BOOK REPORT ANALYSIS

I. Story Info
Title: Hatchet
Author: Gary Paulsen
Paulsen is an American writer of young adult literature, best known for coming of age
stories about the wilderness. He is the author of more than 200 books and has written more than
200 magazine articles and short stories, and several plays, all primarily for teenagers. He won the
Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 1997 for his lifetime
contribution in writing for teens. He has written some fragmented autobiographical works, such as
Eastern Sun, Winter Moon: An Autobiographical Odyssey. The book, which is written in first
person, begins when Paulsen was seven, living in Chicago with his mother. He described several
traumatic occurrences that transpired during the three years that are chronicled by the book. For
example, one day while his mother was napping, Gary sneaked outside to play. There a vagrant
snatched him and apparently attempted to molest him, but his mother suddenly appeared on the
scene and beat the man to death. Paulsen reported his mother's many adulterous affairs in Eastern
Sun, suggesting that the man he called "father" was not really his biological father. He also
discussed his mother's alcoholism. He told how she would bring him to a bar and had him sing for
his supper, even though she had an income from her work in an ammunition factory, and he felt
there was no need for this. The Hatchet series, or Brian's adventures, five novels published from
1987 to 2003, comprises some of Paulsen's best known work. Dogsong (1985), My Life in Dog
Years (1998), The Winter Room (1989), and Harris and Me (1993) are three others of his many
popular novels. Woodsong (1990) and Winterdance (1994) are among the most popular books about
the Iditarod.
Genre: Young Adult