Survival of the Most Well-Read

Did you know that May 17th is author Gary Paulsen's birthday?

Happy 77th Birthday, Mr. Paulsen!

Among his expansive list of works, Gary Paulsen wrote one of my favorite childhood reads, Hatchet, along its motley set of sequels . As a kid who grew up in a peaceful suburb with very watchful parents, Brian Robeson's weeks in the woods trying to scrape survival out of the Canadian wilderness were an escapist heaven into which I retreated with enthusiasm. I would mentally file away Brian's survival tactics, then daydream for hours about my own chances of survival should I suddenly find myself stranded in the woods...let's be honest; I still do this. It's at least half the reason why I carry around a Swiss army knife. Hatchet isn't the only story that presents us with heroes of survival- there are so many! Julie of the Wolves, Island of the Blue Dolphins, The Hunger Games, The Sign of the Beaver, the first book in The Boxcar Children, Homecoming - the list goes on! Homecoming was another particular favorite of mine, and one of the few children's/YA survival stories to emphasize the importance of budgeting as a survival skill! What are some of your favorite survival stories, and what did you learn from them? Tell us in the comments!


If you need some inspiration, here are the ladies of Thing I Learned In YA learning how to survive the apocalypse by roughing it in the wilderness. Good thing they brought their books!