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. 

The River by Gary Paulsen

 This is the second book in a series which began with THE HATCHET. Henry and I listened to it on our way to St. George from Rapid City this past summer and really enjoyed it. What made The Hatchet so good and so compelling was the way Paulsen revealed young Brian's thinking process as he faced horrific challenges after a plane crash in remote Canada. And survived. This second book finds Brian returning to the remote part of Canada where the earlier story took place.

What I liked was, again, how we see what Brian is thinking and planning. This time he has an older accomplice with him who wants to learn how to survive. When he is seriously injured, Brian has the challenge to get him to safety. It was a good story right up until the end. It ended so abruptly, I wondered if the author had a sudden deadline with no time to adequately celebrate and describe the resolution. It's too bad!

I was going to get and read all three sequels to The Hatchet and then pass them on to John and Henry, because I think they would enjoy them. With this one, though, ending in a rather disappointing way, I wonder if I want to commit to any more in the series. The first was so good, it set up high expectations in my mind that weren't met. 

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

This is an amazing story! It started off a little slowly and without my immediate strong engagement. But it slowly grew on me, and then suddenly, I was hooked! The voice of the main character, Pi, is so endearing and intelligent; so like many young Indian people I have known, that I was totally charmed. The humor is delightful and clever. His foray into religion resonated with my own experience in many ways, and that was fun. The conversation between the Christian, Hindi, and Muslim as they discover Pi's divided devotion, is CLASSIC! Quite enjoyable and deeply truthful... And Pi's story of survival is so very engaging. Using his wits as he floats across the Pacific with his tiger is fascinating. There are so many subtleties that I'm sure I missed that I'm going to read it again.
It's an incredibly creative and original story, too. I marveled at the way the story unfolded and the way things connected and reconnected. It was also amazing to read about how Pi's survival ordeal brought him to a deeper understanding of being human...and what people will do to survive. As he surprises himself with his reactions, it's so enlightening. I could easily believe and understand how people could do the unthinkable; his reflections help us see the possibilities in us all.
There are some poetic descriptions of the universe and his state of mind as he's floating...the descriptions of the sky, sun, and wind are breathtaking.There's also a lot of biology here and zoology included. I wonder how accurate it is? That will be my next little Google task...to see how authentic these are. They felt very authentic, but the tree growing around human teeth did cause me to question whether this was imagination or possibility!