Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Aladdin. 1996.
It was popular when I was a kid, especially because the story was popular with girls and boys, so I'm not sure why I was so surprised that it was popular with the older tweens who come into the library. Maybe because they acted like it was a new book, a book that belonged to their time, rather than a book written years ago but was still good today. That's always a good sign.
Paulsen writes the story of Brian, a tween who is stranded in the middle of the wilderness and must adapt to survive. The only tool he has is a hatchet. Not only does he have to brave the wilds of Canada, he also has lots of time to think about his parents' recent divorce and the guilt he feels. This plot line serves as a great draw in for tweens. It's highly doubtful that many of them will ever be lost in the woods (hopefully), but Brian's internal conflict is realistic thus helping transport the reader to Brian's physical state in the forest.
To this day, the plane crash at the beginning scares the heck out of me, but (most of) the kids seem to love it.
Great for tweens 5th grade through 8th grade.
ATOS Book Level: 5.7
AR Points: 7.0
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