Kids into books: Hatchet

This weeks title: Hatchet

Author: Gary Paulsen

Illustrator: Mark Taylor

Publisher: Macmillan, $13.95

Age Group: 10-13 years


Brian turned the wheel left, pushed on the left pedal, and the plane came back round. 'It's easy.' he smiled. 'At least this part.' The pilot nodded. 'All of flying is easy. Just takes learning. Like everything else. Like everything else.' he took the controls back, then reached up and rubbed his left shoulder. 'Aches and pains - must be getting old.'

Brian let go of the controls and moved his feet away from the pedals as the pilot put his hands on the wheel. 'Thank you ...'

But the pilot had put his headset back on and the gratitude was lost in the engine noise and things went back to Brian looking out of the window at the ocean of trees and lakes. The burning eyes did not come back, but memories did, came flooding in. The words. Always the words.

Divorce.

The Secret.

Fights.

Split.

The big split. Brian's father did not understand as Brian did, knew only that Brian's mother wanted to break the marriage apart. The split had come and then the divorce, all so fast, and the court had left him with his mother except for the summers and what the judge called 'visitation rights'. So formal. Brian hated judges as he hated lawyers.