Emily Odenwald

#610

The Boy from the Plane

The author of Hatchet is Gary Paulsen. It is a survival story. Gary is a three time

Newberry Award winning author, Hatchet is one of the Newberry books. It was written in 1987

so it is an old book. Hatchet is a great book full of action, adventure, and survival. Brian’s story

shows that Brian was a survivor.

Thirteen year old Brian was a city boy from New York whose parents just recently

divorced. He was on a plane on the way to visit

his father who works at an oil mine in Canada.

The pilot had a heart-attack and died in the

plane, leaving him to fend for himself. Once the

plane ran out of fuel, he crash-landed into a lake

in the middle of the Canadian wilderness. Then, he must survive alone in the woods. Brian had to

survive. Surviving was a must. Fire was a must. Brian's story shows that Brian was a survivor.

Brian has made sparks before, but he has never been anywhere near fire. He aimed his

hatchet toward the sun, but he didn’t get fire. He needed

something for sparks to land on, paper. Then, he ripped

up his twenty dollar bill but the sparks went out on it.

Next, Brian found paper bark from the trees so then he

ripped it off and made a big fluffy wad. Later, he went

again to make the fire. The sparks could only live on the fluff for a few seconds then they went

out. “The sparks need to breath. I need to blow on the sparks.” Brian thought. Finally, he blew

on them as soon as they landed on the fluffy ball and then he had fire!

After weeks of surviving in the woods, the rescuers came. Very faintly, at first, Brian

heard a plane engine. Then of course, it

got louder, until he could see the plane.

It lands on the lake. Then, a strange

man comes out, the pilot, and realizes

who Brian is, the kid who had been

stranded for almost 2 months. Brian

introduced himself, and then Brian

realized that he could go home, to live with his dad in the forest.

In conclusion, Brian learned throughout the story that he was not a city boy, because, of

course, he had survived in the wilderness for so long. This was a life-changing series of events

that Brian would never forget for as long as he lived. He would never forget the fire, the animals,

the food, or the shelter. He became a new person throughout the story. He has changed from a

city boy to a wild, free spirited outgoing boy with an exciting future ahead of him. Brian’s story

shows that Brian is a survivor. “Not bad, He had thought, not bad for somebody who used to

have trouble greasing the bearings on his bicycle. Not bad at all.”