Hatchet (novel)

Brian Robeson is a thirteen-year-old son of divorced parents. As he travels from Hampton, New York on a single engine Cessna bush plane to visit his father in the oil fields in Northern Canada for the summer, the pilot suffers a massive heart attack and dies. Brian tries to land the plane but ends up crash-landing into a lake in the forest. He must learn to survive on his own with nothing but his hatchet—a gift his mother gave him shortly before his plane departed.[4]

Throughout the summer, Brian learns how to survive in the vast wilderness with only his hatchet. He discovers how to make fire with the hatchet and eats whatever food he can find, such as rabbits, birds, turtle eggs, fish, berries, and fruit. He deals with various threats of nature, including mosquitoes, a porcupine, bear, wolf, skunk, moose, and even a tornado. Over time, Brian develops his survival skills and becomes a fine woodsman. He crafts a bow, arrows, and a fishing spear to aid in his hunting. He also fashions a shelter out of the underside of a rock overhang. During his time alone, Brian struggles with memories of home and the bittersweet memory of his mother, whom Brian had caught cheating on his father prior to their divorce.[4]

When a sudden tornado hits the area, it draws the tail of the plane toward the shore of the lake. This triggers his thoughts that there may be a survival pack of some sort on the plane. Brian makes a raft from a few broken off treetops to get to the plane. When Brian is cutting his way into the tail of the plane, he drops his hatchet in the lake and dives in to get it. Once inside the plane, Brian finds a survival pack that includes additional food, an emergency transmitter, and a .22 AR-7 rifle. Back on shore, Brian activates the transmitter, but not knowing how to use it, he thinks it is broken and throws it aside. However, his distress call is heard by a passing airplane, and he is rescued. Brian spends the remainder of the summer with his father but does not disclose his mother's affair.[4]

A film adaptation titled A Cry in the Wild was released in 1990.[5]

Paulsen continued the story of Brian Robeson with four more novels, beginning with The River in 1991.

Hatchet was a recipient of the 1988 Newbery Honor.[6]

Paulsen, Gary (1999). Hatchet. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781416936473.

• Salvner, Gary M. (2001). "Lessons and Lives: Why Young Adult Literature Matters". The ALAN Review. 28 (3): 9. doi:10.21061/alan.v28i3.a.2.
• Sturm, Brian W. (Winter 2009). "The Structure of Power in Young Adult Problem Novels". Young Adult Library Services. 7 (2): 39–47.
• Unwin, Cynthia G.; Palmer, Brian (1999). "Survival as a Bridge to Resistant Readers: Applications of Gary Paulsen's Hatchet to an Integrated Curriculum". The ALAN Review. 26 (3): 9–12. doi:10.21061/alan.v27i1.a.3.

• For the sequels, Brian's Saga in Gary Paulsen's website.
• For notes,