Hatchet (original 1987; edition 1987)

Not sure what the hype is about this book. It's good; but not great. Maybe it's that I'm not 13 nor a boy. Still, I'd recommend it for middle schoolers. ( )

13-year old Brian's parents are recently divorced and his dad is working in Northern Canada. Brian is on a small plane, going to see his dad when the pilot has a heart attack and dies. The plane goes down somewhere in the Canadian wilderness and Brian survives the crash, but is on his own.

I thought this was really good. How would you survive a plane crash if you are left on your own in the wilderness? Who knows what to do to survive? Brian has to figure this all out. I thought the author did a good job of taking Brian through the steps of figuring these things out. I enjoyed “meeting” the various wildlife along the way, as well. It wasn't real fast paced, but I still found it interesting, and it was still quick to read, as it is a YA book. ( )

This is a nice story, but I think I would've enjoyed it even more as a teen, especially as a former Girl Scout who enjoyed the camping trips!

The background noise, I mean music, on this audiobook was a little distracting at times. Sometimes I even reached for my cell phone! The very last track of this audiobook was scratched or something, so it skipped and bumped through the last bit, just after...well, no spoilers here, but I heard enough to know how it ends pretty much. ( )

Characters: Brian Robeson Brian's mother Brian's fatherTerry Jim or JakeThe man with short blond hairMr. PerpichUncle Carter

Setting: THe setting is mostly in the forest.

Theme: Family struggles and survival..

Genre: Adventure, realistic fiction.

Summary: This is a story about a 13 year old adolescent who is trying to overcome the divorce of his parents. While flying on a plane, his plane crashes and he is stuck on a remote island and tries to survive with the only tool he has, which is a hatchet. Throughout the story, he is trying to survive different ordeals. He tries to survive while eating things that he would never eat, he tries to start a fire without matches, and he even tries to commit suicide. His survival becomes better when he finds an emergency pack within the crashing plane. Soon after, a plane lands and takes him home.

Audience: Adolescents and Teenagers who are trying to deal with parents divorcing and like adventures in the wilderness.

Curriculum ties: Ties to development where students are learnimg about how to deal with bullies.

Personal response: One thing I always was interested in was the great outdoors. As a kid, I loved enjoyed doing different things in the outdoors. I believe that this book brought back some of the memories that I did as a child while being a youth group. I especially enjoyed how the book gives students the opportunityt o link the outdoors with likning it to the struggles of being a family whose parents are getting divorced. I can imagine this can be difficult to many kids, which this book does a great job at presenting the struggles and how Brian deals with his struggles. Even though it does bring in the tough situation of the kid not wanting to live any longer, kids can relate to this also. What I though was cirtiical was the imagery that this book presented. It helped me imagine what Brian experienced and what he struggled with. Overall, I enjoyed this boko and it kept me on my toes. I especially like the happy ending. ( )

This is a wonderful story of a young boy working to overcome great obstacles. Brian is a character that many students find it easy to relate with. ( )