a craftsman, crafting a bow, arrows, and spear for hunting and defense. He also fashions a shelter out of a overhang rock. During the story, he struggles with memories of home, and the bittersweet memory of his mother, who Brian has discovered was cheating on his father.

When a tornado hits the woods and lake, it draws the planes wreckage toward the top of the lake. Brian makes a raft to get to the plane. When Brian is working his way into the plane, he drops his hatchet in the water. He realizes how important the hatchet is for his survival. After diving twice, he retrieves the hatchet and narrowly avoids drowning. Inside the plane, he finds a survival pack, which has an emergency transmitter, many packs of food, a first aid kit, and .22 survival rifle. Brian activates the transmitter, but not knowing how to work it, he thinks it is broken. As he is eating the food packs, a fur buyer arrives in a float plane some time after because he caught the transmitter's signal. He is eventually rescued and returned safely back to his family, but no longer a small boy - but with the advances of a man.  Finally, after reaching his father, he is no closer to being able to tell him about the mother's affair than at the novel's beginning.

My reaction: I remember reading this as a child in elementary school. All the boys in my class would read this classic and wish they were like hatchet. It was a fascinating thought to be living on your own in the wilderness conquering the land and enduring the trials your path my set before you as you struggle to survive the rugged land. Little children aspired to be like Brian, who saved his own life - and figured out a way to overcome each obstacle  throughout the novel.

Potential problems: I don't find any potential problems with the classic novel. I think it's a great book for all children to read as you become involved in the drama, and adventure.

My recommendation: I feel that this book be put on children reading list around 5 grade. By this age they have the ability to separate reality from fantasy and draw the line. They can divulge themselves in the story - but at the same time know it's fiction. I think the thrill of the adventure the protagonist endures is inspirational, and gives each child a motivation, sense of direction, to carry on throughout any trial they might stumble across in their own lives. From battling a bear, to dealing with a skunk, natural life skills unfold in front of Brian as he actively seeks where his journey leads him - hoping it may be home someday.