Hatchet

This past Thursday we finished reading Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Throughout the year I have been reading from various types of books aloud to the class, for a few minutes at the end of each school day before the students go home. The class, though not receptive at the beginning of the school year, now loves this time of day. They have especially loved the story Hatchet, in which a city boy named Brian Robeson suddenly finds himself stranded in the middle of nowhere and has to survive on his own until help arrives, if it does at all. There recently have been times when I finish reading a section of the story, creating a cliffhanger to be finished the next day, and my students would call out “No! You can’t do that!” My inside teacher voice yells “YES!” when that happens.

This story resonated with my class on several levels. The boys loved the parts about Brian trying to survive in the wilderness with nothing but a hatchet. They could identify with Brian, as most of them have shot a moose or deer, fished, or cleaned a “foolbird” (grouse). For that matter, so have some of the girls in my class. The story takes place in a similar geographic location as where we live, so the students were able to visualize (reading comprehension strategy!) more easily the descriptive scenes as the author unfolded them. I think, too, that my students are experiencing a similar growth that Brian did in the story. There has been a growth this year from adolescent youngsters to mature young men and women who have had challenges and joys of their own that are shaping and refining their qualities and developing their character.

Of course, that doesn’t mean they still don’t act like adolescent youngsters from time to time…