Hatchet

Thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson is flying in a small plane to visit his father when the pilot suffers a heart attack and the plane goes down in the Canadian wilderness. Brian survives the crash with nothing but the clothes he is wearing, a torn windbreaker and the hatchet his mother gave him before he left. Alone beside a lake, he has to learn how to build a fire, find food, make shelter and outlast storms, insects and wild animals, while carrying a painful secret about his parents' divorce. Each mistake teaches him something, and slowly he becomes someone who can rely on himself. This survival story is tense, vivid and easy to get lost in, and it has been a classroom favorite for decades. It suits readers about 10 to 14.