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Content snapshot
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Violence
Barely any
The plane crash; a moose attack; survival situations; no graphic violence
Language
None
No profanity
Sexual Content
None
No sexual content
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
Barely any
Brian learns his parents are divorcing because of his mother's affair—this knowledge weighs on him throughout
What this book is about
Brian Robeson is flying to visit his estranged father in the Canadian wilderness when the pilot suffers a heart attack and the single-engine plane crashes into a lake. Brian survives. With a hatchet and no other tools, he must learn to find food, make fire, and endure. For fifty-four days. Paulsen's spare, gripping survival novel has introduced generations of young readers to the outdoors, to problem-solving under pressure, and to the strange satisfaction of doing something hard without help. A perennial classroom staple for good reason.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
A parent's affair and divorce as backstory
Survival situations with mild peril
Reader Verification
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