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Gary Paulsen, prolific writer and master storyteller, has won countless awards for his work including three Newbery Honors. One of these Newbery Honors, his best known and most favorite book for young people, is Hatchet, published by Bradbury Press in 1987.
This classic adventure and survival story begins by describing, in vivid detail, an incredible plane crash that causes Brian Robeson to be stranded alone in the Canadian wilderness. As the story unfolds, the reader is immersed in Brian's struggle to survive as he seeks shelter, food, and rescue. Luckily, his mother had given him a hatchet as a gift just as he left on the fateful plane trip to visit his father. This gift proves instrumental in Brian's ability to hone his survival skills and to ultimately survive for fifty-four days on his own in a difficult and often harsh environment.
Paulsen's sequel to Hatchet was The River, published by Delacorte Press in 1991. This book portrays Brian as a young man who has been forever changed by his time in the wilderness. As a result, he is asked by a team of scientists to return to the wilderness so that they can use him as a subject to study the psychology of survival.
Readers often asked Paulsen what would have happened if Brian had I not been rescued before the Canadian winter. As a result, Paulsen followed the publication of The River with Brian's Winter (1996), which provides the alternative story.
Yet another book, Brian's Return, was published in 1999. This book once again follows Brian as he struggles with living in the city. It shows him as he begins to realize that he must go back to the wilderness.
"Brian fans" also will want to read the nonfiction book written by Paulsen that provides background information about Paulsen's own wilderness experiences. These personal experiences ultimately led to many events depicted in the books about Brian....