I love this book! This is the 4th time reading it and I still love it. It starts off pretty quick and my favorite aspect of it is that events go by fast enough to not get boring, but not too fast. You see the character progress into an almost different person. I would say if you like survival this is a need to read.

So when I was in the 7th grade, Mrs. Randall (formerly Sr. Mary Randall, an ex-nun) FORCED this pile of garbage upon me and the rest of my unsuspecting classmates. I was an advanced reader and it was a relatively short, easy to swallow book but it took me FOREVER TO READ IT. because it was THAT FUCKING BORING. It's about this stupid snot of a kid whose parents are getting divorced (mom and dad broke up! boo-hoo :'( i'm scarred for life now!) and somehow his plane goes down in the wilderness of Canada (which I can admit is the scariest fucking thing I can possibly think of. I'd rather be faced with the zombie apocalypse or a gang of mass murdering rapists than being stuck in the middle of Canada) so snot-face has to learn to survive on his own. He has a hatchet that his mom gave him (though I really can't say what possessed her to give her poor no-one-wants-me warning signs of future school shootings son a HATCHET, but she does) and he eventually stops crying and figures out how to pick berries and chop trees. Or saplings. Or something. I don't know. All I know is, this is the worst book EVER. UGH. And Mrs. "Ex-Nun" Randall made us watch the MOVIE, too. it was TORTURE.

Read to prepare for my tutoring class. Can definitely see key themes and character development. Honestly, learned quite a bit about desert island survival

Sometimes you read a famously classic book and it is such a disappointment. This is not one of those times. This book is amazing! Its a wonderful survivalist tale of a young boy who changes not only physically but emotionally during his time alone in the northern woods after a plane crash. His bravery and ingenuity surprises himself even more than the reader.

My name is Brian Robeson and I am thirteen years old and I am alone in the north woods of Canada.

Brian Robeson’s mother and father recently divorced. Nothing much was said about it, but Brian knew the reason because he knew the Secret. He lives in New York with his mother, but is headed to Canada to spend the summer with his father. He boards the Cessna 406 and makes his way north with his belongings in a suitcase and a hatchet hooked in his belt—a present given to him by his mother on the ride to the airport. This last-minute gift would tip the scales between almost-certain death and survival as Brian’s plane goes down in the Canadian wilderness and this city boy faces decisions that he never imagined he would be making.

This Newbery Honor book was challenged for its graphic descriptions of trauma and injury and removed from school libraries in Tennessee for its sexual content and violent imagery. Hatchet has a recommended reading age of nine to twelve so it was banned from elementary school libraries. As this story deals with survival, some portions of this book are graphic (especially the scene describing the pilot’s death), but nothing that would tremendously affect a typical fourth grader who hungrily clamors for the next installation in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Also, the “sexual content” reference refers to Brian witnessing his mother sitting in a car and kissing a man who is NOT his father so don’t let this be a major red flag if your youngster reaches for this book.

I liked how Paulsen uses repetition in his writing to build suspense (He was stopped. Inside he was stopped. He could not think past what he saw, what he felt. All was stopped.) or to reinforce urgency (He had to fly somehow. Had to fly the plane. He had to help himself. The pilot was gone, beyond anything he could do. He had to try and fly the plane.). This is incredibly effective—especially with this age group—and although he incorporates it often throughout the book, it never becomes tedious or loses its impact. Also, Brian’s learning curve is inline with someone of his age. Although raised in the city, he pulls lessons he’s either learned in school or seen on the screen and these allow him to adapt to his situation and surroundings. He quickly realizes that self-pity and panic are only liabilities and quickly discounts them as useful reactions to his predicament. He systematically and logically approaches his obstacles and begins to understand the importance and necessity of not merely surviving day by day, but also preparing for the future. The reader witnesses Brian’s evolution and although we mourn the innocence that he’s lost, we applaud him for the bigger lessons that he’s learned about life and what’s truly important and necessary.

Gary Paulsen died in 2021 and during his lifetime—having written over 200 books throughout his career—was one of the most challenged authors of the 21st century according to the American Library Association. Because several of his books were banned because his writing was just “too realistic” speaks volumes to just how gifted a storyteller Paulsen was and why he continues to amass such a large and loyal fan base. Just as Brian changes throughout the story, I hope that we too continue to evolve and begin to realize just how important stories like Paulsen’s are in showing young readers the importance of believing in yourself, the downside of underestimating your abilities, and the courage it takes to wake up each morning with a renewed sense of determination and hope. How can anyone think of banning a book such as this?

I originally read Hatchet sometime in elementary school, and I loved it. I couldn’t remember much about it though, so I went into in this time not sure what to expect. I did like it, but the writing kind of bugged me. It has the sort of simplistic writing that I don’t much enjoy as an adult, but the story itself is pretty good.

This story is the middle grade version of the movie Castaway with Tom Hanks.

This book follows Brian Robeson, a 13 year-old boy that is having a rough go at life. His parents have recently divorced and he’s holding a big secret to himself as to why, so his father doesn’t get hurt.

But, just when he thinks that his life couldn’t possibly get worse, he boards a small plane and sits up front as a co-pilot. The pilot is jovial and Brian likes talking with him —that is until he has a heart attack and dies mid-air. All Brian wanted to do was get to his father’s house and now THIS.

Brian knows that he has two choices. “He could wait for the plane to run out of gas and fall or he could push the throttle in and make it happen sooner.” Yikes!!!! I wouldn’t know how to act at 30 let alone 13! This is a situation straight out of a nightmare!

From running into possums, a wolf and a bear and having barely anything at all to eat , Brian must make do with the two things that he has —his knowledge and his hatchet.

Trigger warning for discussion of suicide. If one thing came out of this horrific adventure, it is that Brian became a better version of himself, braver and more appreciative of life itself.

“Two true things...He was not the same and would never be again like he had been...and the other one was that he would not die; he would never let death in again. He was new.”

4 stars! I listened to this on audio and would definitely recommend it!

Thirteen-year-old Brian becomes stranded in the Canadian wilderness and must figure out a way to survive. His sole tool is a hatchet his mother gave him before traveling to visit his father in a remote area. He must find food, build a shelter, figure out how to light a fire, and deal with unpredictable wildlife.

I quite liked this book. It is a positive story that will inspire confidence in young people to believe they can handle whatever challenges life presents them. It portrays the value of some of their learnings from school, such as refraction of light. At first, Brian is tempted to give up and to succumb to despair, but he gradually discovers he can do much more than he ever expected. It is filled with both the beauty and dangers in nature. I found it uplifting.

This is what my class is currently reading.

I try to express only my most honest opinion in a spoiler-free way. Unfortunately, there is still always a risk of slight spoilers despite my best efforts. If you feel something in my review is a spoiler please let me know. Thank you.

Ok, so I just basically devoured this book. I know this is a favorite book for teachers to require kids to read. But I see why. This book is about an amazing 13-year-old boy who used his brain and logic as well as his resourcefulness to overcome problems and survive in a situation where most adults would meet their ends. I never had the pleasure of reading this book in school but I am glad I finally had the chance to read it now. It is easy to see how this book became a classic.

Brian is such a smart and resourceful boy. He uses problem-solving skills to accomplish great things and even when things fall apart, he gets back up and never lets anything keep him down. Some of the things that he went through and managed to force himself into left me shivering and shouting "Uh ah. No way." It did have one line that had me laughing out loud. It was an unexpectedly funny moment.

With 5 books in the series, I doubt they will be as good as this one, but I'm willing to give them a shot. I sometimes have a hard time with classics as I don't get a lot of symbolism and such that your suppose to see in them. But this one I enjoyed very much.

Though the story was compelling, very compelling, compelling enough that I finished it despite the compelling urge to throw it out the window, I don't think I could ever read it again. The window, oh the shiny window, the shiny open window was very tempting. This book was so repetitious, why so repetitious, I know not why this book was so repetitious, but the repetitions made me want to pull my hair out. My brown hair, the brown hair on my head, the hair that was brown that was on my head.

I did listen to it on CD, which might have been part of the problem. Bruce said he didn't notice it as much when he read the book, but when you read it, your mind kind of skips over things, things that might be repetitious, the repetitious things might have been skipped over that make you want to pull your hair out and throw the book out the window.

What I learned from Hatchet:

1. If you see a man grimacing in pain, it could be a heart attack. If this man is the pilot of a charter prop plane that you're flying alone in, you could be fucked.

2. If you eat mysterious berries, they just might give you severe diarrhea. And, having just been marooned in a plane crash, you could lack the proper facilities to expel the diarrhea within. So, you could end up shitting your brains out in a cave. Since the tender age of 9, when I glanced upon the pages of this book, I have had a fear in regards to shitting in the wild. Fuck you, Gary Paulsen.