The writing just flows and you're constantly worried about Brian. Having to survive with nothing else but a hatchet and the clothes on your back can't be easy. I loved seeing how innovative his brain worked. Making tools from his environment. It was super impressive for a thirteen year old boy. I practically flew through the pages.

Great story about survival and it reads easily. Good adventure story for youngsters. The only thing I wished the writer would have worked more on is the building of the character. We don't really read much about Brian as a person. Even his secret could have been more human and not that flat. Still it gets 4 points because I did enjoy it.



This book is in the 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up challenge I am doing.

link to blog

A book i have heard about my whole life but never actually picked up… Hatchet has been sitting on my TBR pile for over 8 years and finally, i decided to pick it up. Being as it is a middle-grade novel and not as mature as i am used to, i am going to review it that way and not compare it with other YA or Adult novels. I have to say i was surprised by how much i enjoyed it even though it definitely held some major flaws.

The writing style is one of those flaws; i did not like it. I’m sorry, but when you repeat lines over again and again for no apparent reason… it gets old, fast! Let me make an example for you. “My name is Larissa, Larissa Bullen. I’m a 21-year-old woman with blonde hair, Blonde hair that’s as golden as the sun, that’s the colour of my hair, blonde.” Can you see how aggravating that can become when reading? I really am not sure of the point of it but i definitely hated it. It made it hard to get through.

I did really enjoy our sole character Brian. He was a very adept 13-year-old boy going through some real struggles in his life not only caused from his plane crash. The development of his character is immense which would make sense considering he went from a spoiled city boy to living in the wild with nothing and no one to help. I like that we get to see his growth and how he learns from his mistakes and success to continue to live in the harsh environment. He is definitely a survivor and someone you can connect with.

The story itself is pretty straightforward, i mean there is not much you can do with a survival story when you stay in one place the whole time, but it’s a short book and it progressed well. I definitely enjoyed it but because of the writing style, i don’t think i would read another book by this author again. Repetition is a killer for the story!!

The Survival genre is one of the genres that I do not normally read, but 'Hatchet' is the most intriguing survival book I've ever read. In the book, it talks about how hard surviving in the wilderness is, and how it's harder to deal with your own emotions. Thoughts of never-ending surviving. Thoughts of no one coming to save him. Thoughts of staying alone living by himself forever. I really like this book because it actually tells you what happens to stay alive after a plane crash. It isn't like a cheesy survival story where the main character just carries through without any emotional change. 'Hatchet' is probably the most realistic survival story I've ever known. It really explains what could happen to you when you go through a huge event. It's as if you become a whole new person! You stepped out of your own bubble, and have taken on another personality. Overall, this book taught me a lot, and I suggest you try it too!

That was very possibly the worst book I’ve ever read. Wow. The first part was about him flying to see his dad who is estranged from him and his mom because his mom had an affair. Only the kid isn’t supposed to know about the affair. He saw his mom making out with the man in a car and knows she goes to see on certain days at certain times. And he assumes his dad doesn’t know, so he’s keeping this horrible secret, one he feels he has to keep to protect his dad. So many things wrong with this. I was expecting to be able to just get over that part and move on to a fun survival story, but it never got there. Every other thought he has ends up back at “the secret” and how he can’t be lucky because then his mom wouldn’t have cheated on his dad and their family wouldn’t have broken up. He is carrying way too much for a kid.

Then the survival part- it was marred by his worry about the secret. But also it was boring! Nothing in there worth keeping my attention. And then it just ends and he is still holding the secret and hasn’t told anyone he knows and continues with this burden that no child should have to have. I thought for sure that one thing would have been resolved, but nope! Just a sad, terrible book. The end even includes the terrible, almost permanent side effects from his experience. No happiness or hope at all. I’ve been waiting years to read it and now it’s leaving my house. I don’t even want a copy on my shelves.

I absolutely hated this book the first time I read it. It was required reading in Grade 6 and I finished it only because there were tests. Looking back, I can't quite remember what it was I disliked about it so much. I can only guess it was because I was a huge reader even then, but I hated being told what to read; it also took time away from my other books. Reading it again, 10 years later (and again at least once a year since) it has become one of my favorites, quite possibly in my top 10. I also recommend the sequels, particularly Brian's Winter which is great for those of us who ask what-if? at the end of a much loved book.

A story of a boy that survives a small plane crash into the wilderness. The pilot (and only other person on the plane) had a heart attack and died. Every struggle and triumph are fascinating. A must read for young readers. One of the books I will never forget.

Original rating: 4 stars. One star docked for the language.

Language: A couple of uses of the D word. And God's name is used in vain a few times, seriously is it that hard to use 'gosh' instead?

I.love.this.book.

Seriously, I read this maybe in fourth grade? It was definitly in elementary school, because I remember it was at the same time that we we doing "survival skills"* in Girl Scouts. Not that I ever wanted to be trapped by myself in the wilderness, but I spent a lot of my time in my backyard pretending to find flint with my sister, and starting imaginary fires to keep warm. In winter we dug ourselves igloos. I always went camping with my parents, so this book started a lot of Q&A's with them about what to do if I get lost in the woods (Hint, No. 1 is STAY WHERE YOU ARE!). Any ways, its a great read for an elementary kid, and everyone should read it.


* This was put in quotation marks because it was a total joke. I had been looking forward to these skills for quite some time, finally girl scouts was going to teach me what I wanted! Instead of knives they handed us popsicle sticks. For the love of God CUB SCOUTS get real knives. This was followed shortly on the heels of an outdoor cooking class where none of us were allowed near the fire. Basically we made banana boats, and then the instructor put the boats in and out of the coals for us. We learned how to build a fire with coals, not tinder. Agh. It was at this point that I decided Girl Scouts was NOT for me.

I'm not sure how I made it through my childhood without having read this children's classic, but I have now fixed that! I can totally see why this book has had so much success over time and is credited with getting kids into reading. The complexity of the language is fairly low and includes a lot of repetition, but the plot has plenty of adventure which should appeal to anyone into survival-type stories. It's also pretty short and would't be too daunting for a reluctant reader.

The story follows a thirteen year old boy who is going to visit his father for his first visitation after his parents divorce. While traveling in a small plane, the pilot dies of a heart attack and the plane goes down in the forest, leaving Brian trying to survive alone in the wild for months. It's fairly straightforward, but I get why this is a classic and appeals to young readers. Don't go in expecting the prose to wow you, but I think it's a very good version of what it is.

3.5 stars

This is a book that really has you rooting for poor unlucky Brian to have something turn out right for once, he faces horrible situation after horrible situation! I love survival stories, children without adult stories, this is quite a tough story, I err on the survival stories where you have some sort of home created, some comforting details, much appreciated because of the hardship. Brian certainly had a lot of hardship and how ironic that when he finds  after 2 months of hell, a survival pack from the crash with a sleeping bag, gun, cooking stuff and copious amounts of dried food, a plane lands to rescue him before he's even had a spoonful!  We began to find it amusing just how unlucky Brian managed to be! And phew!  noticing this was a series of books we wondered if he would get rescued! But luckily for Brian he does!

The cover on this book is a perfect example of an illustrator not reading the story, again and again we are told how Brian is weather beaten and sunburnt to a crisp, and yet the cover picture makes me think of a 1980s new romantic look complete with black eyeliner!

Read on open library.

For some reason I thought this book was more like my side of the mountain.