This Newbery Honor book is a dramatic, heart-stopping story of a boy who, following a plane crash in the Canadian wilderness, must learn to survive* with only a hatchet and his own wits*.

    Brian Robeson, 13, is the only passenger* on a small plane flying him to visit his father in the Canadian wilderness* when the pilot* has a heart attack and dies.

    The plane drifts off course and finally crashes into a small lake. Brian is able to swim free of the plane, arriving on a sandy tree-lined shore with only his clothing, a tattered* windbreaker*, and the hatchet his mother had given him as a present.

    The novel tells in detail Brian’s mistakes, setbacks*, and small triumphs* as, with the help of the hatchet, he manages to survive the 54 days alone in the wilderness.

    Author Gary Paulsen effectively shows readers how Brian learns patience* to watch, listen, and think before he acts as he tries to build a fire, to fish and hunt, and to make his home under a rock overhang safe and comfortable.

    An epilogue* discussing the lasting effects of Brian’s stay in the wilderness and his small chance of survival had winter come upon him before rescue* adds credibility* to the story.

    Paulsen tells a fine adventure story, but the sub-plot concerning Brian’s preoccupation* with his parents’ divorce seems a bit forced and detracts from* the book. As he did in “Dogsong,” Paulsen emphasizes character growth through a careful balancing of specific details of survival with the protagonist’s thoughts and feelings.

    Both English and Chinese versions are available on dangdang.com.(SD-Agencies)