Imagine being stuck in the wilderness for winter. Imagine having to survive on your own, adapting to the cold and harsh environment winter brings.
Brian’s Winter, by Gary Paulsen, is exactly about that. This book is a what­if alternate ending to the previous book,
The Hatchet
.
Brian Robeson, a thirteen year old boy, was suffering a hard time in his life. His parents recently divorced. His father moved to Canada and Brian was scheduled to spend the summer with his him. In
The Hatchet
, Brian was on his way to visit his father on a plane alone with a pilot. In an unfortunate event, the pilot had a sudden heart attack while in flight and died, leaving Brian scared out of his mind. With sheer luck, he crash landed the plane and was left with a few bruises.
The Hatchet describes how he got rescued a few days after the crash.
Brian’s Winter describes how he survived the winter. It is quite amazing how he could withstand subzero temperatures, provide food for himself, and just survive. His camp consisted of the remains of the plane.
Brian felt lonely and depressed but he fights on and thinks only of ways he could survive.
One day while exploring the woods outside his camp, he comes across a Cree trapping family, a native Canadian Indian tribe whose livelihood is hunting and trapping. He spends three weeks with them, excited to finally encounter human life in the wilderness. By the first week he felt as if he were part of the family. After two weeks he forgot what it was like living alone. At the end the third week he realized he almost didn’t want to leave.
“The woods had become so much a part of his life­ the heat of it seemed to match his pulse, his