Andrew Shoemaker

“It was a strange feeling, holding the rifle. It somehow removed him from everything around him. Without the rifle he had to fit in, to be part of it all, to understand it and use it - the woods, all of it. With the rifle, suddenly, he didn't have to know, did not have to be afraid or understand. He didn't have to get close to a foolbird to kill it - didn't have to know how it would stand if he didn't look at it and moved off to the side.
The rifle changed him, the minute he picked it up, and he wasn't sure he liked the change much.”
― Gary Paulsen, Hatchet

“Things seemed to go back and forth between reality and imagination--except that it was all reality.”
― Gary Paulsen, Hatchet

“And the last thought he had that morning as he closed his eyes was: I hope the tornado hit the moose.”
― Gary Paulsen, Hatchet

“The burning eyes did not come back, but memories did, came flooding in. The words. Always the words. Divorce.”
― Gary Paulsen, Hatchet