Hatchet is the first book within Brian's Saga. Now this kid went through so much in such little time. Like hot damn. I wasn't prepared for any of it. Which is probably why I was completely hooked. Lowkey, would not survive like this kid did. Well, I actually don't really know about that, but I don't think I would be able to kill an animal. So, yeah, maybe.

Other than his survival skills being set in motion, or dodging animals along the way, the overall secret that he was keep was kind of meh to me. Like, I get it, he saw what he saw. Then his parents were getting a divorce and he didn't know what to do. I was surprised that he never mentioned anything when he was found and reunited with his parents. Mostly because I definitely would have said something if it was me in his position.

In the end, this was entertaining.

look, I know some of yall have your nostalgia glasses on with this one, but 20% of this book is Gary Paulsen repeating the same sentences and we need to come to terms with how dumb it is that this 13 year old was able to operate a plane and not die in the wilderness because he happened to read a shitload of books and watch tv shows about these specific subjects.

My first foray into childhood favorites for one unlikely-to-succeed purpose: converting my brother from books about Harry Potter to books about anything else, in the world. Any suggestions?

When I first read Hatchet, at around ten or twelve, I devoured it time and time again. The idea of learning wilderness survival with nothing but a hatchet and my own wits prickled the pores of my baby-smooth chest with visions of man-hair, tufts and tufts of it, more than I knew what to do with, for after finishing a book about a boy-turned-man's hard-earned survival in the rugged wilderness surely I myself would become a man (I confess to having the same thought at least once when re-reading it at twenty-seven).

The book itself holds up as a taut, economically told story, no real flourishes to speak of, and yet when my brother read the first chapter, he woke me up to tell me it was weird. I tried to tease him with upcoming action beat - "there's a plane crash in the next chapter," I told him, at which point he went downstairs to play Super Mario Galaxy.

Despite some of the repetition getting annoying from time to time, Hatchet is an engrossing story of survival for a young boy unfortunate enough to endure a plane crash to become stranded in the Canadian wilderness. For the most part the story sticks to realistic stuff, concentrating mainly on hunger and food. So many other survival stories focus on more, but really the basics of food and hunger and survival would be the forefront issue most would encounter if stranded alone. It sets in fast and it's almost constant. Brian shows he has what it takes to survive, but the author doesn't make the child come across as anything super since he shows that nature is uncontrollable and that it's luck of the draw for us all. The author even ends the narrative of the story saying that if Brian had been unlucky enough to be stranded during wintertime in the Canadian wilderness, he very likely wouldn't have survived at all. His dependency on the lake is the only reason he made it past the first few days, and then subsequent months, but a frozen lake would have nixed that.tttttt

Although realistic with its focus on hunger and survival, it did have an unlikely tornado that felt contrived. Still the story can be forgiven this, as it focused on things like swarms of mosquitoes, baking sun, a random rude moose and other concerns. Brian didn't venture far from the landing, and I'm not sure I would have either. Some would venture far to try and find salvation themselves but he stuck to one area and stayed close to the shelter and food/water supply that were guaranteed to be sure. A more cautious method that worked. Not sure what I would have done in his circumstances, but I see the point that the chances of shelter like that would have been few and far between.tttttt

Written for children, it's more interesting and educational than upsetting. I do wish the author had spent more time granting us a deeper afterword. I realize the point of the story was the struggle, but I like to see more time involved with the after effect. Just a pet peeve of mine. We did get a small one at least. Besides the survival story being the focus, the Secret also weighed heavy in his mind, and ends up being a continuous thing he has to carry. The story ties into the Hatchet being the main tool he used to get started, but I do have to wonder why kind of random present that is that a mother gives a young boy. Either way, came in handy.tttttt

Even if the repetition with the writer's style grew too much at times, it was to the point and paced well. I can see why it won so many children's awards, including Newberry Honor.

Hatchet is a story of lone survival in the wilderness. When a young boy off to visit his father in Northern Canada, is stranded off-course when the pilot of the small bush plane taking him there has a heart attack, he is forced to perform a crash landing. While the boy fashions himself a shelter and works on taking care of the necessary amenities of life, he starts to become a different person. With a newfound appreciation of nature and beauty, a carefully-learned patience, and a dedicated persistence and drive, he notices the marked difference in his thoughts and feelings.

Author Gary Paulsen infuses divorce and infidelity as part of the story line, and repeatedly has the boy, Brian, flashback to stressful images and thoughts related to his parents' failed relationship. Although this inclusion seems slightly contrived and sometimes unnecessary, it’s interesting to note how the old Brian was eager to inform his father of ‘the secret,’ while the newly enlightened Brian decided better of it.

Excellent survival story. Very engaging. The audio book was also done well. The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five, is because I didn't care for the beginning of the story and how it handled the subject of divorce. I found it unnecessary and slightly inappropriate for younger aged children.

3.5 Stars

Just imagine........you're 13 years old......you're riding shotgun in a Cessna......your pilot is suddenly unconscious. What do you do?

After the crash, young Brian Robeson has a big problem, much bigger than his secret. In shock, without food or water and alone in the north woods of Canada, he had only his wits and a hatchet as survival tools.

Brian comes face-to-face with some pretty scary and dangerous creatures of the night.....and day....that made for a great learning experience for him, and a few Oh No! moments for this reader. The constant swarms of mosquitos and black flies alone would have done me in, not to mention the skunk and black bear encounters.....just to name a few.

I really would have loved this story as a youngster and even enjoyed it as an oldster. Great "children's" adventure/survival story!

Thank goodness. Thank goodness this is over. This was terrible. Extremely terrible, terrible as can be. Phrases and words (sometimes whole sentences) are repeated. Over and over. Yes, over and over in this tedious repetitive, very repetitive way. Brian himself is just boring, very boring. The book overall is unrealistic, completely unrealistic. I could not wait for it, could not wait for it to be over.

I am glad this was under 200 pages. Very glad. I do not think I could have read much more of it. No. I do not. Why this is supposed to be some children's classic I will never know, no I will not.

*headdesks and rants into eternity*

Short version: THIS WAS TERRIBLE. AND VERY ANNOYING. NOT RECOMMENDED AT ALL.

1.5 stars

I can't remember the last time I read a book with a writing style this annoying. Paulsen repeats everything three or four times. Each paragraph should have been a single sentence. ("Brian felt his eyes beginning to burn and knew there would be tears. He had cried for a time, but that was gone now. He didn't cry now. Instead his eyes burned and tears came, the seeping tears that burned, but he didn't cry. He wiped his eyes with a finger and looked at the pilot out of the corner of his eye to make sure he hadn't noticed the burning and tears." pg. 3) I did enjoy the survival parts, but I ultimately couldn't enjoy the book because the writing style was so awful.

So when I added this, I vaguely recalled the title, and I swear, I have definitely read it, but what I thought it was about was a boy being stuck under the snow following an avalanche (it turns out the book I was thinking of is apty named Avalanche by Arthur Roth) but anyway, that's not what it is about, and I really don't remember this book at all.

Hatchet I definitely read in middle school at the instruction of my librarian (we had a sort of once-weekly class in the library to introduce us to the already anachronistic card catalog, and maybe to encourage us to read). It strikes me now as one of those "boy books" and was sort of offered to me as an alternative to Babysitters' Club or Nancy Drew, maybe. It's strange now, because it undervalues literature very much to say that some is suited to boys, and others to girls (which is to say nothing of our society's pathetic need to classify and categorize). Based on my vague and unreliable memory (and the description gleaned from amazon), here are the reasons why you should have your son, nephew, homeless male orphan read Hatchet:

1) It is the story about a boy named Brian. Brian is a great boy name (maybe you've considered it for your tot?), and everything he does (probably) exudes the same brand of outdoorsy masculinity that you want your little Timmy, Tommy or Teddy to adopt as an adolescent and adult.
2) It takes place outside. What better way to encourage kids to go outside than to have them sit inside and read a book about a boy who is outside?
3) There is a hatchet, presumably. Whether little Johnny has that lumberjack vibe, or that investment banker gone Sarsgaard-murder-house vibe, certainly it will be important to introduce them to the concept of the hatchet. A very useful tool that almost no one uses, as far as I know.
4) The plot evidently features a plane crash, wherein Brian must be the lone survivor. Very likely to happen. Also, surely all the characters in this book are male, what better way to introduce your young one to a realistic view of the world than to immerse them in world dominated completely by a young boy and some owls, or something. (also see: Lord of the Flies)
5. This 20th anniversary edition features a great commentary by the author, Gary Paulson. Even though your little brat probably won't read this (why would he?), it will give his ego the small boost for the illusion of having read a book a little longer than he actually did).
6. This is the first installation of a SAGA. For one, "saga" is reminiscent to me of the Nordic mythos, which seems to be the most supporting of the idealized male image. It also means there are multiple volumes following our intrepid Brian. What more could you want? Why invest in Boy Scouts when you could drop a pile of Brian books in your kid's lap and turn him into a man, while saving all that time and money?

Get it! So good!

(fwiw this is a book I read my kids aged 6-10)

I'd give this book 3.5 stars if I could. Basically the stuff which makes it a classic and is indeed very good is the adventure/survival stuff (he is the sole survivor of a plane crash deep in the woods and has nothing but a hatchet). Both the details of what he is doing to survive, and the psychological changes he goes through in his attempt to survive are believable, interesting, and illuminating.

There is a second thread in the book which is him processing his parents' divorce and in particular "the secret" which is that even before the divorce he saw his mother kissing some other guy. I wanted to retch every time this stuff came up. I found it much less believable and also generally an intrusion into the main story. I tried to think of some deep connection between the divorce / "the secret" and his survival which enabled readers to make connections and learn things about one or the other that they otherwise would not have been able to, but I really couldn't.

Survival part gets 4.5 stars; his relationship with his parents gets 1.5 stars (my overall is 3.5 because the survival stuff is dominant).

Hatchet is one of my 12-year-old son’s favorite books. Adventure, survival and suspense are all combined with the young protagonist’s struggle to understand his parents’ divorce. It is a great book. Brian Robeson, who is 13 years old, is flying in a bushplane from New York to Canada to visit his dad, when catastrophe strikes.

“He was sitting in a bushplane roaring seven thousand feet above the northern wilderness with a pilot who had suffered a massive heart attack and who was either dead or in something close to a coma.”

The plane goes down, which is no spoiler. Brian has a hatchet that his mother bought him for the trip, but that is about it. He is alone without food or shelter. There are bears and other wildlife. It is all scary stuff. And there is no telling whether anybody has any idea where he is, given how far off course the plan flew.

“He was dirty and starving and bitten and hurt and lonely and ugly and afraid and so completely miserable that it was like being in a pit, a dark, deep pit with no way out.”