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

I think I'm being generous with my rating of 2 stars. But...you know what, sometimes I feel like being nice. Only sometimes, though.

I first read this when I was in 6th grade (Mr. Tietze's class, *holla*). I think I liked it but I don't really remember. So, since Mr. Tietze was the best teacher I've ever had, that is the reason for me being generous in terms of this rating.

Since re-reading it, I realize how stupid this book is. It didn't make sense. Why on earth would a mom give her 13 year old son a hatchet? Especially at a difficult time in his life--3 months after his parents' divorce--and when he's about to leave her for a little while to visit his dad? It's like she's saying, "Hey, son, I pretty much don't like your dad anymore, so I'm going to give you, umm, this nice, little, umm, gift. Yeah...a gift. Now, if you have any problems with your dad, umm, don't call me. Umm...just use your head...and this hatchet..." I mean, come on! No mom would randomly give her son a hatchet as a going-away gift, especially when he's about to board a plane.

Another problem with this book was that it took the kid forever to realize that there are fish in the lake. Since he didn't think to look in the lake for food, he had been eating berries and trying to hunt "fool birds". Yep, well, who's the fool, now? You didn't think to look in the big ol' water hole that your plane crashed into, to search for food? Okaaaaay, so I'll give you a break. I mean, you must've been exhausted after surviving a crash and creating a shelter and warding off attacks of porcupines and moose. So I'll be lenient. But for goodness' sake! After all the times you washed in the water, found turtle eggs on the shore, and drank from the lake, why didn't you think to go fishing sooner? Poor boy.

I pity the fool.

PS: What in the world did his parents' divorce have anything to do with this book? NOTHING. NOTHING. NOTHING. Oh, wait, no, I just came to the conclusion that if his parents hadn't been divorced then he never would've gotten on the plane to visit his dad, never would've crashed, and never would've been stranded in Canada, eh? So, essentially, it's his dad's fault for all the trouble this boy had to go through!!!! Bad dad. But if it weren't for his mom giving him that hatchet as a going away gift, then he wouldn't have survived. Good mom. You're still a cheater, though.

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!

My husband recommended this dark YA survival book that he vividly recalled reading in his youth, time and again to me, and recently surprised me with it, so I reluctantly agreed to read it. I must say it was an experience, one that would have been much more eye opening for me as a child. Speaking of which, I learned that this book has been banned in schools over the years!! This had me shaking my head in utter disbelief!! Oh, come on!!

Yes, Brian does go through traumatic experiences, but that’s the entire premise of a survival tale. Spoiler Alert - it isn’t supposed to be pleasant!!! I was surprised to discover many other amazing books banned for similar reasons. I’m so glad I grew up in a time where things were less sensitive and absolutely thrilled, I don’t have children of my own facing these ridiculous ordeals.

Anyway, back to Brian – this is a book about how to find your inner strength, survive, and overcome overwhelming odds. It’s definitely worth a read for any age group. I very much enjoyed reading Hatchet and plan to look into the rest of the series.

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.

I have read this book over and over several times and I still think this is a wonderful book. The story is about a boy named Brian Robinson who was traveling on a plane to go to his father. It was his first visit after his mom and dad has divorced. But, the pilot got a heart attack and Brian was left alone up in the air on the plane. Brian steered it and landed on a lake. He got out of it and he slept. He would have to survive with a hatchet which his mom had given him as a present, tennis shoes, and a windbreaker that has been ripped badly. Could he survive? And will the searchers find him? Read the book to find out.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"There were these things to do."

After being ambushed by a porcupine, bulldozed by a moose, ransacked by a tornado and ceaselessly blitzkrieged by mosquitos, chances are superlative that I'd have thrown in the towel and ceded Mother Nature its victory. Not so for Brian Robeson, who taps into unprovenanced reserves of resilience in the wake of each setback. Stranded following a crash landing in a remote stretch of forest south of the Canadian border, teenaged Brian must make do with little more than naked intuition and his trusty hatchet to survive.

We've heard it said that necessity (and military advantage) is the mother of invention. It's what motivates Brian to try out turtle eggs and, I suspect, it's what led our ancestors to try their first sip of cow's milk. (Hello, lactase persistence!) Of all the godforsaken tribulations Brian faces, none weigh so heavily as the incessant dread of hunger, an enfeebling thrumming that is never truly quelled, only held in abeyance for a time. Meals that might have been considered inedible back home become a delicacy in the New Life of Brian.

It wouldn't be much of a story if the only character in the book was mauled by a bear or succumbed to dehydration, so it is no spoiler to report that Brian, somehow, survives to tell the tale. The details are sparse and often skipped over with haste. Brian rallies and lives to fight another day (fifty-four of them, to be exact) seems to be the punchline. While young readers may draw inspiration from Paulsen's Bildungsroman, it's doubtful anything here will prepare you for actual survival in the wilderness, hatchet or no.

Paulsen isn't a lyrical writer by any stretch, either, often using repetition of common themes and emotions to carry the narrative. I'd say this is the perfect summer read for a youngster within earshot of middle school; any older and the value of Paulsen's by-the-numbers tale drops off precipitously.

Note: This review is republished from my official website.

First book of 2021 and wow what a choice! I really enjoyed this. If I was teaching this book I would have to do a comparison between this and Island of the Blue Dolphins, one about a very urban, sheltered boy learning to survive alone; the latter about an indigenous girl being abandoned and surviving alone. Both fantastic topics to teach and explore.
The survival aspect in this book is brilliantly explained to the reader especially the fact that it is mindset first, which any survivalist or military personnel will tell you. Great book to read, especially in these trying times.