SFL 358 Blog Entry #9 - The Hatchet

My favorite book as a child was The Hatchet. It is about a boy named Brian whose small plane crashes in the middle of a Canadian forest because the pilot suffers a heart attack. Left alone with no means of communicating with the outside world, Brian can depend only on himself to survive and somehow make it out of there. He learns to live off the land and eventually finds a way to get rescued.

What I loved about The Hatchet as a boy was reading how Brian creatively uses his wits and everything around him in order to survive. I particularly enjoyed the level of detail the author used in describing all the hunting and other survival skills, as well as the many instances of intense suspense as Brian came across some dangerous animals. The book really excited my imagination and I often pictured myself in Brian’s place and tried to figure out what I would do to survive. It was my favorite book for a long time.