Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Summary:
On a plane trip to see his father in Canada, Brian Robeson’s small bush plane crashes into a small lake in the Canadian Wilderness. With the pilot dead, 13 year old Brian has to survive alone in the wilderness with nothing but the clothes on his back and a small hatchet. With knowing very few survival skills, everyday is a constant life and death battle. Brian must conquer starvation, animal attacks, a tornado, and the feeling of loneliness in his journey. Brian’s efforts are rewarded when he finds the emergency pack that was still in the plane. With food, a rifle, and a little hope it looked better for him, but until Brian turned on what he thought was a broken emergency transmitter is when things began to really turn for the better. Just before he began to enjoy his first freeze dried meal, he spots a plane circling overhead. The plane lands on the lake and the pilot tells him of the emergency signal that he received, but all Brian has to say is if the pilot would like some of his meal.

Review:
I enjoyed reading this book. It told the story of a first hand survival experience very well. It didn’t only include the physical obstacles that he had to overcome, but the mental obstacles as well. The story makes you feel as if you are Brian and you’re locked in this situation where it’s you and only you surviving for your life; something that many of us have never had to think about in our lives.

Quote:
“Never. Never in all the food, all the hamburgers and malts, all the fries or meals at home, never in all the candy or pies or cakes, never in all the roasts or steaks or pizzas, never in all the submarine sandwiches, never never never had he tasted anything as fine as that first bite.”
This is an important quote because this really marks a point in the book where he hasn’t eaten a real meal in some time and has finally learned by many failed attempts to catch his own food. What is also important about this quote is that many of us eat regularly, even when we aren’t hungry at all. But when you have reached the point of hunger and so on, food becomes more than just something to keep you feeling full. It becomes something that you need or else you will die. So him taking his first bite of food after days of hunger must’ve tasted like the greatest thing in the world.