May 8

‘Hatchet’ by Gary Paulsen

“In the roaring plane with no pilot alone”.

That was one of my favourite descriptions in ‘Hatchet’ by Gary Paulsen. The survival skills in this book are so realistic I reckon it could help in real life. ‘Hatchet’ by Gary Paulsen is the ultimate story of survival in a life-threatening situation.

The first part of the story is set in a bush plane where Brian Robeson is going to visit his father who works in Canada. Brian has came from the city and isn’t used to being alone. The pilot has a heart attack and Brian attempts to land the plane in the middle of the Canadian wilderness miles away from civilisation. The plane crashes and Brian is stranded. Brian is the main character and this book is targeted at teenagers trying to tell them to get outdoors more because the number of teenagers spending their afternoon inside is increasing rapidly and a camp will be good fun for them.

I loved the book. The book reminded me of an episode of Man Vs. Wild when he is in Alaska. I recommend this book to teenagers from the age of 14-17 because they can learn lessons from this such as to go outdoors more. I thought this book was great for me. I encourage others to read this excellent book and enjoy it.

Fraser Year 8

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My Hatchet review 

Hatchet is a great adventure survival book where Brian, a 13 year old kid, was in a plane which crashed in the Canadian wilderness. He was all alone with only a hatchet.

He had to learn how to survive on his own and learn how to live off the land. He had to learn how to keep on going even though he thought there was no hope of being found.

His first priority was to make a shelter and keep warm.  He kept warm by banging his hatchet on a rock, which created sparks, which caused a fire.  He made his shelter from cutting down trees with his hatchet.  His second priority was to get food.  He did this by making a bow and arrow, which helped him catch fish and also a bird.

After many days in the forest he heard a buzzing in the air and saw a plane flying above him.  He climbed to his signal fire, lit it and started yelling for help.  The plane turned around and he knew he was saved.  The plane landed, rescued him and took him home.

Tex, Year 8

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Survival, being all alone, not knowing when or if a rescue party is coming: Hatchet is a very exciting and adventurous story about a boy named Brian who was flying to visit his dad. When something went wrong, the plane starting dropping altitude drastically. Brian looked and saw the pilot unconscious. Brian was yelling to wake the pilot, but he didn’t wake up. Brian was scared. He had never expected this. The only thing that could be used to survive was his hatchet. He looked ahead and saw the plane plummeting towards an‘L’ shaped lake. When he tried to steer it was too late.

Underwater, mind blank, still in shock, then seconds later he starts to panic, bashing the glass thinking how to get out while starting to drown. Then Brian thought that the pressure would have equalized by now, so he thought he could open the door, so he tries and it works. Soon he is out and up to the surface breathing heavily, then he swims to shore. Soon he is finding berries and making objects like weapons and spears to catch fish in the lake. Soon he’s made fire and felt comfort for once.

Later when he was sad he found a survival kit packed with a .22 survival rifle, first aid kit, fishing kit, knife with a compass on the handle and some food. He picked up the rifle and he felt safe like nothing could hurt him and that it would all be a lot easier killing animals to cook so he put the gun down and thought that he could deal with it later. Then he heard a noise and then he knew someone was coming for him. And then a plane landed in the lake and the motor stopped and the pilot stepped out and asked if it was Brian and Brian said yes. And Brian asked how long he had been stranded.The pilot said two months.

Chandler, Year 8

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Posted May 8, 2012 by marjk in category Adventure stories, Realistic fiction, Student Reviews

About the Author

Teacher-librarian at Aquinas College, Southport, Gold Coast, Australia

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