I have not yet started the Nicholas Sparks books, but I have been reading Brian's Winter by: Gary Paulsen.   It is about a teenage boy who has been trapped in the woods for a whole summer after the plane he was supposed to take to his father's house went down in the middle of the woods because of the heart attack the pilot had.  All of the boy's, Brian's, summer was in the of the first book in the series, Hatchet.  The story of how the boy survives starts in late August when Brian starts noticing the signs that winter is coming, and fast.  He prepares by winter-proofing his shelter and clothes using the skins of animals he has killed to stay alive, and clay from the nearby lake.  So far, Brian has survived using his wits and prior knowledge to get him through, but can he make it to the next spring?  I think that a reader who would enjoy this book are people who are familiar with the outdoors and/or someone who is into action or survival stories.  I would give this book a 3 out of 5 because it has interesting and authentic writing, and I like that at the end of most chapters the author foreshadows what will happen to Brian. 
   The most important line from chapter 7 is, "Later, he would think on how strange things were.  He would never see the bear again and inside the shelter he would never be threatened again.  Yet the lance would save his life." (Paulsen 63) .  This line is a very important line in the book because it foreshadows Brian's next experiences.  It tells us that in the future, Brian will face danger and the lance will be used in someway to save him from that danger.  It also tells us that he would not see the bear again, so we should not expect another bear attack.  Lastly, it tells us that Brian's little shelter will not be threatened so we should expect peace when Brian is in the shelter.  This advances the plot line because it shows us what to expect in the rest of the book and also what not to expect, so Paulsen will have to use other obstacles to show Brian's hopelessness of getting out of this situation.  It also advances the plot line because it is a transition into when Brian has to use the lance to save his life. 


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