Resumo de The Hatchet - Gary Paulsen

The Hatchet is Gary Paulsen?s adventurous tale of a thirteen year-old boy, Brian, who gets stranded in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but himself, the clothes on his back, and the hatchet that his mother gives him shortly before takeoff. This tale is based on a true story, and is packed with action and adventure.
On the way to visit his father who is working in the Alaskan oil fields, Brian has been pondering ?the secret? or the day he had accidentally witnessed his mother kissing another man. Brian longs to tell his father of this event, but is afraid to betray his mother. He is understandably upset, but underneath all of his worry is the hope that his parents will reunite, and everything will return to normal. Unfortunately for Brian, he could not have imagined how much time he would have to contemplate his mother?s secret after the crash.
Brian Robeson was flying to visit his father shortly after his parent?s divorce when the pilot had a massive heart attack, and Brian was forced to land the plane on a lake in the middle of nowhere. This was only the beginning of Brian?s troubles, because landing brought a new barrage of problems that he could not have foreseen.
The first, and perhaps most obvious, problem that Brian faces is finding food. The plane sunk into the water with all of the emergency supplies in it upon their crash landing, leaving Brian with nothing more than what was on his person. Brian, still disoriented and injured from the crash, has to find food and water without a clue in the world as to how he will find it. He begins to drink out of the lake, gathers gut-cherries and raspberries to eat, and sets out to build himself a shelter that will keep the wild animals at bay until he is rescued.
Brian adjusts slowly, but upon realizing that he might never be saved he begins to grow skilled at survival. Brian sets up residence in a shallow cave, and learns to navigate the woods where he has crashed by always keeping the lake that he crash-landed the plane in in his vision at all times. Brian even learns how to create fire, even though it is entirely on accident. One night, Brian is awakened to a shuffling sound in his cave and throws his hatchet toward the sound, hoping to scare the thing away. While the porcupine who had wandered into his cave reacts by throwing it?s quills into Brain?s leg, the hatchet hitting the wall of the cave produces sparks that Brian uses to start a fire.
Having a fire makes a big difference in Brian?s life. Not only does it allow him warmth and a way to keep animals out of his cave, it gives him a way to cook. Brian builds himself a bow and arrow out of a stick and his shoelace, and uses his hatchet to sharpen some arrows and a spear. With these, Brian goes fishing and hunting, eventually getting so good at both that he can even catch ?fool birds,? or birds that resemble chickens except for their amazing ability to blend into their surroundings.
Even with all of these things in place, Brian?s life is never easy. He braves a moose attack, a hurricane, and a skunk?s spray (which hurts as well as smells), to survive on his own in the wild.
After some time passes, Brian decides to go diving for the emergency kit that the pilot had pointed out in the back of the plane. It takes him several days, and many failed attempts before finally finding his way into the plane and into the emergency kit that contains an emergency transmitter. After he finds the transmitter, he is finally rescued, and returned to his parents who, much to his chagrin, remain divorced and go their separate ways.

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