Book Review #1

Molly Jenkins

Book Review #1 

Period 4         

31 October 2016

Hatchet

Gary Paulsen

Realistic Fiction
181 Pages

Newberry Honor

          

          The novel, Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen, is a about a young boy named Brian Robenson. He was going on a trip to see his father for the summer. Brian took a private plane, and he was the only passenger. He also realized that there was only a pilot and no co-pilot. All of sudden, the pilot had a heart attack and Brian was in control of the plane. The plane was going down. Brian surprisingly survived the crash, which he landed in a small lake, and had only some pain in his leg. Brian’s mom gave him a hatchet before he left in case of emergencies and that hatchet ended up saving his life. Brian managed to find a nice cave to make shelter and eventually figured out how to make a fire. After he made a fire, Brian made a spear, which ended up being used to catch tons of fish. After a couple of weeks, a massive tornado appeared and destroyed everything he had. Once Brian knew it was safe to come out of his shelter, he noticed right away that the tail of the plane was sticking out of the water, the tornado had moved the plane. Brian built a raft and made it over by the plane and he noticed there was a survival pack in the window. Brian needed that pack. He used his hatchet and hit the window several times and eventually he made a big enough hole to grab the pack! Inside the pack was matches, a sleeping bag, some chocolate and some other useful survival items. A few days later, he had heard a loud noise, sounding like a plane. Brian went out of his shelter to investigate, and surprisingly he noticed a small plane landed not far from where he was! He ran up to the pilot and the pilot noticed him from news reports. The pilot offered him some food and gave him a ride home.

       One of the most important things I enjoyed in this book, Hatchet, was Brian’s personality. No matter what adversity he faced, he never gave up. Brian went through so much and he never broke down, he was very persistent. Another thing I really enjoyed was the survival aspect of this book, it came in large detail and gave the reader a good description of what was happening. There was also some things I didn’t understand in this book, one of them being why there wasn't a co-pilot. I always thought there was always a co-pilot on a plane just in case of emergencies. I also think that the ending could have been better. Brian didn't attract the plane in any way, the plane landed without any reason of it being on that exact island. I would highly recommend this book to other readers because there is so much detail in this book to where you can imagine what’s happening. The author does an amazing job of keeping the reader entertained and communicates to the reader very well.