TITLE: HatchetAUTHOR: Gary Paulsen
STARTED: May 28, 2009
FINISHED: May 28, 2009
PAGES: 195
GENRE: Juvenile
FIRST SENTENCE: Brian Robeson stared out the window of the small plane at the endless green northern wilderness below.
SUMMARY: [From barnesandnoble.com] After a plane crash, thirteen-year-old Brian spends fifty-four days in the Canadian wilderness, learning to survive with only the aid of a hatchet given him by his mother, and learning also to survive his parents' divorce.
THOUGHTS: I somehow made it through my younger years without reading the classics of juvenile literature. I totally missed Hatchet and everything else by Paulsen for that matter. I'm glad that my summer class gave me a reason to play catch up. Paulsen's book is good and I can see why it has stood the test of time. It did not become a favorite of mine, but I'm glad I got around to reading it.
Paulsen's story is incredibly realistic. Brian reacts like any other scared but resourceful boy. Nothing he does to survive in the story strikes me as being out of the ordinary. I think this is why Hatchet soars. Brian reacts in a way that the reader thinks he would should he find himself lost in the wilderness.
Speaking of which, the Canadian forest in this book becomes the main, secondary character. Paulsen paints his setting so vividly that I found myself itchy when the mosquitoes appeared, cooled when in the lake, and wishing that I could spend more times outdoors.
RATING: 7/10 [Very Good]
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