Hatchet

Hatchet - Gary Paulsen
Newbery Honor Book
Scholastic, Inc.
ISBN: 0-590-98182-X

My rating: 5 out of 5

"Hatchet" is the story of thirteen year-old Brian whose plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness. With only a hatchet, Brian must learn to survive. I remember reading this book in grade school and it is just as good now as it was then. Paulsen carefully crafts this tale of survival very well and readers will be hooked from the very first chapter.

I really liked how Paulsen shows the reader how Brian changes over time. We get to see how he grows from a scared little boy to a confident and self-reliant young man. After reading this book, readers, myself included, will want to rush out to the library and check out all of the sequels (even though this story is self-contained, there are other books that deal with what happens to Brian after he is rescued and at least one that deals with the scenerio of "what if Brian wasn't rescued and had to deal with the winter?")

"Hatchet" is a fantastic book that will certainly hook it's readers. Chances are, those who do not like to read just may read this one and discover that they really like it.