Paulsen, Gary. Brians Return. New York, NY. Mass Market Paperback: May 8 2001.
Reason, Type and Setting: I really like Gary Paulsen and I really like survival books. I really liked reading Hatchet, Brians winter, and The River. But I was eager to get back in to the story of Brian Robeson after finding out that there was yet another story in this excellent series. This book is similar to hatchet but many variables have changed. He is in a different place with lots of wilderness. Also this time he is very prepared this time, also he is there by choice. This book is a survival story.
Plot: Basically there is a boy named Brian Robeson. He is pretty much a survival expert now. He has been living a normal life in New York and has realized that he belongs in nature. So he decides to return to where he belongs 4 the summer. He brings with him a large amount of supplies including a canoe, and bow and arrow, tent, sleeping bag, pots, lighters, etc. He travels along the river by day and makes camp at the shore every night. It is a very exciting story with lots of enteresting problems along the way.
Character: Brian Robeson. He is a now a 17 year old boy. I really don't know what he looks like. I know that in the start of Hatchet he was slightly chubby. But by the end of that book he had become very lean and mean, so i guess that is what he looks like now. He is a very determined person. He is dedicated to survival. I chose him because he is the only character. He is very interesting because he is able to handle problems so well. He can take new situations and adapt to them very easily. I think that It would be extremely hard to survive in the conditions that Brian does. But like always Brian handles it very well and gets out in the end still alive.
Evaluation:
I definitely liked the novel. It was very interesting and entertaining. This story taught me a lot about surviving on the water. Before he had been surviving with a shelter to go home to every night. Now he is living on a canoe basically. He had to make his fires on the shore at night, he had to survive rapids, he had to fish in a moving canoe. So it definitely taught me a lot of new things about survival.
This book is real life. It reminds me that some people in the world today actually have to live like this. Live in caves. Hunt for food. Make your own raft from trees and vines. Make tools themselves. Most people in this situation aren't even lucky enough to have a knife like brian does. It is important to read. You appreciate the life that you live more after reading this book.
I think that I would have done everything the same. Well actually I probably wouldnt have been as smart as Brian. For example, every night brian puts all of his food together and ties it up very high in a tree away from his camp to A) keep the bears away from his campsite. And B) so that the bears cant reach his food. That is very smart, and I never would have thought to do that. I would have had to learn the hard way by having a bear eat all my food.
Author, Context and Trivia:
Gary Paulsen writes a lot of survival books. I have read two about Brian Robeson being a survivor from a plane crash in Canada and another about a boy who fights in the civil war. All of these stories were really good. This book is similar but very different. But I would definetley say that they were all very good. I would definitely read this author again, he is becoming one of my new favorites. If I find anymore in this series I will read them.
