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Hatchet, published in 1987, is Gary Paulsen's best-known novel. The author tells the story of a thirteen-year-old boy’s resourcefulness and resilience after being stranded in the Canadian wilderness. This tale of survival remains a popular novel for young adults.

As the novel opens, the young Brian Robeson is on a bush plane for the first time. His parents have gotten divorced and he is flying into Canada to spend the summer with his father, who is working in the oil fields. In the plane with just one pilot, he is thinking about his divorced parents and a “Secret.” The reader will learn soon enough that Brian is angry with his mother, having observed her with another man. His mother has given him a hatchet as a gift to take with him.

During the flight, the pilot shows Brian how to fly the plane and Brian learns of the plane’s stash of survival gear. Then, suddenly, the pilot has a heart attack and dies. Brian manages to keep the plane level until it crashes into a remote lake. He swims out, surviving the crash and then falls asleep on the shore in exhaustion.

After waking up, Brian first sets out to find water and soon realizes he also needs shelter and food. He finds berries and eats until he gets sick. Once the boy finishes building a shelter, he collapses from exhaustion, getting sick again in the middle of the night.

The next morning, Brian searches for berries that won’t make him sick. He is picking delicious raspberries when a large black bear appears behind him. He remains still until the bear eventually leaves. That night, hearing an unknown animal in his shelter, he throws his hatchet at it, causing sparks to appear and the animal to flee. Brian feels piercing in his leg and realizes he has been stung by eight porcupine quills.

Brian discovers how he can make a fire when he remembers how the hatchet created sparks as it hit the shelter’s rock wall. He succeeds in igniting flames that keeps the animals and mosquitos away. He begins to observe how he has changed. His body has slimmed down and he hears things he previously would not have heard. He is determined to survive but to do so he must find another source of food.

To try to catch fish, Brian first uses his hatchet to craft a spear from a branch. When that doesn’t work, he finds success by making a bow and arrow. One day, he hears an airplane engine overhead. He races back to his shelter but is too late to reach the signal fire he created and begins to believe he will never be rescued.

But Brian doesn’t give up. He gets better at catching fish; he builds a pen for live fish so that he always has a fresh supply. He also finds some turtle eggs to eat. When a skunk steals them from his shelter, Brian realizes he must make a stronger door. He longs for meat and begins to hunt and kill the birds he calls “fool birds.”

Brian is attacked by a moose and nearly drowns in the lake. Then, a huge tornado touches down, rips his shelter and knocks him against the wall. The boy is disheartened, but sees that the tornado has also moved the plane’s tail above the surface of the lake.

The next day, he assesses the damage and begins to rebuild. He remembers there is a survival bag in the plane. He builds a raft to get out to the plane, but once there can’t get inside. Frustrated, he punches the side of the wreckage. The outer shell gives way and he realizes he can use his hatchet to make a bigger hole in the metal. Then, he accidentally drops his hatchet into the lake! He dives to the bottom several times and finally retrieves it.

When Brian opens the survival bag, it is filled with matches, a .22 survival rifle, two bars of soap, and packs of freeze-dried food. There is also a radio-like device. He fiddles with the switches, but it seems to be broken.

As he makes a feast for himself of freeze-dried food, he is surprised to hear the sound of a plane overhead. The pilot lands on the lake and tells Brian that he heard the emergency transmitter.

Brian’s rescue changes him in ways that make him stronger and wiser. He had spent 54 days in the Canadian wilderness. Once home, he learns about the wildlife he ate and has a new appreciation for food. His parents are overjoyed to see Brian, but they remain separated.

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