I love to read.  I mean I really, really love to read!   But for whatever reason God gave me boys that don't share my love for books. 

My 13 year old is a wonderful reader.  He can read and comprehend pretty much whatever you give him.  We use the Sonlight curriculum and he does the reading and usually enjoys the books, but he typically will not just pick up a book and read it for pleasure.  He's more of a magazine kind of guy.  Give him a car, gun or hunting type magazine and he can get lost in there.  He remembers all of these great details and helpful information.  He just doesn't typically look at a book and think, "Oh, this sounds like a great story, I'll read it."  Nope that just isn't him.  Until.....

He found Hatchet by Gary Paulsen on our bookshelf.  I actually think that it was left over from when I used to teach public school. It caught my eye so I thought that I'd read it to see if it was appropriate.  It's a wonderful survival story of a boy in the wilderness so I told Joe to take a look at it.

From School Library Journal
Grade 8-12 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. Miraculously 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 chronicles in gritty 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. Paulsen effectively shows readers how Brian learns patienceto watch, listen, and think before he actsas he attempts 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 dim 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 (Bradbury, 1985), Paulsen emphasizes character growth through a careful balancing of specific details of survival with the protagonist's thoughts and emotions. Barbara Chatton, College of Education, University of Wyoming, Laramie  Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc

Well, he absolutely loved it and was so excited to learn that there were more books in the series.  Unfortunately none of them are available at our local library.  So, the other day when I was at a bookstore, I found them.  Yea!!!

They are:

• The River
• Brian's Winter
• Brian's Return
• Brian's Hunt

Since I brought them home 6 days ago he has read 2 of them already!  Oh it has just been wonderful to see him grabbing a book (of his own free will) and reading when he has the chance because he can't wait to see what happens next.