num_pages: 195
description: Brian is on his way to Canada to visit his estranged father when the pilot of his small prop plane suffers a heart attack. Brian is forced to crash-land the plane in a lake--and finds himself stranded in the remote Canadian wilderness with only his clothing and the hatchet his mother gave him as a present before his departure. Brian had been distraught over his parents' impending divorce and the secret he carries about his mother, but now he is truly desolate and alone. Exhausted, terrified, and hungry, Brian struggles to find food and make a shelter for himself. He has no special knowledge of the woods, and he must find a new kind of awareness and patience as he meets each day's challenges. Is the water safe to drink? Are the berries he finds poisonous? Slowly, Brian learns to turn adversity to his advantage--an invading porcupine unexpectedly shows him how to make fire, a devastating tornado shows him how to retrieve supplies from the submerged airplane. Most of all, Brian leaves behind the self-pity he has felt about his predicament as he summons the courage to stay alive. A story of survival and of transformation, this riveting book has sparked many a reader's interest in venturing into the wild.
language: English
title: Hatchet
titlecomplete: Hatchet
characters: Brian Robeson
genres: Fiction, Adventure, School, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Read For School, Classics, Survival, Childrens, Realistic Fiction
ratings_count: 378289
places: Canada
series: Brian's Saga
awards: awardedAt: 568022400000
name: Newbery Medal, awardedAt: 662716800000
name: Young Hoosier Book Award
category: 6-8, awardedAt: 662716800000
name: Buckeye Children's Book Award
category: 6-8, awardedAt: 788947200000
name: Massachusetts Children's Book Award, awardedAt: 631180800000
name: Flicker Tale Children's Book Award, awardedAt: 599644800000
name: Vermont Golden Dome Book Award, awardedAt: 599644800000
name: Golden Archer Award, awardedAt: 852105600000
name: Soaring Eagle Book Award, awardedAt: 631180800000
name: Iowa Teen Award, awardedAt: 631180800000
name: California Young Readers Medal
category: Middle School/Junior High, awardedAt: 568022400000
name: Minnesota Book Award, awardedAt: 631180800000
name: William Allen White Children's Book Award, awardedAt: 1451635200000
name: Bluestem Book Award, awardedAt: 599644800000
name: Virginia Reader's Choice
category: Middle, awardedAt: 631180800000
name: Oklahoma Sequoyah Award
category: YA, awardedAt: 852105600000
name: Margaret A. Edwards Award
publisher: Bradbury Press