Hatchet is the story of a 13-year-old boy named Brian.
On a trip to the Canadian oil fields to spend the summer with his dad, the pilot of the Cessna he was traveling in suffered a heart attack and died. Brian landed the plane in the forest. Brian learned to survive in the wilderness with only a hatchet that his mother had recently given him.The book tells all about adventures where he faced including hunger, animal attacks and even a tornado. He learns to make fire with the hatchet and eat foods he can find, such as rabbits, birds, turtle eggs, fish, and berries and fruit.
He has incidences of threats from animals such as a porcupine, bear, skunk, moose and wolves.Brian has to make his own shelter. He makes a bow, arrows and a spear for fishing. He battles in his mind with memories of his mother cheating on his father before their divorce.
He makes a raft. Later, he finds an emergency kit from the crashed plan with food and an emergency transmitter. He tries the transmitter, but he thinks its broken. Brian is discovered by a fur trader who heard the transmitter signal.He was rescued after 54 days in the wilderness.
After all of this, Brian is a different person. The book concludes with Brian's new viewpoint on life. This is the book's central idea. That we should be thankful for the simple things like food, water, shelter and safety.
I liked this book because I can relate to Brian. He was a teenager whose parents had just gone through a divorce, just like mine. The adventures were interesting. It also showed me that I have a lot to be thankful for and to always carry a hatchet!
