In My Side of the Mountain, young Sam Gribley chooses to leave his city life behind. He heads to the Catskill Mountains to survive independently and relies only on what nature provides. Sam learns essential skills such as hunting, fishing, and shelter-building.
He even befriends a peregrine falcon. Much like Brian in Hatchet, Sam becomes resourceful and self-reliant through trial and error. As he gets closer to nature, Sam faces challenges that test his resilience and determination, changing his outlook on life and independence.
Island of the Blue Dolphins presents Karana's powerful story. She is a Native American girl who finds herself stranded alone on an island off California for many years. Accustomed to living with family and community, she now faces solitude.
She must learn to build shelter, gather food, and defend herself from wild animals. Karana's journey transforms her as she adapts, finding strength and courage within herself.
Her story invites readers into a unique experience of wilderness survival and personal growth, echoing the themes of survival and self-discovery seen in Hatchet.
In The Cay, young Phillip and elderly Timothy become shipwrecked on a remote Caribbean island during World War II. Phillip goes blind from injury, making survival even more challenging. He must rely greatly on Timothy, despite initial prejudice and mistrust.
Like Brian's solo struggle in Hatchet, Phillip and Timothy face dangerous elements and threats of nature. Together, they build shelters, find food and water, and gradually form a deep bond.
Phillip's changing perspective on reliance, friendship, and bravery makes this novel compelling and insightful.
Julie, a teenage Eskimo girl, becomes lost on the Alaskan tundra in Julie of the Wolves. To survive, she observes and learns from a pack of wolves, adapting their ways of communication and hunting.
Her relationship with the wolf pack provides a fascinating look into animal behavior and instinct. Like Hatchet, Julie's survival hinges on her willingness to learn from nature.
As she struggles physically and emotionally in the harsh Arctic climate, Julie undergoes a transformation that highlights her inner strength and survival instincts, captivating readers with her determination.
Jack London's famous Call of the Wild takes a unique perspective on wilderness survival: that of a dog named Buck. His comfortable domestic life ends when he is kidnapped and shipped to Alaska during the harshness of the Klondike Gold Rush.
Buck must adapt rapidly to a cruel and rugged world, relying on primal instincts to survive. Like Hatchet, Buck's adventure pushes him to discover his strength and true self.
London's vivid portrayal of instincts and survival challenges testifies to resilience, much as Brian faces in Paulsen's story.
As a sequel to Hatchet, The River brings Brian Robeson back into the wilderness he once fought so hard to escape from. This time he is not alone—an adult companion accompanies him. Yet circumstances quickly turn dire, and Brian must again rely on his survival skills.
Familiar dangers challenge him once more. Fans of Hatchet will appreciate seeing Brian's increased maturity and confidence, though he must again confront the unknown. This thrilling return to wilderness survival reflects Brian's growth and his unending challenge with nature.
In this alternate sequel to Hatchet, Gary Paulsen explores an intriguing twist—what if Brian's Winter hadn't been rescued before winter arrived? Facing harsh winter conditions without proper supplies, Brian must reassess his survival strategy.
He learns to forge tools, improve his shelter, and hunt in freezing conditions. The snowy landscape poses new threats and demands deeper courage.
Readers familiar with Hatchet see an intensified challenge here, as Brian pushes himself to new levels of ingenuity and perseverance in order to survive the bitter winter wilderness.
Lord of the Flies examines survival differently, taking a darker and more psychological route. When British schoolboys become stranded on an isolated island without adult supervision, attempts at cooperation eventually crumble into chaos and violence.
Unlike Brian's isolated survival in Hatchet, this novel studies the breakdown of order, civility, and humanity. While focused on social dynamics, the boys' struggle for survival and the descent into savagery makes for tense reading.
Golding vividly illustrates how dangerous instincts emerge and shape behavior when resources vanish and authority collapses.
In The Martian, astronaut Mark Watney becomes stranded alone on Mars, forced to use science, ingenuity, and sheer determination to survive. Every day presents new problems he must solve, from creating oxygen to cultivating food.
Watney's endless resourcefulness mirrors the challenges Brian faces surviving solo in the wilderness.
Although set in a distant future and location, the themes of isolation, perseverance, and courage will resonate with fans of Hatchet, drawing readers into a gripping struggle for survival against overwhelming odds.
Life of PiPi, finds himself shipwrecked and drifting in the ocean aboard a small lifeboat. His daunting company is a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.
To survive, Pi constantly adapts, creating boundaries and strategies for dwelling safely alongside the deadly animal. Their tense coexistence and Pi's struggle against harsh realities recall the solitary intensity found in Hatchet.
Readers follow Pi's incredible journey, experiencing the ever-present danger and resourcefulness required to sustain his life under impossible circumstances out at sea.
Classic survival novel Robinson Crusoe follows Crusoe stranded alone on an island for twenty-eight years. Crusoe learns survival skills, domesticates animals, and salvages items from shipwrecks to help sustain himself.
Defoe presents Crusoe carefully planning, organizing, and overcoming isolation entirely on his own. Similar to Brian's experiences in Hatchet, Crusoe's challenges require ingenuity and self-sufficiency, revealing his evolving ingenuity and strength of character.
Crusoe's practical approach to survival and resourcefulness makes this an engaging read and foundation piece within this genre.
Into the Wild tells the true, haunting story of Chris McCandless, whose journey in search of freedom leads him to the Alaskan wilderness. Krakauer narrates McCandless's vision and subsequent tragedy clearly, combining personal stories, diary entries, and interviews.
It portrays survival realistically—sometimes grimly—providing honest accounts of the wilderness's harshness.
While different from the fictional narrative of Hatchet, its authentic exploration of youthful idealism, isolation, and nature's unforgiving reality is captivating and thought-provoking.
Joe Simpson's nonfiction Touching the Void captures an intense survival situation in the Peruvian Andes. After a disastrous climbing accident, Joe faces impossible odds alone, severely injured, and far from rescue.
Readers endure every terrifying moment alongside Joe as he draws upon mental strength and determination to survive. The harshness and isolation mirror Brian's ordeal in Hatchet, though their environments and details differ greatly.
Simpson's detailed descriptions create a powerful, authentic survival story, highlighting physical and emotional resilience beyond limits.
Suzanne Collins' dystopian The Hunger Games centers on teen tributes forced into an arena to fight until one survivor remains. The harsh wilderness tests contestants' physical skill and cunning constantly.
The heroine, Katniss Everdeen, demonstrates exceptional wilderness survival abilities, resourcefulness, and resilience. Like Brian in Hatchet, Katniss navigates deadly terrain facing life-threatening challenges.
Although action-packed, The Hunger Games portrays isolation and survival in a way fans of Hatchet will appreciate, exploring themes of strength, endurance, and determination.
A Cry in the Wild is a faithful film adaptation of Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, maintaining close details and events found in the novel. It vividly captures Brian Robeson's ordeal, from the plane crash to the daunting task of wilderness survival.
Fans of Hatchet will recognize many memorable scenes and situations they loved in the novel, portrayed authentically onscreen.
This adaptation brings Brian's struggle and courage to life visually, providing a great complement to readers interested in seeing the novel's compelling adventure in movie form.