Found this (yup, a young reader book) on the shelf a while back ... finally sat down to read it (a brief evening spent, the time went by quickly)... Both my offspring read it in school, although I don't remember which grades it was assigned... But I hadn't read it as a child. (OK, I was already an adult, indeed, already a practicing attorney, when it was first published....) I'd been meaning to read it for ages, and, now that I have, I'm glad I did.

It's no secret it's a boy's coming-of-age survival saga. I can't say I understand how it became a classic, or, for that matter, why it's assigned so frequently in schools. Maybe it's popular in urban schools, or maybe because fewer kids (boys?) grew up with scouting and basic survival training, so it seems exotic or foreign or.... I dunno. Part of me thinks that, given the amount of dystopian fiction that kids read these days, this would seem a bit tame.... I appreciate that the author has the protagonist recall (and rely on and reject) information gleaned from TV shows and movies ... but I guess I'm just assuming "kids today" are inundated with more of that kind of stuff, but, I dunno....

Ultimately, it's hard to be objective about kid's literature - as adults, we're not the target audience. And we're heavily biased by what we read (and have experienced). For an analogous non-fiction plane crash solo survival epic, I couldn't get Norman Ollestad's Crazy For the Storm out of my head. (Ollestad was 11 during his ordeal, the protagonist here is 13.) For pure epic drama, Joe Simpson's Touching the Void, is far more harrowing, but, again, he's an adult, and the number of climbing disaster books, ranging from Krakauer's Into Thin Air to Beck Weathers' Left for Dead should be a genre unto themselves.... For making a life out of a survival epic on the edge of the earth, Rockwell Kent's Wilderness is remarkable, but of course, that's voluntary, and Kent is an adult. And, of course, military history is replete with extraordinary survival tales, but I digress.... This is something different, for a different readership...

I've not read ... nor do I expect I'll get around to reading ... any of the sequels. (If I understand it correctly, one of the sequels is basically an alternative ending to this book....) But if the Goodreads community tells me I'm missing something, I could be convinced pretty easily, because it didn't take very long to read this one...

Anyway, now I've read it... and there's no more kids at home to read it... I'll be curious to see if, a generation from now, it's still considered popular....

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.

What teachers don't understand is that even if a book has a medal, DOESN'T MEAN IT'S INTERESTING. I absolutely love reading and I read daily, but this was so boring and predictable!!! I wish we could pick our own books to read for school.

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!

yes yes yes!! thank you to all the goodreaders who recommended this to me after my love for island of the blue dolphins became known. it turns out i love survival stories!! with teens!! and i wish i could say i never tore my eyes from the page and read this in an hour, but i have been having a distractedish day today; emailing my dad for father's day (everyone: call your dads!! or if they are at work, email-chat them!) and then there was a fire across the street from me (which is my number one all time fear) and the people in the building are so casual about it - there are two fire trucks in the street, and firefighters swarming everywhere, and i look in the windows and in two different apartments, there are people just sitting and watching and smoking cigarettes. what is wrong with them?? don't they care that their building is on fire?? don't they feel the fear i feel?? did they light their cigarettes from their blazing belongings and treasures?? i don't understand their stoicism in the face of fire. but you know who loves fire?? brian. he uses it to survive in the wilderness. seamless segue back into the review. it's great. i could read 400 more pages of this story. and despite my own fears of the fire leaping across the street to consume me and my beloved books, i could still engage in his plight: when he d the h in the w (clever code prevents spoilers) - i actually gasped out loud. and there were several times when he overcame a particular setback that i smiled. i totally cared about this character. i would love more survivaly stories, if anyone's got 'em.

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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.

This is a great book. It's a good adventure story for early teens. I think it should have won the Newberry Medal for 1988 and so it goes.

Brian has to survive in the Canadian Woods on his own for a summer. He learns to make fire, shelter and hunt for fish and birds. There is also a divorce theme going on as Brian's parents have recently split.

This is your typical survival tale. Brian does face some harsh environments and he learns to be tough physically and more importantly - mentally. He doesn't give in to feeling sorry for himself. This is very well written and there is a reason it is so popular. I will read more of the Brian Saga.

Pretty good for a kid’s book! I liked it more than my first read through which was ages ago. Probably a solid pick for beginner English readers and young boys.

Kid: “There’s an axe on the cover, wow!”

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

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.

(Sigh) Oh this book

3-1/2 stars

n  On his way to visit his father after his parents have divorced, Brian's plane crashes, deep in the Canadian wilderness. Brian is the only survivor. How will he keep himself alive?n

This book was recommended to me by a kid at church, and her enthusiasm convinced me to pick it up.

I would have loved this book when I was the right age for it. It's an excellent tale of determination and resourcefulness, as 12-year-old Brian explores his surroundings and searches his brain for every little bit of information that might help him survive. It alternates very believably between Brian's despair (how will anyone find him; is he going to be stuck being a wild woods person forever?) and his survival instinct. He's lucky in a number of ways: the plane crashes in a lake, so he has drinking water. A ledge of bedrock with a small cave provides him shelter. But aside from that, he's on his own to figure out how to eat, how to stay warm, how to keep from being eaten alive by mosquitoes.

I hope that if anything like this ever happens to me, I can handle it with the creativity, ingeniousness, and grace that Brian did. In this aspect, this was a 5-star book.

But it's a 3-star read for me because that's all that was in the book. The beginning tantalizes readers with The Secret that Brian is keeping about his mother, but it's a feeble attempt at adding psychological depth to a story that didn't really need it, and it didn't add up to anything anyway, so for me, it fell completely flat and detracted from the story rather than rounding it out, especially when it was resolved with a throwaway line in the epilogue.

I have very mixed feelings about the epilogue in general. On one hand, I appreciated learning the long-term effects of isolation and near-starvation on Brian. On the other hand, I found it irritating and a bit too much.

So from my adult perspective, I have mixed feelings about this story. But I can see why it's a classic and still in print 30+ years after its first publication. I could hardly put it down, and it made me seriously start thinking about whether I'm carrying enough food and warm clothing with me at all times -- it's haunting that way.