Hatchet is a novel by Gary Paulsen about a young teen boy, Brian Robeson. Our protagonist’s parents are divorced, and the knowledge of his mother’s affair weighs heavily on Brian. While on a plane to visit his father, the pilot allows Brian to take control of the plane for a bit in an impromptu flying lesson. But when the pilot starts to feel pain in his arm and stomach, then begins thrashing involuntarily in his seat, it is revealed that he is having a heart attack. With the pilot out of the picture, Brian is forced to take control of the plane and he crashes into the Canadian wilderness. With little food or water, Brian has to tussle with nature for everything, battling a porcupine, poisonous berries, and his inability to create fire. His mental state deteriorates to the point that he tries to commit suicide with his trusty hatchet, but he survives and becomes set on getting through this predicament. He catches a fish, then a bird, slowly but surely perfecting his survival skills, until he is gored by a moose while cleaning the fish. Hurt and tired, he has to stay determined when a tornado rips through his shelter and destroys it. The tail of the plane protrudes from the lake, some of the water flushed by the tornado. It occurs to Brian that there may be supplies in there that could help keep him alive. After several attempts, he is able to procure the survival pack from the body of the plane, and as he sits down to enjoy the freeze-dried feast, another plane lands on the lake, and a shocked Brian is rescued from the woods. This book was a great read, and I enjoyed the thrilling aspects of the plane’s descent and Brian’s dive for the hatchet. Paulsen wove much more emotion into a story with (for the most part) one character than I thought was possible, and I was pleasantly surprised by the novel. My only quarrel was the “deus ex machina” nature of the ending, as it made Brian’s struggle with the crashed plane seem irrelevant to the story. Overall, Hatchet was a book with suspense, action, and triumph, and I would recommend it to someone looking to start a series.
-Lucas Henson
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