About 1986, I read a book to my children about a young boy whose parents were divorcing. He was in a plane crash, where the pilot was killed. The thing that makes this book different from Hatchet is that this boy finds an old prospector, or maybe the prospector finds him. The prospector dies before winter is over, but the boy makes it back to civilization by himself. My son really liked this book, but we can't remember the title. We have been sort of looking for years without success. Can anyone help? We would be very grateful.

In the three years since you've asked this question, have you had any luck finding the book? I think I'm looking for the same thing and would love to know the title.

The book Crabbe by William Bell was published a year earlier than Hatchet, and is also about a teenager that has issues with his parents, ends up in the wilderness, struggles to survive, then ends up going to his parents.

I can say definitively that Crabbe is not the book I was hunting for and doesn't fit the description above (no prospector/hermit, the kid crashes as opposed to a runaway, etc). Thanks though.