Brian's Winter
Brian's Winter is a 1996 young adult novel by Gary Paulsen. It is the third novel in the "Hatchet" series, but second in terms of chronology as an alternate ending sequel to "Hatchet". It was also released as "Hatchet: Winter" by Pan Macmillan on February 9, 1996. Background. At the end of "Hatchet", thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson, who has been trapped in the Canadian wilderness after a plane accident, decides to dive for a "survival pack" from the submerged aircraft. He almost drowns trying to tear the plane open. He recovers, among other things, an  emergency transmitter. Within hours, a pilot receives the beacon and rescues him. The book begins with a foreword that Brian, who learned wilderness survival through trial and error, probably would not have survived the upcoming harsh winter on his own. Paulsen says that many readers wrote to him, complaining about the deus ex machina ending. In response, Paulsen wrote "Brian's Winter", which explores what would have happened if Brian had not activated the transmitter. Plot summary. The story deals with Brian, still stranded at the L-shaped lake during the fall and winter, constructing a winter shelter, building snow  shoes, being confronted by a bear, befriending and naming a skunk and learning how to make a bow more powerful. Eventually, Brian meets a family of Cree trappers, the Smallhorns, who help him return home. Continuity with series. "Brian's Winter" is followed chronologically by the two sequels, "Brian's Return" and "Brian's Hunt" as they recognize the book as a series canon. "The River" does not and includes no mention that the events of "Brian's Winter" ever took place as Brian tells Derek Holtzer that he only spent fifty-four days in the wilderness. This is because  The River was published in 1991, five years before the release of "Brian's Winter".