Life of Pi by Yann Martel is a captivating tale that follows the journey of Pi Patel, a young Indian boy who survives a shipwreck and finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. As Pi struggles for survival in the vast and unforgiving ocean, he grapples with his faith, identity, and the power of storytelling.
Hatchet is a novel by Gary Paulsen that is a descriptive look at a near-death survival situation and explores feelings of loneliness, though being more descriptive about the main character’s (Brian) mode of survival. The book takes place in the Canadian frontier wilderness where Brian crashes after the pilot of the small Cessna that is driving him to see his divorced father crashes. Armed with only a hatchet, he must carve up a living alone in the wilderness.
Thunderhead is a young-adult dystopian novel. It is the second book in the Arc of a Scythe trilogy by Neal Shusterman. After Citra’s victory at the end of the first novel, she is now a junior scythe under Scythe Curie. Now faced with the corruption infiltrating the scythedom, Citra is forced to take desperate measures to fight against the dangers in the system. Meanwhile, Rowan is dealing with the corruption in his own way, putting dishonorable scythes through his own trials.
