on the other side of the hatchet/island of the blue dolphins spectrum is this book. its not about the necessity of living in the wilderness, but more of a baby-walden choosing to live in the woods, with the pompous philosophy stripped away. its exciting to learn about the ways people can compensate for the privations this kind of living imposes, but knowing he can, say, go to the library any time he wants to kind of undermines any tension this book could have. its a fun read, and has several useful facts and things to remember like proper ventilation when you are living in a tree trunk, and i can see how little boys would totally dig it. but whats with that ending?? i just say no to that.