My favorite childhood pastime was playing in the acre of woods behind our house and pretending to survive in the
wilderness. I dug up the roots of Queen Anne's Lace for wild carrot soup, gathered goldenrod
for seasoning, and baked mud dishes in the sun. Of course, now I know that I would have become violently ill if I had actually eaten the roots of
Queen Anne's Lace. While I like to think I would
survive in the wilderness, I realize I still only have the knowledge of a six-year-old
digging up poisonous wild carrots.
Perhaps
this lack of knowledge is what fueled my interest in survival stories. I
wanted to believe that reading these stories would teach me survival skills. So this week I'm recommending two fictional survival stories
that provide survival tips for other adventurous readers.
Hatchet
by
Gary Paulson: Grades 6-9
Hatchet is a nerve-wracking story, which is
why I’ve read it more than once. Survival stories always evoke feelings of
anxiety; the reader needs to know if characters manage to
build a fire before nightfall or catch a fish
before they starve. Brian’s
story has this anxiety and sense of danger, as he has to survive a tornado and animal attacks (Canadian moose are surprisingly combative).
While I still don’t think I could build a fire or fish, I gained a vague sense of how to do them through Hatchet. I also like that Hatchet
focuses on the emotional trauma of being lost in the wilderness in addition to the
physical trauma.
One necessary survival step shown in the book occurs when Brian says that “the most important rule of survival” is that “feeling sorry for yourself didn’t work.” This is an important rule according to Alderleaf Wilderness College, as the college's first survival step is to make a plan and to avoid panicking. If a person creates a plan, this creates a logical series of steps to accomplish rather than panicking over the enormous task of general survival.
One necessary survival step shown in the book occurs when Brian says that “the most important rule of survival” is that “feeling sorry for yourself didn’t work.” This is an important rule according to Alderleaf Wilderness College, as the college's first survival step is to make a plan and to avoid panicking. If a person creates a plan, this creates a logical series of steps to accomplish rather than panicking over the enormous task of general survival.
My
Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George: Grades 5-8
Summary: Teenage Sam Gribley is tired of living in New York City, so he runs away to his grandfather’s abandoned farm in the mountains. There, Sam “sets up house in a huge hollowed-out tree, with a falcon and weasel for companions and his wits as his tool for survival.”
While
My Side of the Mountain is a survival
story, it’s different from Hatchet.
Sam chooses to live in the wilderness, which means the book focuses more on the
beauty of nature than the dangers. While Sam does deal with natural disasters
such as blizzards, the reader is aware that Sam can walk off the mountain at any
moment and go back to civilization. Because of this, Sam’s story more like a
realistic version of the survival game I played in my woods, rather than a
nerve-wracking story like Hatchet.
Sam has to learn basic survival skills, though, which allows the readers to learn along with him. In fact, an accompanying survival handbook for My Side of the Mountain came out a decade ago. Both the My Side of the Mountain book and handbook cover the basic skills that Alderleaf Wilderness College lists, such as making a clear plan, building a shelter, and finding fresh water. These skills may seem simple, but if people never learn them they may discover their lack of knowledge too late.
 |
| Drawing of Sam in the book. |
Sam has to learn basic survival skills, though, which allows the readers to learn along with him. In fact, an accompanying survival handbook for My Side of the Mountain came out a decade ago. Both the My Side of the Mountain book and handbook cover the basic skills that Alderleaf Wilderness College lists, such as making a clear plan, building a shelter, and finding fresh water. These skills may seem simple, but if people never learn them they may discover their lack of knowledge too late.
My last two book recommendations also include survival strategies.
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell: Grades 6-8
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George: Grades 5-8
When I was thinking about survival novels, Island of the Blue Dolphin came into mind. I love dolphins, which is why I initially picked up this book, but dolphins do not feature prominently in this book. Do not be fooled by the title. I loved reading about a girl who decided to sacrifice a more comfortable life style to stay with her brother, who missed the boat that was going to save them. It turns out, though, that her brother dies early in the book, and the main character is left by herself. This story is tragic, but it left me with a sense that women can do anything if they put their minds to it.
ReplyDeleteThe title of Island of the Blue Dolphins is deceiving. I can’t remember a single dolphin in the book, just the wild dogs she befriends. I agree the book leaves you with a sense of empowerment, as the main character is extremely capable in surviving. She also survives for years (I think about a decade or longer?), whereas other male characters in survival stories only have to survive for less than a year. I also found the book interesting because it’s based on the true story of a woman who survived alone on an island for 18 years. The real woman’s story is fascinating, and a JSTOR article compared her story to a female version of Robin Crusoe. Though there weren’t cannibals on her island, just wild dogs.
Deletehttps://daily.jstor.org/juana-maria-blue-dolphins/
The only book on this post I've heard of is HATCHET. I had to read this book in 5th or 6th grade, and I too remember being shocked that Brian lived through his encounter. What I remember most about the book however, is the scene near the beginning where the pilot has a heart attack. I think I've been scarred for life on the symptoms or signs of a heart attack. I remember after reading the book, I kept asking my dad how his arms felt.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a good book for children to read because it can teach them life lessons about survival and perseverance while allowing them to experience an adventure story. I think another book to consider would be THE HUNGER GAMES.
Well, at least we know how to tell when someone is having a heart attack. Though it would have been nice if Hatchet had also included a CPR attempt. I think I was more scarred when Brian dives into the lake and finds the pilot’s body, as this is always the part I remember rather than when the pilot dies.
DeleteI’ve never thought of The Hunger Games being a survival story, as it’s more about people trying to kill each other. But I can see that there are wilderness survival aspects in the book, especially because in The Hunger Games Katniss has to find water, hunt, and know which plants/berries are poisonous. Katniss also has to have a tough mentality, and this mindset is something that appears in all survival stories.