Although Paulsen's books are directed at young boys, I do enjoy reading them on occasion. This is my favorite Paulsen book and recommend it to everyone, really, but especially young men.

13-year-old Brian, a New York boy, boarded a private plane to the northern Canadian wilderness with a heavy secret.

He was going to visit his father, who worked at an oil field. While he was happy to see his father, his secret weighed heavily on his heart. As he pondered his secret, the pilot suddenly suffered a heart attack and died. The sudden and shocking turn of events left him stunned. Realizing that crying wouldn't help, he forced himself to try and fly the plane. Somehow, he managed to land the plane in an unknown lake deep in the wilderness. Scrambling to safety, he realised his ordeal was far from over.

Hunger, cold, swarms of mosquitoes, wild animals, and painful injuries were constant threats. Brian had no time to dwell on his secret; he had to survive. With only a hatchet, he was completely alone. He tried to recall all the survival skills he had learned, but practical application was much harder than he imagined. Desperate and defeated, Brian lay down and prepared to give up. But as he calmed down, he realized he had made a huge mistake. Knowledge and practice needed to be connected through thought and patience. Fear and death could be overcome with courage and confidence. And he hadn’t even truly tried. In this primitive wilderness, with no trace of modern civilization, Brian was the sole source of knowledge. He told himself he was his most valuable asset. In that moment, Brian was reborn.

Brian gradually adapted to life in the wilderness and felt a sense of accomplishment he had never known before. He had endless tasks, new discoveries, and new goals. As this life became his norm, he began to miss his parents. He started to feel sorry for himself, questioning why he was so unlucky. But looking at his achievements, he realized that self-pity was pointless. Surviving was the greatest luck of all. He was grateful for the rising sun, the calm lake, and his delicious catches of fish and rabbit.

However, Brian couldn't forget “the secret,” It was a secret about his parents' divorce that weighed heavily on him.

If Brian taught us many life lessons, what should we as adults do?

As parents, have we realized our responsibilities and obligations? But do we really have to be responsible for our children's lives? Life is full of hardships, and there are countless problems, worries, and unexpected accidents in the world. Should we tolerate, forgive, and compromise for the sake of others?

A parent's love for their child is profound. This profound love means allowing children to develop independent personalities, equipping them to face various difficulties and life changes on their own, and preventing them from becoming self-destructive or losing their motivation due to temporary setbacks. A person's happiness and fulfillment are directly affected by whether their personality is complete and independent. Only when one is happy and fulfilled can they help and influence others. A truly independent and complete personality is characterized by a gradual detachment from dependence and a willingness to take responsibility for one's actions. Regardless of your marital status, teaching your children these things is a positive gift and a parental responsibility.

We can leave our children money, houses, cars, and connections, which are valuable assets. However, teaching them how to use and manage these assets is the eternal way. Perhaps our children will never experience what Brian went through, but no one's life is perfect. In addition to material wealth, it is more important to provide spiritual guidance and support, and to help them apply the knowledge they have learned to practical situations as much as possible, then let them go.

Teaching someone to fish can solve a lifetime of hunger.

3.4 / 5

Hatchet has a very narrow target audience, and I was definitely not an included member of it. While I can see the value of the overall survival story that Gary Paulsen has concocted, I was thoroughly bored and annoyed over constant repetitions within the same page and the same chapter.

Perhaps middle-grade readers are less likely to find this negative. I wish it could have just been straightforward story without constant repetitions.

As it sits, I couldn't rate it as more than "just ok". Goodreads sets that rating for a 2 star.

Thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson was trapped in a small plane when the pilot had a sudden heart attack and died. Brian brought the aircraft to a forced landing and survived. The first thing Brain did after he crashed was he panicked, he felt lost, and he missed his family. The author described other emotions Brian felt when he was alone in the forest like hopelessness, desperation, and hunger. Every time the author expressed a feeling, it would always paint a realistic picture in my head, sometimes sending chills down my spine.
I wondered “If I was in that situation, what would I do?” Although I think I would lose hope in these situations, I will get myself together and try my best to keep my self from negative emotions and hunger. It's in human nature to have a strong desire to survive. Reading this book reminded me of the movie "The life of Pi." Surviving on a boat with a tiger for 227 days?! I would rather drown myself. What made Pi survive was faith. When you have faith, you have hope. When you have hope, you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. That's what motivates you to overcome difficulties and achieve your dream. Faith is what made me get up 6 o'clock in the morning to attend swimming lessons. I am still young, there will be a lot of difficulties I will be facing in my life, but I think as long as I have faith in myself, I believe I can overcome a lot of challenges and achieve my dreams.

This was good. A survival story that definitely turned a boy into a man. He faced a lot of hardships and learned a lot about his own strengths and kept himself alive. I enjoyed it.

I just listened to the audiobook to refresh my memory of this now classic novel. Indeed, I had read this book as a young reader and it's still a great story, even today. The compression of events felt a little odd as an adult reader/listener, but the substance is still there.

Recommended for readers looking for survivalist fiction, value industriousness in characters, and those interested in naturalist stories. Best for ages 8-11.

Gary Paulsen writes in only two emotions: fine and vomit-y. Someone may want to tell him that there are other ways to provoke a response in a reader than going right for the gut, so to speak. This book could have done with some fear and suspense, perhaps some gratification, depression, or joy. I do not mind a tragedy, nor do I balk at watching the man beaten down. I am a fan of Chekhov's.

If your idea of suspense is mosquito bites on your nipples, meet your Stephen King.

don't read this book. This was a waste of paper and I do not understand how anyone could be raving about this. I personally was disappointed when Brian didn't die even though he did about everything possibly wrong. First off, Brian whines about about his mother and father divorcing and after hearing about it so much I didn't feel for an instant sorry. In fact, I was about to rip up the book. People are being killed by bombs and starving every day and here you are whining about a minor problem. The literary technique here was just annoying. The secret...the secret...the secret...the secret. I get that it is the secret!!!!! Next Brian flys a plane away from disaster without skills people train for for years, has so much experience with wilderness shows that he knows how to survive, doesn't encounter many problems even though he makes it seem like he is dying and thinks he has sympathy with the reader, then kills himself but doesn't by such a lucky chance. Next he is the New Brian, that whole comparison thing was just worthless and for a two year old, and speaks like he is all this wise guy and is going so deep into our thoughts. You don't have to put in my soul in every sentence to make it seem so wise because what he thinks is deep is so stupid and like you didn't think of that before? I think a first grader could make a more deeper insight into life. Of course he happens to survive and is reunited with his family even though I was literally in tears that he didn't suffer the worst death ever for his annoying everything that made me almost shred every page into pieces. This book is childish because so many worst things could happen in life but he makes this seem like the worst and because of his stupid advice, has a too predictable plot and too unrealistic of a story, and made me want to kill Brian myself than feel bad for him like I was supposed to. May be a one year old will enjoy this otherwise throw the book in the trash without regret and do us all a favor to rid this world of useless and annoying nonsense. Now excuse me, I am going off to read War and Peace, a book worth my time and paper.

I have to be honest. At first I was having a serious 'really?' moment as I started listening. The 'really?' was because this is a three-time Newberry Award winner, and I thought the prose was way too repetitive. The same word would be repeated three times. The same sentences twice. I was steeling myself to keep listening and hope it got better. It did. By the end of this novel, I totally realized why it is a Newberry Award winner.

Hatchet is a story of survival. The protagonist is a thirteen-year-old city boy who ends up stranded in the Canadian wilderness when the pilot of the small plane he's flying in has a heart attack and dies. I have to tell you, I am very impressed with this kid. I think I would have freaked like nobody's business. He does freak out at first (and I don't blame him), but ultimately shows a fortitude that inspires awe in this reader. He goes from a scared, helpless boy to a survivor. The Brian that was has to be broken down and reassembled into a Brian that can survive his new reality. He learns how to meet his needs in the harsh wilderness, and he comes out of it forever changed.

I love reading books/watching tv shows and movies about surviving. I don't know why, really. I don't even go camping or hiking, although I love the outdoors. I think it's because I love the idea of a person being resourceful and pitting their skills and mentality against the unprejudiced, often unsympathetic wild. Not conquering it, but learning to live in harmony, becoming a part of a vast ecosystem in a way that we can't do stuck in our comfortable city and surburban environs, another entity in the web of life. I would definitely recommend this book if you are of a similar mind.

I liked that Brian doesn't get it too easy. Not at all. He has to learn from his mistakes, and take the advantages that providence sends his way. He learns to keep food in his belly, to make a secure shelter, and to appreciate and anticipate the dangers of his environment. And in the process, he finds peace. He looks inside and finds his true self. That's what solitude and a oneness with nature will bring. I have always felt my most at peace in two places: in a spirit-filled church or by myself and with my heart open in prayer; and outside, surrounded by nature. So I really appreciated this aspect of the book. Brian starts out a boy who is emotionally lost at sea when his father and mother divorce, weighted down with the knowledge of his mother's infidelity; and finds that what seemed like tragedy and the end of his world will not conquer him. If he can survive the harsh elements of nature, all by himself, he can live with his family's fragmentation, and live to see the next day and the days after that.

I think this book is a metaphor for life. Life is harsh and we have to grow and change to survive it. We can't give up, descend into pity, and expect to be saved. We have to be strong and fight to save ourselves, whether it's physically, mentally, or emotionally.


Although this book had a very shaky start, I do have to agree that this is a winner. And I tell you what, this young man had a lot of lessons to teach me, lessons he learns the hard way. That's the power of a good fiction novel for me.

basically, Biran is the main character in the story, he is getting on a plane to go visit his father; his parents are divorced. he also has a giant burden on his back, his mother was having an affair.
before he leaves , his mother gives him a hatchet. after, he sets off, he talks with the pilot and has a little fun by piloting the airplane swerving and swoppoing up and down. until suddenly, the pilot has a heartattack becasue of gas and dies. brian is forced to fly the plane himself, but until the fuel runs out, he stops at a lake to kind of softne the impact.
he wakes upon a beach.
this starts him on his new journey, a journey to survive. this is kind of a rebirth for him; he learns to do things he would nt neccesarily do in life, but now that he has to, he is. he learns how to survive, he fends off cretures such as skinks, porcupines, bears, and mooses; he is able to be keep himself from starvation by findinf food among trees and the creatures of the wild such as fowls and rabbits and fish. he also creates his own shelter, fire,, his own weapons for hunting, a pond for which he keeps a stock of fish, and a list of things he makes so that his life is a little bit ore easier than it is in the wild( even though its not that easy in the first place). basically, one day, a tornado rips his location apart. he still survives, but when he goes outside, he sees that the plane he flew in was flipped up. he then figures out that there was a survival pack in the back of the plane; he goes and retireves it.
after hard work, he ravages through the bag. he finds his own riches such as pots and pans, food, guns, radio which he immedialitey uses. he then feasts on packs of food and drink from the survival pack.
until a plane comes and lands in the lake. he steps out and sees brian.
the stroy ends with the epilouge wchich tells of brian and how he was the kid people had been looking for for over two months. how he had no fat in hsi body anymore and exploited the area in which he lived in and ws able to survive in.

i really enjoyed this story. it seems like one of the stories that you know you can learn from if youre ever in brians situation. i know that if i was in the wilderness near a lake, i could proibably reenact his actions to survive; but id most defintiely need a hatchet, or he and i would naver ever be able to pull anything off. .....awesome story:)

This was quite the treat!

Young Brian is flying to Canada to visit his father during the summer after his parents have recently gotten divorced. The reason as well as the divorce itself are eating away at Brian. That is until his pilot has a heart attack and he crashes in the middle of the Canadian wilderness and has to get creative in order to survive.

The book is relatively minimalist, but that in no way makes it less good. It's the story of a boy and nature and the unbreakable spirit of some people. I wish this kind of survivalist story was (still) more popular. Because neither children nor adults are generally this knowledgeable about nature anymore. Most just stand around and scream whenever anything happens.

Yes, I'm one of the kids who spent a lot of time outside. I watched TV, I got a computer as a teen, my parents weren't some hippies, but I was also outside a lot and learned about making fire and finding shelter, knowing what to eat and what not when in a forest. I have colleages 10 years my senior who didn't even realize that the "large chicken breasts" their butcher often has aren't chicken breasts but turkey breasts and that those are two very different animals. *rolls eyes*

So I really enjoyed the can-do spirit, the learning curve (that the boy was neither hysterical nor unrealistically faultless in his actions), the progression of the time spent in the wild, the Boy Scout feel of it all.

I can see why so many have read this book, often in school, in the past; and why a lot of kids might dig this. It wasn't perfect, but it was a pretty neat adventure with high stakes that teaches the reader a lot about mental attitude and fortitude.

Thrilling story that takes place in the wild! I remember reading this book in middle school and when I saw it at the library, I decided to pick it up and read it again. I think I enjoyed it a lot more this time around since it wasn’t required for a school assignment haha. Very compelling and I cared about the main character and what happened to him throughout the book. It was cool watching his progress from being a scared boy to a courageous man. Nice easy read which I always love, too.