Listened as an audiobook. If you are interested in the authors experiences that lead him to write the Hatchett stories, then pick up this book. Gary Paulsen lived through many of the experiences he later would use in writing his wilderness survival stories. Quick paced, educational. Who knew you could eat fish eyes if you were hungry enough.

3.5
A nonfiction account of events in Paulsen's life that lead to storylines in Hatchet, including plane crashes, moose encounters, and various hunting expeditions.

An interesting read that would be a great companion read to Hatchet or for Paulsen fans.

Out of pure coincidence, I finished reading Guts on the same day I finished reading Hatchet for the first time. This book is a great companion to Hatchet, although I’d recommend not reading them concurrently like I did. Definitely read Guts after, as there can be spoilers.

Guts, Paulsen has a lot more writing experience, and it reads much better. It’s so fascinating what a life Paulsen has lived! I’m amazed he can remember the details from so many of these stories, but they sure are fun to listen to.

I loved the Hatchet series (we read Hatchet in my 4th grade class), and I deeply appreciated these autobiographical sketches of the stories from Paulsen's life that relate to Brian's experiences there. Paulsen is a remarkable man and author, and his stories of growing up in Minnesota, and traveling and living in Alaska and other wilderness areas are incredible.

For fans of "survival" and "wilderness" literature.

Short book with Paulson’s real life Hatchet adventures. He ran Iditarod - didn’t know that!

I was looking for a good read aloud for memoirs at school and think this is the one! Intense but relatable, I have students who will connect with the home life and hopefully be inspired by the drive to be self reliant. Not to mention this might inspire them to read Hatchet ;)

Very informative.

An interesting book that relates all the background experiences that led to the Paulsen Hatchet series. I kind of expected more actual stories but this delivered more of a nuance or summary of story and then a lot more on how it related to the Brian novels.

It was good but I was hoping for better.