Brian's Return [Mass Market Paperback]

Gary Paulsen (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 8, 2001

As millions of readers of Hatchet, The River, and Brian's Winter know, Brian Robeson survived alone in the wilderness by finding solutions to extraordinary challenges. But now that's he's back in civilization, he can't find a way to make sense of high school life. He feels disconnected, more isolated than he did alone in the North. The only answer is to return-to "go back in"-for only in the wilderness can Brian discover his true path in life, and where he belongs.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A deer in his canoe, a bear attack, a leg stabbed with an arrowhead--it's just another week in the life of 16-year-old Brian Robeson. In his opinion, this beats a date at Mackey's Pizza Den, a fight with a bully, and a video game at the mall any day. After having survived a plane crash and 54 days in the Canadian wilderness several years earlier, Brian can't seem to fit into "civilization." The world of high school and family life makes no sense anymore. So Brian begins to plan. It's time to return to the woods. This time, though, he makes no plans to come back home.

Gary Paulsen, the popular author of many critically acclaimed books for young people and winner of the 1997 Margaret A. Edward Award, has written another sequel to the Newbery Honor Book Hatchet. (The River and Brian's Winter were earlier sequels.) Paulsen's graphic and detailed descriptions of Brian's adventures demonstrate a deep familiarity and connection to the wilderness; and in fact the author has spent much of his life in the bush, living almost entirely off the land. Brian's experiences in nature parallel his growing independence and maturity; readers who don't feel like they "fit in" will easily relate to the young protagonist's search for identity and purity. (Ages 11 and older) --Emilie Coulter --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

The appearance of yet another sequel to Hatchet may raise a few eyebrows, but Paulsen delivers a vigorous, stirring story that stands on its own merits. Whereas the previous continuations, The River and Brian's Winter, essentially offer more of the same survivalist thrills that have made Hatchet so popular, this novel goes further, posing a more profound question: How does someone go from living on the edge to polite membership in ordinary society? (Paulsen addresses the same theme, albeit more grimly, in his Civil War novel Soldier's Heart.) Here, Brian has returned to his mother's house and can barely reconcile the seemingly arbitrary demands of high school with the life-or-death challenges he surmounted during his months alone in the wilderness. With the aid of a counselor, Brian formulates what had been an almost instinctual, unacknowledged plan to revisit the bush, and this solo trip, not his interlude with his mother, marks the true "return" of the title. The few cliff-hangers are almost beside the point: the great adventure here is the embrace of the wild, the knowledge of life at its most elemental. Aside from its occasional use of YA conventions (e.g., the preternaturally sensitive counselor; jejune rhapsodies over the relevance of Shakespeare), this work is bold, confident and persuasive, its transcendental themes powerfully seductive. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf; Reprint edition (May 8, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440413796
• ISBN-13: 978-0440413790
• Product Dimensions: 4.9 x 0.4 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (111 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #329,998 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gary Paulsen is one of the most honored writers of contemporary literature for young readers. He has written more than one hundred book for adults and young readers, and is the author of three Newberry Honor titles: Dogsong, Hatchet, and The Winter Room. He divides his time among Alaska, New Mexico, Minnesota, and the Pacific.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#44 in Books > Teens

#44 in Books > Teens

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Really Great Book! Medford, Massachussetts August 5, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I think Brian's Return is a great book. If you have read Hatchet, The River, and Brian's Winter (like I have) then you will understand the story better 'cause you probably wouldn't really understand it if you haven't read at least one of those three books that came before this one. This time, Brian is back at home and he can't seem to adjust to his formal life at home. After he gets into a huge fight with this kid who is jelous of him and gets arrested for it, he decides that the best place for him is back in the woods and so he goes back there. This time, Brian is prepared and he is used to the way the woods is so he can survive. I think this book is awesome and if you have read Hatchet, The River, and Brian's Winter and liked those books, then I can gaurentee that you will like Brian's Return! Even if you haven't read those books but have read other books by Gary Paulsen then you should get this book!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Brian's Return January 14, 2000

By Laura Woodbeck

Format:Hardcover

I liked it when Brian was on his first day back in the woods. He saw a Whitetailed doe come to the lake and drink from it. I can just imagine that scene in my head. I didn't like parts of the book when he was in the woods because it was sort of like the other books about Brian. I would reccomend this book to kids who have read the other Brian books and want to read more about Brian and to kids who are fans of Gary Paulsen's other books.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The third and best sequel to Hatchet May 17, 2001

By Robert W. Kalteux

Format:Hardcover

Brian's Return, by Gary Paulsen, is an adventure/survival book about Brian's long-awaited return to the Canadian woods written by Paulsen, a three time Newberry Honor award winner. The story begins with Brian, a 16 year old boy trying to live a normal life. The hard part for him is, he spent 48 days in the Canadian woods after his pilot had a heart attack and it changed his perspective on life. He can't find joy in having his food put right in front of him, or talking about who was going out with whom. After beating up a football player, he sees a counselor named Caleb. Caleb listens to his beautiful descriptions, and tells Brian that the answer was to go back up into the wilderness. He creates a list and a plan for a hundred mile kayak trip to eventually visit the Smallhorns, who rescued him in Brian's Winter. Brian goes through yet another action packed wilderness experience in Brian's Return. This book would be a little hard for young kids to find the true meaning of, so ages 11 and up would be a good reccomended age. Anyone who enjoyed Hatchet and its other sequels will enjoy this book.