The Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

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  • March 15, 2009 at 8:03 pm
    csmamma
    Participant

    Has anyone read The Hatchet by Gary Paulsen?

    This book was recommended for my son to read by some other fellow-homeschoolers in our area. It looks like a really exciting book for boys. However, I read some reviews on amazon and one of them caused me to caution. Seems that there are some moral issues such as the main character trying to commit suicide, having to keep a secret from his father about his mother having an affair, poor relationship models etc…….

    With that said, I thought I’d check with my trusted friends at SCM. 🙂

    Thanks & Blessings,

    Heather

    March 15, 2009 at 11:54 pm
    Misty
    Participant

    Heather, I don’t know my son is reading that right now (also a recommendation by a nother mom) and he narrates it to me every chapter and I haven’t found anything ?? Also, we have listened to the sequels to this on tape and not had any problems. So I guess for me it’s been not a problem? But I didn’t read it first to say what he might not be getting from this. He’s 10 and I wouldn’t say a awesome reader but a good one for his age.

    Hope that helps

    Misty

    March 16, 2009 at 1:26 pm
    Bookworm
    Participant

    I really recommend caution with these. I have not read any of them all the way through, but did take several minutes one day at the library to thumb through several, and I decided they were not right for my family. It’s hard to tell someone else what to do–perhaps you could page through a copy yourself. You know your children best, Heather. But I’d be careful and at least look it over yourself first.

    Michelle D

    March 16, 2009 at 8:49 pm
    Eglantine
    Member

    Hi Heather. I do remember that he had to keep a secret from his dad that his mom was having an affair. I was disappointed in it. It could have been a good story but I found too many objectionable things.

    June 1, 2009 at 2:20 am
    HeidiS
    Participant

    My son and I were reading this and we too, stopped. Great story idea but we found many objectionable spots and he was uncomfortable reading further. That was when he was 10 or 11. It has some curse words in it, and situations I didn’t think necessary to tell the story. We passed on it, and he has picked it up again now that he is 14, read a few pages, put it down and said “oh, yeah, now I remember why we didn’t finish that book”. I preferred Lost in the Barrens, and My Side of the Mountain for our family.

    Heidi

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