Hatchet is a 1987 three-time Newbery Honor

Newbery Medal

The John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association . The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The award has been given since 1922. ...

-winning wilderness survival

Survivalism

Survivalism is a movement of individuals or groups who are actively preparing for future possible disruptions in local, regional, national, or international social or political order...

 novel written by Gary Paulsen

Gary Paulsen

Gary James Paulsen is an American writer who writes many young adult coming of age stories about the wilderness. He is the author of more than 200 books , 200 magazine articles and short stories, and several plays, all primarily for young adults and teens.-Biography:Gary Paulsen was born in...

. It is the first novel in the Hatchet series and is followed by four sequels.

Brian Robeson is a 13 year old who travels on a Cessna 406 bush plane to visit his father in the oil fields in northern Canada for the summer. During the flight, the pilot suffers a heart attack, causing Brian to try to land the plane, but ends up crash-landing into an L-shaped lake in the middle of the Canadian wilderness.