Book Review - Hatchet and How Angel Peterson Got His Name by Gary Paulsen

Somehow I made it through Jr. High and Highschool with out having to read Hatchet. My book club chose to read it for our August book selection and I loved it! It's the story of a 13 year old boy who finds himself stranded in the wilderness with nothing but a small hatchet, and the experiences he has there. Everytime I tried to put myself in his shoes, to think about how I would react to the situations he found himself in, the answer was always the same.
I would have POOPED my pants!
Plain and simple. I couldn't have done it. This was a quick read that really got to me. I bawled several times, I couldn't help it. I highly recommend this book.
One night before bed, when I was about 3/4 of the way through the book I started telling Sam the story. He was stuck on every word. And then he had to go to bed without the end of the story. I finished it that night and the next day he reminded me before 8am to tell him the rest of the story. I'm thinking about buying it so I can read it to him and then I can read it again every year. My list of books to read once a year is getting long.
The more I write these reviews, the more I realize that I crave likable characters. I like most books and the ones that don't get good reviews from me are the ones where I didn't like the main characters. I want to read about characters that I can relate to in some way. This is not to say they need to be a 30ish mother of one who works to help support her family and feels the frustration of not being able to sit at home and read all day, everyday. I mean, who wants to read about that? (Thanks for reading my blog anyway.) I'm talking about identifying with characters on a human level - the good natured side of human. And when I read books with those kinds of people in them I usually enjoy it. And then I miss them when I'm done with the book... Freaky, I know.