Hatchet

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Hatchet

Paulsen, G. (1987). Hatchet. New York, NY: Aladdin Paperbacks.

Age Level: 9 and up

Genre: Realistic Fiction.  This book is classified realistic fiction because the events in this book could happen in real life.
Summary:

            A fourteen year old boy says goodbye to his mother as he jumps on a plane with a suitcase and his going away present, a hatchet. He is upset that his family is being torn apart by divorce and has the burden of keeping a dark secret that could ruin his family even more. When Brian is forced to emergency land the plane after the pilot suffers an heart attack, Brian has to mature quickly as he embarks on the great task of surviving in the wilderness alone with nothing but his hatchet. Who will he encounter? Will he survive?  

Reflection:

            This book has so many wonderful life lessons perfect for the middle school aged student. You take a fourteen year old child dealing with divorce and put him in a situation where he has to mature quickly in order to learn to survive in the wilderness. He eventually realizes that the divorce of his parents is a small problem in his life in comparison. It could be worse is what his situation teaches him.

The conflict of person against nature thickens as he encounters different animals and natural disasters. Told in third person Paulsen does a great job creating suspense with each encounter making this book hard to put down.

I couldn’t help think as I was reading how great this book would be to recommend to a student dealing with their parents' divorce. The theme of maturity is shown through Brian’s necessity to mature as he struggles to survive but also as he learns to deal with keeping the “secret” and coping with his parents' divorce. It is well written, filled with suspense and adventure, and teaches many good lessons along the way!