Hatchet

This award-winning contemporary classic is the survival story with which all others are comparedΓÇöand a page-turning,heart-stopping adventurerecipient of the Newbery Honor. Hatchet has also been nominated as one of AmericaΓÇÖs best-loved novels by PBSΓÇÖs The Great American Read. Thirteen-year-old Brian Robesonhaunted by his secret knowledge of his motherΓÇÖs infidelityis traveling by single-engine plane to visit his father for the first time since the divorce. When the plane crasheskilling the pilotthe sole survivor is Brian. He is alone in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but his clothinga tattered windbreakerand the hatchet his mother had given him as a present. At first consumed by despair and self-pityBrian slowly learns survival skillsΓÇöhow to make a shelter for himselfhow to hunt and fish and forage for foodhow to make a fireΓÇöand even finds the courage to start over from scratch when a tornado ravages his campsite. When Brian is finally rescued after fifty-four days in the wildhe emerges from his ordeal with new patience and maturityand a greater understanding of himself and his parents.