A reader of AICL wrote to ask me about Gary Paulsen's Mr. Tucket. I read a copy of the book via the Internet Archive. Here's my notes, summarized by chapter. Sometimes I put my comments in italics beneath each chapter. This time, you'll find my thoughts on the book in the THOUGHTS at the end of the summary of chapters.
First, though, let's look a bit at Gary Paulsen. He's a prolific author and quite well known for Hatchet and the sequels to it. The Hatchet series is also known as Brian's Saga, because the protagonist is a kid named Brian who survives a plane crash, alone, in the Canadian wilderness. Hatchet was a Newbery Honor Book in 1987.
Published in 1969 by Funk & Wagnalls, I think Mr. Tucket was Paulsen's first book. It, too, is about survival.
CHAPTER SUMMARIES
Protagonist: Francis Alphonse Tucket, age 14
Date: June 13, 1848
Place: Oregon Trail
CHAPTER ONE
Francis's family is part of a wagon train moving from their farm in Missouri. While in Kansas, they'd been worried about Comanche's but all through Kansas, they hadn't seen "a feather--let alone an Indian" (p. 8).
The wagon train is in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Francis receives a rifle for his 14th birthday. He's out practicing, behind the wagon train and out of sight of everyone. He is captured by "six Pawnee men and one older warrior" (p. 9) who are not wearing paint, which he thinks means it is a hunting party. He struggles, they knock him out. He wakes up at their camp where "the ugliest old person" (p. 10) he's ever seen looks down on him. The person, who has a wrinkled face and toothless mouth, smiles down on him.
CHAPTER TWO
The old woman is wife of the old warrior in the hunting party. When Francis wakes, she puts a rope on him and shows him off at each lodge. Boys kick him. He fights the boys, decides it isn't worth it, and smiles at the old woman. She removes the rope. He is attacked by three boys. The fight is stopped by (p. 14):
"a short, wiry Indian with his hair in one braid. At the bottom of the braid there was one feather, hanging straight down. The man wore plain buckskins, unbeaded moccasins, and carried a rifle in his left hand. It was Francis's rifle."
Francis argues with the man. Aiming the rifle between Francis's eyes, the man warns him not to be stupid or insult elders, and walks off.
CHAPTER THREE
Three weeks after being at the camp, Francis learns that "the brave" with his rifle is named Braid and that he is the leader of their war parties. He is not a chief. There are scalps braided across his doorway to his lodge. One morning he led a party of more than 40 warriors out of camp. When they return, Francis sees a blonde scalp and figures the Pawnees had attacked the wagon train with his family. His suspicion is confirmed when Braid throws a china doll at his feet. It is his sister's doll. The council decides to move the village. They travel for ten days to the southern edge of the Black Hills. There, Francis meets a white man who comes to the village: Mr. Jason Grimes.
CHAPTER FOUR
"Squaws" and children crowd around Grimes, who Francis thinks of as a mountain man. He wears fringed buckskin, plain moccasins, and a derby with a long feather sticking straight up from the band. The people in the village prepare a celebration. At night there is a frenzy of dancing. Francis wakes that night with a hand over his mouth. It is Grimes, with a plan for how Francis can get away.
CHAPTER FIVE
Francis takes off on a mare Grimes swiped for him. He rides the mare, loses it, and keeps walking. At dark, he falls asleep.
CHAPTER SIX
Francis wakes to the smell of coffee. Grimes is there. He tells Francis he followed Braid and five or six others as they tried to find him by following the mare's tracks. Having gone upriver without the mare, Francis--now called Mr. Tucket by Grimes--is safe. He learns that Grimes lost his arm after a fight with Braid.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Grimes teaches Mr. Tucket how to use the rifle and be aware of surroundings.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Francis asks Grimes why he is friendly with Pawnees after having lost his arm due to the fight with Braid. Grimes says Pawnee can't help the way they are, that nobody can. Then he says the Pawnee call themselves "the People" and that they "live with the land" or, (p. 50):
"by nature--the same nature that makes a she-bear gut you if you mess with her cubs. Braid costing me my arm is about the same as a she-bear took it. I couldn't get mat at a bear and I couldn't get mad at Braid, and I couldn't hate the whole Pawnee tribe because of a mistake."
The mistake was that Grimes wasn't successful in preventing Braid from cutting his arm up. Francis asks questions that make Grimes uncomfortable. Why does he trade pelts for gunpowder and lead that the Pawnees then use on white people? Grimes says he is not a war maker. He doesn't want to kill Pawnees or whites. If he does kill Braid it will not be over land. That desire for land is what farmers like Francis's family wants. He asks Grimes to leave him at a settlement. Grimes says the closest one is Standing Bear's Sioux village.
CHAPTER NINE
They ride into the Sioux village where "the children's howling was earshattering" (p. 56). At the center of the village, (p. 56)
"a small channel opened in the crowd to the right and an Indian, who limped, came through. He was short, bowlegged, and stocky, but he moved with a smoothness that make Francis think immediately of a cat. It must be Standing Bear, Francis thought, and he was not smiling."
Grimes speaks in Sioux to Standing Bear, who tells him that Braid asked Standing Bear to keep an eye out for Francis. This strikes Grimes as unusual because the Pawnee and Sioux are enemies, but it turns out the mare Francis escaped on was Braid's personal horse. Because of that, Braid is willing to talk to enemies, with the hope of getting his mare back. Grimes talks with Standing Bear, apparently asking Standing Bear if he can trap beaver on Standing Bear's lands. He gets that permission, and then sets up a wrestling match between Francis and a boy in the village. It starts with Standing Bear "snorting" something in Sioux to both boys. Francis wins the match. His winnings are a horse and outfit.
CHAPTER TEN
Francis tries out the horse. He and Grimes leave the village.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Francis puts on, and likes, his buckskin outfit. Francis and Grimes set out to hunt antelope using an old Indian trick in which Francis will wave a white rag, which makes the antelope curious. They want to see what it is. When they do, Francis is to shoot a young antelope. They get one and eat twelve pounds by dark.
CHAPTER TWELVE
They visit Spot Johnny. He has an Indian wife named Bird Dance and two boys: Jared, John and Clarence. Bird Dance speaks perfect English. Spot tells Grimes that Braid is thinking of taking over the Pawnee nation, and gathering items like powder for the tribe. Braid has also been raiding wagon trains. Spot says Braid is stupid, wanting to make "a clean sweep" and "driving all whites from Pawnee territory" (p. 91).
Grimes then asks Spot about the Crows, saying (p. 92):
I spent a week coming across their stomping grounds and didn't see a one. Usually I get shot at at least once."
Spot says they're hunting and that he's also heard they've broken into small bands. "Too many war chiefs" (p. 92) and are raiding and taking what they can.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Francis and Grimes leave Spot Johnny's place. They see a wagon train, but Francis chooses to stay with Grimes.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
They enter an area where Grimes is careful to cover their tracks so that "the best Kiowa tracker in the world" won't be able to find them. They're near the edge of the Crow territory. They settle near beaver ponds.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Jim Bridger comes for a visit and tells Francis and Grimes about a Crow family nearby.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Francis and Grimes trap two hundred beaver, skin and stretch their pelts.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Two miles from camp, five Crows "painted for war" (p. 129) fire arrows at Francis. He races back to camp, with them chasing and firing arrows. Grimes shoots two, and one is thrown from his horse and injured. Grimes and Francis plan to get the others.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Grimes and Francis come upon two of the Indians (p. 136):
"In front of them, not ten feet away, two painted faces and bronze chests rose. Two arrows were pulled back on taut strings. Two Indian throats let out a roaring sound."
Francis wounds one; Grimes kills him. The other "brave" got away. Grimes and Francis start tying beaver pelts to horses, and then leave. Back at their camp, ten Crow "braves." The leader says they will start out to find Grimes and Francis at daybreak, and help Laughing Pony (the one who was thrown from his horse).
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Grimes and Francis run into a heavy snowstorm but keep running the horses until Francis's mare stumbles. They stop for the night.
CHAPTER TWENTY
The next morning they set out again, rest again, and then when they get started they see smoke. Grimes thinks it is from Spot Johnny's camp but that there is too much smoke.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
When they arrive at Spot Johnny's camp, everything is on fire and there are many bodies. Grimes says it was "Braid and his boys" (p. 154). Two miles away, Spot Johnny's trading post and wagons from a wagon train are also on fire. There are twenty-three dead Pawnees, too. Grimes and Francis don't find Spot or his family outside, and Grimes is sure they were in the burned trading post. There are farmers at the wagons. Grimes asks them when they were attacked and says it is time for him to "do something about Braid" (p. 156). He asks the farmers to keep Francis as he rides off and if he doesn't return, that Francis gets his ponies and pelts, and that the farmers should take Francis with them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Francis gets away from the farmers. He rides hard to catch up to Grimes. He sees Grimes and Braid in a meadow, on horses, racing towards each other, both "stripped to the waist and carrying rifles" (p. 163). They shoot at each other, and "the one-armed and one-braided men" fall near each other. Braid is dead. Francis is shocked that Grimes goes to scalp Braid. He realizes Grimes is like the Indians, and "in a way, a kind of animal" (p. 165) and that he (Francis) is not. He gets on his horse and sets out for Oregon.
MY THOUGHTS
Though I am glad to see that Paulsen used specific tribes (examples: Pawnee and Kiowa) in
Mr. Tucket, it is disappointing that the Native characters are, nonetheless, portrayed as animal-like rather than as human beings. The Pawnee children howl, for example, in chapter two. In chapter eight, Grimes frames the Pawnees as being like bears. In chapter nine, Standing Bear (a Sioux) moves like a cat. None of this characterization is used for the white characters.
Paulsen's Standing Bear is Sioux. There was a man named Luther Standing Bear/Ota Kte (Ota Kte is his Lakota name), born in the 1860s, who wrote several books, including
My People the Sioux. There was a Ponca leader named Standing Bear. He was born in 1829 and died in 1908. He is known for leaving his reservation, without permission, to take his son's remains to their homelands to bury them there.
Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve's book about him is on my list of children's books to review. I wonder if either of them was the inspiration for Paulsen's use of that name for that character? Both are men of significance, and I was annoyed to see that name for this character.
I'm also curious about the name of the Pawnee man: "Braid." He wears a braid, and my guess is, that braid is why he's called Braid. To me, it sounds silly. I searched for images/photos/illustrations of Pawnee men to see how they wear feathers. Paulsen's Braid wears a feather at the end of his braid, pointing down. That seems silly, too, and I didn't find any examples of a feather being worn that way. I'm not saying it isn't possible--anything IS possible--but when we have an outsider (Paulsen) creating characters from a nation (Pawnee) and a time period over 100 years ago, I think Paulsen is on a slippery slope.
The wrestling. I can't find any support for wrestling, in any tribe, that looks like what Paulsen describes. I do find it, however, in boy scout manuals! There is a lot in those scouting guides that gets labeled "Indian" that isn't part of Native traditions anywhere. I would love to find some kind of evidence of it, though, so if YOU find it, do write and let me know where it is! This wrestling reminds me of the "Indian burn" that is part of kid lore in the U.S.
Scalping. Braid does it. A lot. It is a brutal, savage act. Overall, Paulsen characterizes the Native people as more like animals. The scalping that Braid does fits in a savage framework, with Pawnees portrayed as less-than-human. At the end of the story, Francis chooses to abandon his friendship with Grimes when Grimes behaves like a Pawnee and scalps Braid. We are supposed to think that Francis has higher morals, that he's choosing not to be animal-like. BUT. What we--as readers--ought to reject is Paulsen's characterizations of Native people. He gives us is a narrow depiction that serves a narrative that encourages readers to think Native people were less-than White people, and therefore, it was ok to take Native land. And, it obscures a lot of the violence directed at Native people, too. There were bounties on Native men AND Native women and children, too. Bounty hunters would collect their money by showing the scalps of Native men, women, and children. Paulsen gives us one White person who scalps, but in Paulsen's story, he is the exception. He's shown to be outside-the-norm, but the fact is, Whites scalping Native people happened a lot. Here's an excerpt of a
proclamation from 1755 that specifies how much a person would receive when he would "produce the scalp":
For every Male Penobscot Indian above the Age of twelve years that shall be taken within the Time aforesaid and brought to Boston Fifty Pounds.
For every Female Penobscot Indian taken and brought in as aforesaid and for Every Male Indian Prisoner under the age of twelve Years taken and brought in as aforesaid Twenty five Pounds.
For every Scalp of such Female Indian or Male Indian under the Age of twelve years that Shall be killed and brought in as Evidence of their being killed as aforesaid, Twenty pounds.
Paulsen's point of view is Francis's--a 14 year old white boy--but, as the
reviewer of his third book (
Tucket's Ride) said, Paulsen doesn't develop characters. He uses stereotypes. When we, as a society, know so little about Native peoples--past and present--such stereotyping is a serious issue. The reviewer points to that issue, saying:
"Classroom use for social studies, however, would require careful and critical analysis by teachers and students."
I spent an hour or so looking over videos students/teachers have made about
Mr. Tucket.
I see no evidence of careful or critical analysis. Though Paulsen sometimes had his white characters use 'man' or 'men' to refer to the Pawnee men, he mostly used "brave" or "warrior" for men and "squaw" for women. In careful or critical analysis, I'd like to see teachers looking at words like that, because they create a distance, or a barrier, in thinking about Native men and women as people, just like any other people.
Mr. Tucket is definitely a very popular book, as evident in its reprintings. Here's some of the covers I've found. First is one that looks like it could be the original cover, from 1969:
Here's one I found a lot. Looking at a preview online, I saw a copy from 1995, that, with this cover, was in its 25th printing.
And here's what I think is the most recent cover:
In an
interview, Paulsen says he learned a lot from reading a particular series. What are kids who read his
Mr. Tucket series "learning" about Native people? Regular readers of AICL know that I'm critical of authors who use "Indian" rather than a specific tribe, but when an author uses a specific tribe and gives us stereotypes anyway, that is equally problematic. I cannot recommend
Mr. Tucket.
Our favorite picks for summer reading continue this week with a list of the best titles to keep kids in fifth and sixth grade reading during sunny summer days (and cloudy ones, too!)
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If you work with kids in need, you can find these titles on the First Book Marketplace by clicking on the pictures next to the publisher descriptions of each book.
For Grades 5 to 6
Confetti Girl by Diana Lopez
Apolonia “Lina” Flores is a sock enthusiast, a volleyball player, a science lover, and a girl who’s just looking for answers. Even though her house is crammed full of books (her dad’s a bibliophile), she’s having trouble figuring out some very big questions, like why her dad seems to care about books more than her, why her best friend’s divorced mom is obsessed with making cascarones (hollowed eggshells filled with colorful confetti), and, most of all, why her mom died last year. Like colors in cascarones, Lina’s life is a rainbow of people, interests, and unexpected changes.
In her first novel for young readers, Diana López creates a clever and honest story about a young Latina girl navigating growing pains in her South Texan city.
Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm
In Jennifer L. Holm’s New York Times bestselling, Newbery Honor winning middle grade historical fiction novel, life isn’t like the movies. But then again, 11-year-old Turtle is no Shirley Temple. She’s smart and tough and has seen enough of the world not to expect a Hollywood ending. After all, it’s 1935 and jobs and money and sometimes even dreams are scarce. So when Turtle’s mama gets a job housekeeping for a lady who doesn’t like kids, Turtle says goodbye without a tear and heads off to Key West, Florida to live with relatives she’s never met. Florida’s like nothing Turtle’s ever seen before though. It’s hot and strange, full of rag tag boy cousins, family secrets, scams, and even buried pirate treasure! Before she knows what’s happened, Turtle finds herself coming out of the shell she’s spent her life building, and as she does, her world opens up in the most unexpected ways. Filled with adventure, humor and heart, Turtle in Paradise is an instant classic both boys and girls with love.
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Eleven-year-old Delphine has it together. Even though her mother, Cecile, abandoned her and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, seven years ago. Even though her father and Big Ma will send them from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to stay with Cecile for the summer. And even though Delphine will have to take care of her sisters, as usual, and learn the truth about the missing pieces of the past.
When the girls arrive in Oakland in the summer of 1968, Cecile wants nothing to do with them. She makes them eat Chinese takeout dinners, forbids them to enter her kitchen, and never explains the strange visitors with Afros and black berets who knock on her door. Rather than spend time with them, Cecile sends Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern to a summer camp sponsored by a revolutionary group, the Black Panthers, where the girls get a radical new education.
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.
Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.
Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home–and his own art–through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better.
Katherine Applegate blends humor and poignancy to create Ivan’s unforgettable first-person narration in a story of friendship, art, and hope.
Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen
One day I was 12 years old and broke. Then Grandma gave me Grandpa’s old riding lawnmower. I set out to mow some lawns. More people wanted me to mow their lawns. And more and more… One client was Arnold the stockbroker, who offered to teach me about “the beauty of capitalism. Supply and Demand. Diversify labor. Distribute the wealth.” “Wealth?” I said. “It’s groovy, man,” said Arnold.
If I’d known what was coming, I might have climbed on my mower and putted all the way home to hide in my room. But the lawn business grew and grew. So did my profits, which Arnold invested in many things. And one of them was Joey Pow the prizefighter. That’s when my 12th summer got really interesting.
Looking for a previous week’s book list? Click below:
Grades K-2
Grades 3-4
The post First Book’s Summer Book List: Grades 5-6 appeared first on First Book Blog.
He won’t read it. He hates everything. #3
By David Teague, The Children’s Book Review
Published: July 7, 2012
On the first day of summer vacation when I was twelve years old, I got on my bicycle, rode three miles down the street through a tunnel of new leaves, emerged into lemon-colored sunshine in the middle of town, racked my bike, opened the front door of the library to release its peppery aroma into the juicy green afternoon, and saw a book with a fantastic cover awaiting me on the nearest wooden table: M.C. Higgins The Great.
On the first page, Mayo Cornelius, sporting lettuce affixed to his wrists with rubber bands (for reasons that became clear later) stared into the distance, imagining the freedom that lay in his future, wondering what to do with it. Just like me: In the deafening summertime silence made up of nobody telling me what to do, and with a bicycle I could theoretically ride until I fell into the Pacific Ocean, I’d spent the entire day thinking, “Now I’m gonna make something happen. But what?”
So I started reading to see what M. C. had done with all his freedom. On a hot, leafy mountainside overlooking the Ohio River, he set out to explore what it meant—the freedom to stand up to his father, the freedom to forge friendships with people very different from himself, the freedom to imagine a future no one else in his family had ever imagined, and the freedom to pursue it. His life was more dramatic than mine, more dangerous, odd, fraught, and strange, because he was a character in a novel, but M. C. himself, I understood. He was on a quest to find out who M. C. really was.
And so M. C. Higgins The Great made the summer of 1975 last forever. His story was the story of how he became himself amid trees and streams and the first hints freedom that come with growing up.
Which makes it a perfect summer book.
Here are a few more like it:
By Tony Abbott
Jason travels to St. Petersburg, Florida, and goes on a quest to uncover secrets that will change everything he ever believed about himself and his family.
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | April 2, 2008 | Ages 8-12
By Gary Paulsen
Brian survives a plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness and comes of age facing the challenge of survival in a thrilling, dangerous land.
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This list is dedicated to all those boys who aren't sure they like to read -- but chances are just haven't found the right book.
Thriller (Volume 2 of Guys Read), edited by Jon Sciezka, with illustrations by Brett Helquist,
Walden Pond Press, $16.99, ages 8-12, 288 pages. Here's a book for any boy who likes to imagine himself tempting danger or getting out of a bind, but doesn't necessarily want to do any such thing. The latest in Sciezka's brilliant effort to tailor books to reluctant boy readers,
Thriller contains 10 bite-size stories (the longest is 42 pages) about gripping situations that readers don't find themselves in every day (but kind of wish they did -- kind of. ) And what's incredible is that every one is written by a leading children's authors of thrillers -- names you can almost recognize by the last name alone, such as Haddix, Horowitz and Patterson. The stories are about as different from each other as you can imagine in one book, but each one grips onto you and a few even toss you around. There's the one about a boy who gets thrown over the edge of a twelve-story building, another about a boy trying to rescue his dad from animal smugglers ("pet mafia") while being chased by a komodo dragon, and one about a dead boy who's haunting a house, but isn't half as scary as the thugs upstairs. Readers will wander in and out of lives that are fictional, but at times feel real, like the 14-year-old Somalian boy who gets thrown into a life of piracy after foreigners poison his family's fishing waters. If your boys like this, don't miss the first in the Guys Read series
Funny Business, short stories by humorous children's authors. For more great boy titles, check out Sciezka's Guys Read website
here.
3:15 Season One: Things That Go Bump In the Night, by Patrick Carman,
Scholastic, $12.99, ages 9-12, 176 pages. It may be a little early for terrifying tales -- Halloween is still almost two months away -- but this interactive book is worth getting right now. Why? Because it's about as boy friendly as a book can get. For one, It's a horror thriller, and for two, it encourages readers to get on the computer between chapters. The book is built around an exciting online concept that's based on the time 3:15. That time is significant by itself, but also for other reasons, according to the book's fictional narrator Paul Chandler. First, 3:15 a.m. is when things might go b
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Susanne Gervay,
on 8/9/2011
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Lin Oliver’s humour and engagement with the writing community connected everyone at the huge SCBWI LA Conference winner.
Love Lin and Henry Winkler’s (the Fonz) NY best seller series Hank Zipzer series.
Gary Paulsen was riverting – the maveric who turned his tragic early years into wild independence, crashes and ultimately couragee and an independence that had led to powerful award winning books.
Verla Kay, a dynamic,really generous writer has established a kids’ literature writing community that gets 1 million hits a month – everyone in the community is welcome – www.verlakay.com
Katie Davis an engaging and delightful speaker and author gave great insight into how to promote your book – her online talk radio gets over 2.6 million listeners every month [email protected]
Leonard Marcus – the guru of children’s literature; Ellen Hopkins – best selling YA author of edgy verse books; Bruce Hale -brilliant speaker and best selling author; Allan Silberberg – award winning humorous author; Frane Lessac – award winning illustrator; Henry Winkler – the Fonz and best selling author …. and more are all part of the SCBWI International celebration of children’s literature in LA.
E-Books coming to the iPad for kids
As the iPad gains momentum, top picks for e-books include classics such as Alice in Wonderland and various Dr. Seuss books. The iPad’s appeal is only heightened by its 3-D capabilities.
Finding the Right Children’s Book
Children’s books are so varied and numerous these days that parents and educators often have a hard time selecting the best titles to share with children. This article discusses a handy guide inside the world of children’s books.
Gary Paulsen’s Newest Adventures
Three-time Newbery Honoree, Gary Paulsen is releasing Wood Runner, a young adult book set during the time of the Revolutionary War.
Illustrator John Schoenherr Passes at Age 74
In his lifetime, John Schoenherr illustrated over 40 children’s books, including Owl Moon and Julie of the Wolves. Remember his contributions to childrens’ imaginations and take a look at his illustrations.
Jewish Heritage Through Early Literacy
Jewish families can enjoy learning about their heritage together through children’s books which incorporate cultural customs while aiding in early literacy.
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on 3/13/2010
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Man! You guys have been
ACTIVE!! I'm gone one day and, when I come back, my email box is FULL of book reviews! You all are
GREAT!! Since I've received so many reviews, I'm not going to comment after each set, but hold any comments until the end. In fact, I'll list the reader guy's name, put his reviews after that, thank everybody at once, and give the standings.
But before I do that, let me direct your attention to a comment from
Jana, a librarian, a mom of boys, and one of the faithful followers of our blog:
OK, guys, go over there and vote! I've already done it. Jana runs a good blog and recommends some good stuff. Take a look.
Now for the Slam Dunks. First up is magnificent Michael:
The Elijah Project, book 1On the Run
by Bill Myers
People have started noticing 7-year-old Elijah's supernatural God-given powers... even the people who want them for their own purposes. When the villains make an advance, Elijah and his siblings: 13-year-old Piper and 15-year-old Zach, find that their parents have dissapeared, and now they must run away on their own. With the help of their friends Cory and William, the group must believe in God to help them defeat their enemy the Shadow Man, and the ultimate villain the Supreme Master, who in reality is Satan. Bill Myers makes another home run with this amazing book!
Jellaby, book 1
by Kean Soo
Meet Portia. She has no friends, her parents are divorced, and now she's got a monster for a friend! But that won't stop her and her friend, Jason, from finding Jellaby's home. Fast-paced, funny, and creative, this comic book is perfect for everyone!
Then we have the dynamic
Dakota T:
The next book that I read was High Rulian By Brain Jaques. this book was about a young ottermaid who's skills in the sling exceed any others. When a Giant bird and a barnicle goose , both injured by a Tyrant who rules over Green Isle, come to Redwall to find refuge. They both tell them of where they come from and how the otter tribes are getting tormented by a raging cat who will stop at nothing to remain Tytrant of the Isle. It's up to the ottermaid to rescue the tribes enslaved. This book has more than it's fair share of action, adventure, and care for others. This was one of my favorite book in the entire Redwall series. The flaw in this series is that most of the books get off on a slow start.
I read a book entitled Holes by Luis Sachar and it's about a poor boy who is taken to Camp Green Lake where you get to dig a hole five feet wide and five feet deep. If you find anything you are to report it to the warden who turns out to be a girl. But why? This book is creative, yet realistic, and is one of my all time favorites. While telling the story of Stanely, It also tells a story about a teacher and an onion farmer. It was amazing how everything just fit together and made sense. Hope you read this and enjoy it!
The Viper's Nest by Peter Lerangis is the seventh book in the 39 Clues series and, man, does it 
ROCK!!! In this book, Dan and Amy Cahill have to travel to South Africa in their search for the 39 Clues that will make the finders richer and more powerful than anyone on earth. On their way to find the Clue left by Winston Churchill, Dan hangs upside down over a deserted mine shaft, Nellie, their au pair, has to explain mysterious cell phone messages, and they all break into a Tomas stronghold--and have to break out again!! Plus they face death by a propeller and a horrifying poison. The suspense made me sit up and grab the book tightly! These books just keep getting better and better. NO ONE DOES IT BETTER THAN THE 39 CLUES!!
And we have a new review from a teacher who doesn't give her name but calls herself Hello! She writes about a great new Gary Paulsen book:
Okay...I'm a girl...An older girl...who is also a teacher...and a reader...I secretly lurk around your site looking for those super cool guy books I miss sometimes...because I have guys in my classrooms that need guy books. I'll keep up my secret spying in the hopes that you review the COOLEST...most SPECTACULAR book that has come from Gary Paulsen in a while...Woods Runner! BAM! SUPER AWESOME BOOK! My boys are reading this one like a wolf eats!
Check it out!
We'll certainly do that, Hello! I'll go and look for
Woods Runner away. We're always glad when teachers look for good guy books. Don't forget to look at the Links on the left-hand side of the page--lots of places to find good guy books there! Gary Pauslen is one of the best guy authors of all time. Click on the "Gary Paulsen" label under this post to see what we and other guys have written about his stuff.
One more bit of news. The latest
Sluggers book is out. It's called
Blastin' the Blues and it's set in New Orleans. I have to say right here and now that I'm the # 1 Sluggers fan in Charlotte. These books are T-RIFFIC!!! and I'm trying to make more Sluggers fans out there. The book came out Tuesday but the library hasn't received its copies yet. You'd better believe I've got one on hold! The library system has plenty of copies. Be sure to get one. (the first few books were called the Barnstormers series, but don't let that confuse you. It's under the author's last name, whi
Jacket description:
"Fourteen-year-old Finn is a loner, living with his dad and his amazing dog, Dylan. This summer Finn is hoping for a job where he doesn't have to talk to anyone except his buddy, Matthew. Then he meets Johanna, who's living next door. She's a graduate student in her twenties, cool and funny, and she treats Finn as an equal. Dylan thinks she's great too. Johanna's dealing with breast cancer, and Matthew and Finn help take care of her-and come to care for her. When she hires Finn to create a garden, his efforts backfire comically. But Johanna, and working in the garden, help Finn discover his hidden talent for connecting with people."
Gary Paulsen is an awesome adventure writer, but I really think he shines in the pages of this heartfelt and beautifully written middle grade novel. Though the subject matter is anything but funny, (breast cancer, loneliness, etc), Finn and his friends are hilarious, jubilent at times, and wonderfully real. I felt a connection with Johanna and her zest for life after having receiving scary and tragic news, and I loved how Finn handled himself and his newfound friendship with this older woman. Finn was totally insecure in the way that 14 year olds are, leaving him as realistic as possible.
The inclusion of Dylan the dog was fantastic and the task of the garden creation was both metaphorical and just plain funny! You'll be inspired by this book, laugh as you read it, cry in parts, and just want to read more when the last page is turned. Typically I comment that books written for middle graders and young adults are often too long, adding unnecessary fluff to the pages. Notes from the Dog is a short 132 pages and I would have loved for it to have gone on a bit longer.
Boys and girls alike can gain something from reading this lovely book, as well as all of us book-loving adults. Hand this kids loving a well-written, heartwarming story.
Notes from the Dog
Gary Paulsen
132 pages
Middle Grade
Wendy Lamb Books
9780385738453
July 2009
Review copy received from publisher
To learn more, or to purchase, click on the book cover above to link to Amazon. I am an Associate and will receive a tiny commission from your purchase. Thanks!
by Gary PaulsenWendy Lamb Books / Random House2009Is it me, or does Gary Paulsen seem to be ripping through a very fertile period? These past few years he's released, it seems, two or three books a year and they always slip in under the radar where I find out about them by accident.I was actually trying to remember the title of a book of his I read and liked and came across this as I was
Mudshark by Gary Paulsen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I love Gary Paulsen. This book didn't do it for me. I didn't even really get most of it. The high point of the book is the morning announcements that come from the principal at the beginning of each chapter. Other than that, eh. I am still a Paulsen fan, true but I will be excited to see how students react to this book. (I won't even tell them that I didn't get it) :)
View all my reviews >>
By:
Aline Pereira,
on 10/22/2008
Blog:
PaperTigers
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Burma,
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Iran,
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In the Time of the Butterflies,
National Reading Group Month,
K Authors,
C Authors,
P Authors,
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Aryn Kyle,
From the Land of Green Ghosts,
Pascal Khoo Thwe,
Ricochet River,
Robin Cody,
Winterdance,
Dominican Republic,
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Although the Tiger’s Choice, the PaperTigers’ online reading group, selects books that are written for children but can be enjoyed by adults as well, National Reading Group Month has brought to mind those books written for adults that younger readers might adopt as their own favorites, and that could launch impassioned discussions between parents and children, teachers and students, or older and younger siblings.
The books on this week’s list are books recommended for teenagers, with content that may be beyond the emotional grasp of pre-adolescents. All of them are available in paperback and in libraries.
1) Ricochet River by Robin Cody (Stuck in a small Oregon town, two teenagers find their world becomes larger and more complex when they become friends with Jesse, a Native American high school sports star.)
2) The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle (Alice is twelve, growing up on a modern-day Wyoming ranch with a mother who rarely leaves her bed, a father who is haunted by the memory of Alice’s rebellious and gifted older sister who ran off with a rodeo rider, and an overly active imagination.)
3) Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod by Gary Paulsen (The author of Hatchet tells the true story of how he raced a team of huskies across more than 1000 miles of Arctic Alaska in what Alaskans call The Last Great Race.)
4) Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (This autobiography of a young girl growing up in revolutionary Iran and told in the form of a graphic novel is rich, original, and unforgettable.)
5) From the Land of Green Ghosts by Pascal Khoo Thwe (An amazing odyssey of a boy from the jungles of Burma who became a political exile and a Cambridge scholar, this Kiriyama Prize winner is a novelistic account of a life filled with adventures and extraordinary accomplishments.)
6) In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez (The Mirabal sisters were beautiful, gifted, and valiant women who were murdered by the Dominican Republic government that they were committed to overthrow. Their true story is given gripping and moving life by their compatriot, Julia Alvarez.)
As the weather becomes colder and the days grow shorter, find your favorite teenager, choose a book, and plunge into the grand adventure of reading and sharing!
Hey, everyone, it's Carl and I was thrilled to see four new comments from the Bruner Boys Beware:
The Bruner Boys finished up THE RIVER. IT WAS DULL. Nothing DANGEROUS... just harrowing raft down a waterfall and a grownup struck by lightning into a coma. ALWAYS nice to see grown-ups get struck by lightning and zapped unconcious. We need some DANGEROUS BEASTS and HARROWING ESCAPES. We are looking for another read-aloud for family time today here at the Matthews library. Maybe the BONES book.
We are holding Master Zach hostage in the Millenium Falcon Mini-Van tomorrow until we get the second CAPTAIN ELI book from Darth Bill.
Austin is STILL wearing the shirt and drinking chocolate milk from the sacred cup. BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!Keagen gives two HUGE thumbs up to the Hardy Boys Graphic Novel Series. We almost snatched them all up so far and Keagen got one to KEEP at the book sale at Imaginon for only 50 CENTS!!!
By the way... Gary Paulsen has a book out about puberity... did you know... I am not sure we are BRAVE enough for that book... plus thinking about BODY ODOR and GIRLS is SOOOOOO THE DARK SIDE if you know what I mean.
BRUNER BOYS BEWARE!
DUDE! We read this book and LOVED IT!!! We especially liked it because we started a lawn mowing business this summer... I DO HAVE TO SAY... we agreed that having a RIDING MOWER will make you MORE RICH and LESS CRANKY... because ours is a push mower and we think it STINKS! BUT we are hoping to get RICH.GOOD BOOK!
NEW SHIRTS! Should we tell Austin?!?! AND I have run across some VERY DANGEROUS and VICIOUS webkinz... one is the PINK POODLE... BEWARE!!! This one was especially hard to stop with the FORCE.... we had to resort to the DROID DECAR thingy.
BTW!!! Did you know MASTER JEDI ZACH is an EAGLE SCOUT? That is why he is a MASTER JEDI...
Outstanding work, Bruner Boys!! It's too bad that you didn't like The River but Lawn Boy sure was good, wasn't it? Funny!! And I didn't know the Hardy Boys Graphic novels would be so good. Now you've got me wanting one and I think all of ours are checked out!
Just to let you know, Zack is not only a Jedi but a Jedi Master and may be more tha you can handle, if it's only overnight! Never underestimate a Jedi master or an Eagle Scout!
Darth Bill is doing his best to get the second Capt'n Eli book out to everyone. Be patient. After all, as Darth Bill would say, the Death Star wasn't built in a day! And I'll let him comment on the best way to deal with evil webkinz--though I think a droid decar is a good idea. PS--Two weeks, same shirt? Yeah, a new shirt would definitely be a good idea!
That's
four
comments in one day! I don't know if you realize it, but you have just shot 4 major blasts at the
mean and sneaky girls who have tried a
hostile takover of our blog. If they are too
low and underhanded to understand the
goodness and generosity of boys, maybe they'll understand our
overwhelming numbers!!
(Oh, yeah... bring it on, Lubar!)
Not too shabby...
What books do you remember most fondly from childhood?
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I don't know what happened but the link you posted got way messed up! Try this one:
russell-library.blogspot.com. Thanks so much! You guys ROCK!!