The River

Rating:
Summary: A riviting sequal to Hatchet!
Review: "Do it again!" That is what Brian heard only a few monthes after returning from the Canadian wilderness. Although another adult goes with him ,Derek (the other adult) is soon in struck by lightning and is put in coma! The radio was also struck and is dead! The only thing Brian has is a knife,and not the hatchet. See how Brian saves Derek's life and still manages to stay alive! It is another true story by Gary Paulson. Collin Fultz, age 11.

Rating:
Summary: "We want you to do it again"
Review: The sequel of the miraculous book "Hatchet",known as "The River", by Gary Paulsen,is based on a story about a 15-year old boy named Brian Robeson.He faced 54 days alone in the woods with nothing but a hatchet two years ago because of a plane crash. But fortuanatly, he was recued at the end of summer. Now a young govorment psychologist named Derek Holtzer persuades him to go into the woods again so Derek can learn his survival techniques. Brian and his mother agreed, so soon enough, he was heading toword the woods next to a lake similar to the one he had been at two years ago. For the first few days everything was going fine, but later, during a terrible storm, Derek is struck by lightning and falls into a coma, while the radio is dead.Brian soon learns that Derek will die of thirst unless Brian can get him medical help 100 miles down the river. Brian builds a raft to try carry Derek and him across the river, but will Brian be able to save Derek in time? Read the book to find out. Overall, I think the book was pretty good, but not exactly great. The reason it's not terrific because it's a bit boring and I'm not that into survival stories anyway. But remember, that's my opinion. I think the book would be great for children around the age 9 who like danger and survival stories because the book is about how Brian shows how he survives to the wilderness and the reading level is meant is for these students. If you like "The River" you can read "Hatchet" or "Brian's Winter", a companion to both of these books. I hope you enjoy reading these books!

Rating:
Summary: Gary Paulsen's The River
Review: Gary Paulsen The River, May 28, 2002
This book is the sequel to The Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Two years ago, Brian Robeson was stranded alone in the wild when his plane crashed. He survived for about fifty days with only a small hatchet. In this book, the government wants Brian to show them what he did to survive in the wild. The government wants to use those skills and teach the military and other government branches the same survival skills that he used. At first, he seems relecuctant to go but later decides to show the government what he did because he knows that his skills could save lives. This time, Derek Holtzer, a psychologist, will accompany him to record all his daily activities. They go a few days with no trouble at all until a storm hits. Derek is hit by a lightning bolt that puts him in a coma and knocks out the radio. Brian must decide if he will stay and wait for help or build a raft and try to ride the river for over a hundred miles to a trading post. They have a map but that may be inaccurate. I thought this book was very good. The only things I didn1t like about it were that the first 25 pages were pretty slow and this book is only a hundred and thirty pages long making it a pretty short read. This book is filled with action making you not want to put the book down once you pick it up. Gary Paulsen does an excellent job in describing what it takes to survive out in the wilderness. I recommend that you read The Hatchet first to get a feel for Brian's personality. I gave this book four and a half stars out of five because I think Gary Paulsen could have made this book longer.

Rating:
Summary: The River
Review: The river
By: Gary Paulsen
Review By: Cole Lundgren

The river is a sequel to the book, Hatchet. In this book Brian Robeson is asked by the government to go back and do the same thing he did in Hatchet. They wanted to have Brian go out in the middle of the forest with Derek Holtzer. Derek was a psychologist that was going to go with Brian and take notes on what he did to survive. Then Derek was going to re-teach these methods to people.
Of course when Brian got asked this he was a little skeptical if he wanted to go or not. His mom didn't really want him to go because she thought it would be dangerous. They had planned to bring pretty much everything besides the kitchen sink. His mom approved on letting Brian go on this adventure.
They set off to the lake that they had picked out. It was a big lake with a river flowing out of it. Brian was a little nervous of being in a plane again. The last time he was in a plane it crashed and he was stranded. This time he would just get dropped off in the woods. When Brian and Derek got to the lake Brian realized something. He realized that it just wouldn't be the same. If they had just about everything they needed it just wouldn't be the same. Brian told Derek that they needed to leave everything. Derek agreed with Brian. The only thing they kept was a radio for emergencies.
As soon as the plane left they set off around the lake searching for things to eat, make fire with, and a nice shelter. They found a nice shelter that was near the lake. It was an old tree that had grown into a hill and it left an overhang. They thought it would be perfect. The first night there they didn't have a fire. They got ate alive by mosquitos. Brian asked himself why he was living through this hell again. Then he thought of all the people he would be helping by doing this. The second day they found a great amount of food, and got a fire going. That night the sky was clear but Brian could hear off in the distance some rumbling. He realized it was going to rain.
While they were sleeping a huge CRACK woke Brian and Derek up! It was right on top of them. The lightning was striking all around them. Derek reached up to get the radio and at that instant he was stuck by lightning. It sent him into an instant coma.
Brian is thinking of what he is going to do. The radio was burned out because the lightning hit that too. The day before Derek had checked in on the radio and they said that they would only check in once a week. They had 6 more days to wait before anyone would even know that they were in trouble.
Brian then decides to make a raft and go take Derek down the river. The raft is made out of big logs that the beavers had cut perfectly for him.
Brian had to make it down the river in 2, or 3 days before Derek would get dehydrated. There are many obstacles on the way. If you want to see if they make it down the river with Derek still alive you will have to read this book and find out.

"That's exactly it. We have trouble. That's what this is all about. You want to learn, but if you have all that backup, it's just more games. It's not real. You wouldn't have that if the situation were real, would you?
-This is a quote from Brian. He is talking to Derek about leaving all the stuff on the plane. He is saying that if they had all of it the trip would be pointless and they wouldn't learn anything.

Characters
Brian- Brian is a smart athletic boy. He is about 15 years old. He has great common sense, and can react fast in critical situations.

Derek- Derek is a psychologist. He is in about his young 30's. He is not very athletic and he doesn't have the greatest common sense ever.

Pilot- The pilot is a young kid about in his 20's. When he is flying the plane it soothed Brian because he realized that he wouldn't have a heart attack like what happened in Hatchet.

Mom- Brian's mom is a nice woman who cares a lot for Brian. She doesn't really want to see Brian go on this adventure.


I think Gary Paulsen did a great job writing this book. I love reading his books about Brian being in the wilderness. They are all well written and they all go together with each other. I think this is my favorite book of his I have read yet.

If you like reading books about the wilderness and adventure this is the perfect book for you. I would suggest reading Hatchet before you read this book.

I felt The River was a very good book. Gary Paulsen did an excellent job at writing it. I love reading all of his books. So far this one is my favorite. It is a great adventure that I would suggest anyone to read.


Rating:
Summary: Gary Paulsen can write better than this.
Review: The first book that I read by Gary Paulsen was Hatchet. I liked that book very much, so when more books came out in the series, I got them. Brian's Winter is good, but could have been better. The River is pathetic. It is a survival story that has the people out for less than a week in an area with a lot of wild berries and fish. Give me a break! Not only that, but almost everything that can go wrong does go wrong. This is not the kind of book that I like reading.

Rating:
Summary: Never failed to suprise me
Review: to the last chapter. Now, I knew from the past books I have read by the same author that this one was going be on the theme of "man is so mighty that he can survive all the worst of Nature with a capital N", but I must say, it started out good enough. But when they got to freak lightning comas and stuff, it just sort of, well, flopped. I'm sorry, but the part with the 'waterfall', it...uh well I suppose you could say it sank.

No, I wouldn't recommend it. Don't bother wasting your time, unless you enjoy sop stories of Super-Nature Heroisim. I mean, it gets old. You hear one chapter and it's the same old deal.

Megan K.

Rating:
Summary: The River
Review: This book was not as good as The Hatchet. I think that the reason for this is because Brian had to save some guy Derek, who had been knocked out by lightning. Most of this book talked about Brian taking care of Derek. Even the ending was bad, the docters said that Derek would have been fine for another week.

Rating:
Summary: This book was the BEST!
Review: As Brian would say" the time"(when he was at the woods and river) was exciting and had a lot of action. New and exciting things kept on coming. You couldn't put this book down. The main characters Brian and Derek, had one rough time out there in the wild when it became stormy. The problem when it gets stormy is when Derek gets struck by lightning. He could die if Brian doesn't help. He has to get him to safety and people's aid right away. Luckily he has a map and sees a post office. Brian is Derek's only hope.
People of all ages would love to read this action/suspense book. It is full of intense detail. There is so much detail that you can practically imagine yourself there. The River is even better than The Hatchet. How does Gary do it? This book is even more suspenseful than The Hatchet. The author also uses great metaphors.
After I finished the book I didn't want it to be over. You should read this book in long periods of time.

Rating:
Summary: The River
Review: I am a teacher who feels this is an excellent book. I had never heard the first book in this series, The Hatchet, before reading this book. If this is the only book available to you, there is absolutely no problem with starting here, as the essentials from the previous book are mentioned here for the reader.

This is a great book about a boy coming of age, by coming to rely on himself. Having recovered from a plane crash and survival in the wilderness, he is asked to do it all again, for the sake of survival training experts. All goes well at first until the adult with him is hit by lightning and goes into a coma. He uses all his skills to deal with the new emergency situation, in which is responsible not only for himself, but for another, as well.

I recommend this book for mature sixth-grade readers, and on up to adult. It was such an enjoyable book that I read it in a single sitting, of about two hours.