Hatchet by Gary Paulsen tells the story of thirteen-year-old Brian who is stranded in the wilderness after a plane crash. The only tool he has is a hatchet, given to him by his mother. He must find a way to not only survive in the unknown but also accept the fact of his parents’ divorce. Read to find out if Brian can deal with these difficulties as he looks for ways to keep himself alive.
Refugee by Alan Gratz is a historical fiction novel that focuses on the lives of 3 children who all have one thing in common, seeking refuge in a foreign country. The first character introduced is Josef, a jewish boy living in Germany during the Holocaust. The book follows his journey as he and his family board the MS Saint Louis in an effort to escape Germany and find refuge in Cuba, however things turn for the worse as they are denied entry into Cuba.
The Martian by Andy Weir follows the gripping tale of Mark Watney, an astronaut stranded alone on Mars after a mission gone awry. Believed to be dead by his crew, Watney must employ his resourcefulness, scientific acumen, and a great deal of humor to survive on the unforgiving planet. He engineers innovative solutions to grow food, generate power, and establish communication with Earth, all while grappling with the challenges of isolation and an uncertain future.
Dry by Neal Shusterman is a young adult dystopian novel set in a near-future California ravaged by a severe drought. The story follows the journey of several teenagers and their families as society collapses due to the lack of water. Tensions rise, resources become scarce, and desperation drives people to extremes.
Lord of the Flies is a dystopian fiction novel where the characters are living in a nightmarish, tyrannical society as a result of their naturally poor personalities. This book is written by William Golding who tells the story of a group of young boys who find themselves alone on a deserted island without any adults present. They develop rules, but without any adults on the island to oversee them, the boys eventually become violent and savage-like. The main character in this book is a boy named Ralph, who is elected chief of the island at the beginning of the book.
Rae Carson’s “Any Sign of Life” is a survival story with a heartfelt edge. The novel centers Paige Miller, a skilled teenage basketball player, who becomes extremely sick and passes out. When she wakes up days later, everyone is dead. She’s somehow avoided the arrival of the apocalypse, but now everyone she loves is gone.
Lord of the Flies is a tale of pigs and death, boys and men, and the nature of humans themselves. The story is set on a remote island where a plane’s worth of schoolboys have crash landed while flying to safety during a war. They set up a somewhat ordered society while they wait for rescue, despite the conflicts in leadership and the struggles of staying true to the assigned tasks. But a strange bloodlust seems to take over at times, a dangerous thirst for meat.
