72 pages • 2 hours read
Gary PaulsenA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
“No, not secrets so much as just the Secret. What he knew and had not told anybody, what he knew about his mother that had caused the divorce, what he knew, what he knew—the Secret.”
Brian is deeply disturbed by the knowledge of his mother’s affair and devastated by his parents’ divorce. He witnesses his mother kissing a strange man and never tells anyone. He assumes this must be the cause of his parent’s divorce. The images of his mother kissing another man haunt him, even after the plane crash.
“All of flying is easy. Just takes learning. Like everything else.”
The pilot’s words foreshadow Brian’s experience in the wilderness. Something that initially seems impossible to Brian becomes easy once he has learned enough about it. Much like flying, surviving becomes easy once he acquires enough knowledge and practice.
“Brian had once had an English teacher, a guy named Perpich, who was always talking about being positive, thinking positive, staying on top of things.”
After Brian remembers his English teacher and his lessons on positive thinking, he focuses on what he has rather than what he’s lost. He makes sure to keep busy and forward focused. As long as he stays occupied with tasks like making shelter and finding food, he is much better off, as such diligence staves off hopelessness and despair.
By Gary Paulsen
Brian's Hunt
Brian's Hunt
Gary Paulsen
Brian's Return
Brian's Return
Gary Paulsen
Brian's Winter
Brian's Winter
Gary Paulsen
Canyons
Canyons
Gary Paulsen
Dogsong
Dogsong
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Guts
Guts: The True Stories Behind Hatchet and the Brian Books
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Harris and Me
Harris and Me: A Summer Remembered
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How Angel Peterson Got His Name
How Angel Peterson Got His Name
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Lawn Boy
Lawn Boy
Gary Paulsen
Liar, Liar
Liar, Liar
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Masters of Disaster
Masters of Disaster
Gary Paulsen
My Life in Dog Years
My Life in Dog Years
Gary Paulsen
Nightjohn
Nightjohn
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Northwind
Northwind
Gary Paulsen
Soldiers Heart
Soldiers Heart: Being the Story of the Enlistment and Due Service of the Boy Charley Goddard in the First Minnesota Volunteers
Gary Paulsen
The Crossing
The Crossing
Gary Paulsen
The Monument
The Monument
Gary Paulsen
The River
The River
Gary Paulsen
The Transall Saga
The Transall Saga
Gary Paulsen
The Voyage of the Frog
The Voyage of the Frog
Gary Paulsen