Paulsen, Gary: Hatchet

The book is about a thirteen-year old boy. He wants to visit his mother in the northern woods of Canada. He wants to get there by an old bush plane. During the flight, the pilot has a heart attack. He dies immediately and the young boy is alone on the flying plane. He manages to get the plane down without hurting himself a lot, but he lands the plane in the middle of the wilderness of the Canadian woods. From that time on he has to get through the day on his own. He has to get food and has to find a place to sleep.
The main character is Brian Robeson. He is a thirteen-year-old boy. His parents are divorced and he feels very sad. He is very clever and a good surviver. He stays in the wilderness for 56 days.

I liked the book. It’s a nice and entertaining story about surviving and nature. I’ve chosen it because I like adventure stories very much.

It was not boring, because the author’s language is very good. He exactly describes all the details.

At the beginning you immediately enter the thrilling story because of an abrupt introduction. That’s what I liked best about this book, because I’m someone who puts the book away if he doesn’t like the introduction.

From time to time there were chapters which were so exciting that I really didn’t want to stop reading. I think the book is perfect to read every evening before you go to sleep. It’s simple to read because of the easy language and the interesting, but most of the time not thrilling story.

I would recommend this book to every 13 – 14 old reader who likes adventure stories.

Gary Paulsen: Hatchet

189 pages

Signatur: FE.J / PAU

My rating for this book: ***

© Lorenz Hinteregger, 5B (Sept. 2008)