I’ve lost track of how many times I have read this book over the past 11 years. I’d recommend that everyone read this book at least once in their life.

4.5 Stars ( )

Independent Reading Level: Ages 12+
Awards: Nebraska Golden Sower Award (Nominee — 1991)
Texas Bluebonnet Award (Nominee — 1991)
Wyoming Indian Paintbrush Award (Nominee — 1990)
Soaring Eagle Book Award (First runner-up — 1992)
Soaring Eagle Book Award (Nominee — 1997)
Young Hoosier Book Award (Winner — Middle Grade — 1991)
Massachusetts Children's Book Award (Winner — 1995)
Sequoyah Book Award (Winner — Young Adult — 1990)
Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award (Nominee — 1990)
Georgia Children's Book Award (Winner — Grades 4-8 — 1991)
Utah Beehive Book Award (Nominee — Young Adult — 1991)
Kentucky Bluegrass Award (Nominee — Grades 4-8 — 1989)
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — Grades 6-8 — 1992)
Buckeye Children's & Teen Book Award (Winner — Grades 6-8 — 1991)
William Allen White Children's Book Award (Winner — 1990)
Newbery Medal (Honor Book — 1988)
Vermont Golden Dome Book Award (Winner — 1989)
Iowa Teen Award (Winner — 1990)
Bluestem Award (Nominee — 2016)
Mark Twain Readers Award (Nominee)
Sunshine State Young Reader's Award (Nominee — 1991)
Nēnē Award (Nominee — 1993)
South Dakota Teen Choice Book Awards (Nominee — 1989)
Grand Canyon Reader Award (Nominee — 1991)
California Young Reader Medal (Nominee — 1990)
Margaret A. Edwards Award (1997)
NCSLMA Battle of the Books (Elementary — 2018)
Virginia Readers' Choice (Winner — Middle School — 1990)
Golden Archer Award (Winner — 1989)
Flicker Tale Award (Nominee — Juvenile Books — 1990)
Flicker Tale Award (Nominee — Juvenile Books — 1989)
Colorado Children's Book Award (Nominee — 1990)
Maud Hart Lovelace Award (Nominee — 1991)
Surrey Schools’ Book of the Year (Winner — 1990)
Minnesota Book Awards (Winner — 1988)

Gary Paulsen is a superb writer for middle-grade; all three of my boys and I truly enjoyed him when they were growing up. ( )

Realistic fiction coming of age or adventure survival
Independent reading level grades fifth through eight

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I read this in elementary school and was not that into it. But listening to the audio book version as an adult, I thought it was really good. 13-year-old boy vs. the wild. Taut, suspenseful, at times riveting.

Still, the thing about Gary Paulsen is that his writing comes off as so cold and calculated to me. Where's the passion, the humor, or complex sentence structure? How can Brian be so compelling and so bland at the same time? (I'll tell you, actually. It's the setting and the plot that drive the story, not the characters or the language.) Though I admire Paulsen's books, they'll never be my favorites. But this is a still a great book. ( )

Independent Reading Grade Level: 5-8
Awards: Newbery Honor (1988)

Independent reading level: Grades 6-8th
Awards: John Newberry medal and Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's book award ( )

Reading Level: Grades 5-9 (Read it in 5th Grade)

A gripping survival story about a young boy stranded in the wilderness.
1986 Newbery Honor-winning ( )

A powerful story of survival where a 13-year-old boy has to rely on his wits and some limited resources. ( )

Independent Reading Level: 5th-9th grade.
Awards: Newberry Honor Book 1988, ALA Notable Book 1987, Georgia Children's Book Awards 1991, etc.

A children's story about survival in the wild, a story any adult can read with pleasure. ( )

this was a good adventure and survival story but i really didn't like the way it was written. the repetition was frustrating for me, but this was still enjoyable overall. ( )

"Going to the woods is going home, for I suppose we came from the woods originally. But in some of nature's forests, the adventurous traveler seems a feeble, unwelcome creature; wild beasts and the weather trying to kill him, the rank, tangled vegetation, armed with spears and stinging needles, barring his way and making life a hard struggle." - John Muir


The moment Brian is hit with skunk spray, I found myself thinking: "It wasn't that bad, was it?"

Maybe it was. I was a pre-teen messing around in the National Forest near our home in Colorado, and I walked home to an extended bath to remove the stink. Brian, on the other hand, was lost in the Canadian wilds and was pretty much in a fight for the first protein he had eaten in days. Perhaps it was a little different.

On the other hand, there was no doubt in my mind that the moose attack should have killed him. Kill him dead.

Reading Hatchet brought back memories, created new ones, and excited my imagination (and not just about getting sprayed by a skunk). A staple of middle school English class reading lists for decades, I picked it up again when my sixth-grader read it recently. J.K. Rowling may have made reading interesting to a new generation, but Paulsen is there when they turn to find another book, especially one that isn't rooted in a fantasy world. Instead, Paulsen delivers an adventure that is real and entirely believable. The wild where Brian finds himself, alone and lost, is foreign, uncaring, and hostile. It is a scary and marvelous place.

I asked Abby what her favorite and least favorite parts were and, perhaps conveying a bit more about her own age and values than about the book, she chose the moment Brian *spoiler* was saved and the scene when he tried to kill himself from despair *spoiler*, respectively. On the other hand, the moment that brought me the most emotion was in *spoiler* the moment that he swung the hatchet to cut through the fuselage of the plane, knowing all the while that he was about to lose the very tool that had allowed him to survive. Close to that in emotion was the pain I felt at the betrayal by his mother of their family, and the division it caused between her and Brian's father. But then, I am an adult, married, and partner in marriage myself. *spoiler*

Despite the emotions it at times invokes, Hatchett is a simply told story, even dull on occasion and perhaps that's what lets it soar as a novel. Instead of getting in the way of itself, the reader is able to become Brian, to set himself in Brian's increasingly tattered shoes, to find who he is when the wild is trying to kill him, all from the comfort of a warm, civilized home. ( )

I LOVED this book - an exciting tale of adventure and survival. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. Great survival story! A few grisly moments towards the end but all and all it was a great middle grade book. Kids could learn a lot from the experience of the protagonist. A major theme is to learn from your mistakes. ( )

Brian Robeson is a 13 year old boy that is normal teenage boy that has to learn quickly how to survive after the plane he is in crashes in the Canadian Wilderness. Brian's mom and dad recently got divorced, so he is carrying a great burden. But the struggles, trials, and tribulations he faces teaches him to adapt and grow in maturity. I love the changes in attitude and the finding of ones self that makes it's way in this book.

If you're looking for a survival book full of adventure, this is the book for you! Brian is on his way to visit his dad when the pilot of his small plane suffers a heart attack, which causes the plane to crash in the wilderness. Brian is alone in the wild with only his hatchet and the clothes on his back. Brian struggles to make shelter and find food for himself daily, but eventually he learns how to survive in the wild. This book is the first in the series. "Hatchet" is a perfect read for adventurous middle school readers. If students like "I Survived" books, they will like this too! ( )

Brian Robeson crashes a plane in the middle of the Canadian wilderness. He was flying to go visit his dad. Brian's parents recently got a divorce. This book is a story of survival with only a hatchet and a windbreaker. He has a hatchet that he has to learn how to use quickly. Will he survive the wilderness? Will he get to see his dad again? Will anyone rescue him or will he have to survive in the winderness forever?? ( )

I decided to read HATCHET by Gary Paulsen, so that I would have a better understanding of the story because I was helping a student with his assignment about this middle-grade novel.

HATCHET gives me an insightful into Brian’s problem solving and surviving skills, as he’s the sole survivor of a plane crash.

It’s raw, terrifying, disgusting at some points, and frustrating for thirteen-year-old Brian to learn to survive! The plane crash had changed Brian tremendously, that his mind and body had grown, and come together to make a connection with each other! ( )

This book follows a boy named Brian, who is on his way to visit his father in Canada. Before he leaves, his mom gives him a hatchet as a gift. On the plane ride, the pilot suffers a heart attack and dies, leaving Brian to land the plane. Ultimately, he finds himself stranded in the wilderness for many days. He has to adapt to survive, hoping that someone will find him and take him home to his family. ( )

I feel like I read a lot of Gary Paulsen when I was a kid, but I don't remember any of the plots. As an adult, this is my second Paulsen read and it was a perfectly enjoyable read. It's a fun little adventure story, but it is also about how to think through problems, how to become mentally tough, how to be grateful, and essentially how to survive hard times. There's a bit of darkness throughout the story in that it touches on death, depression, and divorce. And as an adult reader, I actually found some humor in how Brian remembered certain adult mentors in his life and how the annoyance he felt over his parents behavior followed him into the wilderness. I'd definitely recommend it to any youth and I think its a fun way to pass a few hours as an adult. ( )

Independent reading level: 4th grade & up
Awards: John Newbery Medal, Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's book awards