Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen

 In an interesting departure from a series, Paulsen kind of negates the ending of the first book and the second book in the series (The River) by back tracking and speculating on what would have happened if Brian, the 13-year old who was the central figure in The Hatchet had not been rescued. What if he had had to have stayed through the winter? This book answers that question.

I enjoyed this one much more than The River because it was more like the first book, with details about exactly HOW Brian managed his resources and was able to survive. I liked how Paulsen continued to show us Brian's thinking and analyzing throughout the story so we could figure things out along with him. And, he had an interesting rescue experience that was unexpected as he found a trapper's family who took him in. It would have been interesting to read more about that experience, but maybe youth lit has to end before too many pages? Whatever. At any rate, this one is good, with beautiful descriptions of winter's beauty in the wild. I'll take it with me to Rapid at the end of the month for John and Henry to enjoy.