Gary Paulsen Books

Reviewed By Cassady of Jay Reviews
Watching, waiting, slowly he lays the rifle on his shoulder. All else leaves his mind, there is only him, and the doe. He takes aim at her graceful head, finger on the frozen trigger, and then... Bang. Bang, exactly how John Borne's life started out that cold winter somewhere near the edge of Louisiana. But something was different this winter. His grandfather was dying a slow death of terminal cancer. This year John would hunt alone. Gary Paulsen's realistic fiction novel, Tracker, is never going to win a Newberry Award. It lacks the plot and motivation to be a good book, although I wouldn't completely scorn it, it has its fascinating parts. Here are some of the more interesting parts of the book: In this book a boy turns against the kill, and with longing compassion chases a young doe to the bitter end. Without the purpose to kill the doe the boy is left with no reason but immense curiosity and a stranded hope to touch the doe. In this novel, a boy with a dream will come through to himself, the inevitable truth will not be evaded, and death shall be cheated once again. I do not recommend this book unless you like a boring content with no flavor-J reviews

Tracker

The book Tracker is about a boy named John. He wants to go hunting with his dad and his brother. When they went hunting they saw a deer. John shot at the deer he missed the deer by A inch. Than the deer ran away from John. I think people that like to hunt would enjoy reading this book.
The change in the book is that John didn't want to hunt any more. . This is the theme because John was frustrated that he kept missing the deer. Without this theme the idea for the book wouldn't be as good.
The characters are John, Mom, dad, and the brother. John is the main character. John was frustrated he shot at the deer and missed. John's mom likes to cook food a lot. Johns dad likes to hunt. So does his uncle. John liked to hunt in the boonies.
The setting was out in the woods and in the boonies. The setting made it a good book because it is a place John likes to hunt.
If there were not a setting than you wouldn't know where it took place. The theme helps readers understand, and the character is believable. You should read this book because they tell you not to frustrate when you shoot an animal and stay focus.

The story of Tracker is a very good one and I recommend it to anyone who likes a good heartwarming book. The plot of this book has to do with a boy who has to deal with the fact that his grandfather is dying and that he has already lost all his other family except his grandmother. He is a simple boy and lives in the country and has many chores but still has to go to school like every other kid. He has to haul out the manure from the cows with their team of horses when he sees this doe. Now normally when he sees a deer this close to deer season they are spooked and run away but this one is not afraid and just sits there and looks at him and he can't figure out what is so different about this deer. Of course like any boy his age he will go deer hunting but this year is different, this year he will have to go by himself instead of with his grandfather for support. He polishes his rifle the night before and has his place he is going to hunt all picked out but he don't know how great of a journey it is going to be. He goes out and his spot is perfect because the deer come fleeing out of the timber from the predators that try to kill them. He gets up in the cold winter morning early in the morning and does all his chores. He loves the smell of the cows and all the good things a farm kid enjoy. He gets done and goes out. He sees the same deer that he saw earlier and tracks her for a very long time and when he finally gets there. Well, you will have to just wait and see for yourself. But like I said earlier this book is good for anyone. Boys, girls, older people, younger people, everyone can see the goodness of this story once they read it and get the true meaning of what Gary Paulsen wanted us to get from this story.

I loved this book!!! If you like the outdoors and hunting and are looking for a quick read this is the book for you .The reason why I liked this book is because I love the outdoors and hunting.

This story is about John Born, his grandfather is dying of cancer and it is a family tradition to go hunting. There is absolutely no sport in hunting for the Born's; it is to put food on the table for the long winter. One day he is out fertilizing the fields and he sees a doe. This suddenly changes his feelings about hunting. The main phrase or you could say its theme is, "If I touch the deer, death will be cheated

If you read this book it would definitely help to be a boy considering it is about hunting.

I felt I was back home, in my childhood days. I grew up in the country where people hunted and ate deer meat. This book was tender and sentimental for me.

I was sad because the grandfather was dying.

I love all of Gary Paulsen's books. Even though most of them are teen books (Murphy's Gold is adult), they are breathtaking, enjoyable books for me. He writes books about rural life.

This particular book was special. The grandfather was dying, but does the deer have to die?

THE SHIPPING TIME WAS GREAT.THE COPY WAS PERFECT.ONCE AGAIN I AM SO VERY SATISFIED WITH AMAZON.

THANKS.

Although I loved this book, I was hestitant to include it on my classroom shelves for 8th graders. Now that I am now teaching high school, I decided to include this book on the shelves in my classroom for SSR time. Since August, eight of my male students have read the book. I was very pleasantly surprised when there was no giggling about the book. Then I noticed that it was only the most mature of my students that were choosing to read it. At the beginning of the school year, I included the book in book talks, and that peaked the interest of some of my students. However, the less mature students never get past the first chapter. Even if you're not a teenager, I recommend this book highly. My husband enjoyed it too.

The kid left his home and went to work on a beet field. He made friends with the Mexicans. He followed then around and worked with them. Then on one of the farms the farmer offered him a job. Then he drove a tractor for the farmer. Then one day when he came up from the fielded there was a cop waiting for him. He took him to jail for running away.
The things I liked about this book are that it was easy to read and it was exiting and interesting. People that I would recommend this book to is people that like the out doors

The Beet Fields: Memories of the Sixteenth Summer
The young boy never stopped working, went on until the day was done, and learned about the world and life in just one long summer. The book The Beet Fields is about this young boy's summer when he learns many life's lessons. He goes on many adventures over his long summer, starting out with parents who are serious alcoholics. However his whole life changes when he ran from his life in search of a new beginning. This book is great for teens, because it follows a young boy through the many adventures in life.
He left his home for something different a new life. On his adventures he learns about migrant labor, hunger, friendship, profanity and lust. In the book he is never given a name, we just know him as boy, the young innocent man curious for adventure. He discovers how life can be dangerous and exhilarating. He learns the secret of sadness to be found on an isolated farm in the middle of nowhere. He finds his other adventures by joining a carnival and running the geek show. Near the end of the summer he thinks he knows it all, all the lessons to be learned in life. When he meets Ruby, his life changes. She urges him to not leave the world without a fight. It's one long interesting summer for the boy.
The Beet Fields is a great guidance for young teens. His life brings journeys across different people and jobs. The boy sticks with what he needs to do to make a living and fights through his down times and enjoys the good ones. He doesn't follow in his parents path and instead hoes his own down the beet fields. This book is a great example of sticking and working with what you have. This quote shows how the boy keeps going even though he would much rather be somewhere else with someone else "Rows of beets a mile long. Left and right for a mile and then turn and start back, halfway up to meet the Mexicans coming back. Eleven dollars an acre. Four rows to the acre, a half acre a day, all day the hoes cutting, left and right, the rows never ending, and even trying to catch up with the Mexicans was not enough to stop the boredom, nothing to stop the awful boredom of the beets." On the next page it continues, "He worked hard, his head down, the hoe snaking left and right. An hour could have passed, a minute, a day, a year. He did not look up, kept working ..."The book goes on in great detail about his other adventures. He finds other jobs working on different farms. He makes it almost halfway across the United States on his own catching up with other people, and ends up with a carnival job traveling across the U.S. How the author describes how he manages his life. This is a great read for teens looking for an interesting and adventures book.

This is a glimpse into Paulsen's 16th summer, when he left his drunken parents to pursue life on his own. He takes work as a laborer in the beet fields where he befriends Mexican workers and learns to hunt pigeons with his bare hands, and later does farm work, joins the crew of a traveling carnival, and learns about lust from an older, much more experienced woman.
This book should be limited to mature readers because of the detailed sexual encounter and the language typical of the people Paulsen associated with during that summer. By "mature readers", I mean ones that will not circle offensive language or mark up the book in any other way because of it.

Don't buy this book, or support this author. He is immoral and speaks of illegal acts.

I read Brian's Hunt and "Dogsong" after my son told me things that he read really bothered him. There was alot of gore that even I never saw in an R rated film. I will not ever read another one of his books. If you are a teacher read the one star reviews from kids. Even they know this author mental. I went before my schoolboard to have this book removed from the classroom.

I asked my son's 6th grade teacher for a copy of this book and a the next one the class was reading
"Dogsong". I ended up going before the schoolboard to have "Dogsong" removed from the class assginment.

Dogsong is about a 14yo boy who drops out of school and assists in a suicide. The book contains misleading timelines. It takes place in the 1980's. There is reference to
poligamy,
suicide,
assisted suicide,
9+ cats of animal abuse,
cannabolism,
self mutilation,
mercy killings(a mother sits with a strangulation string to kill her starving children),
a young teenage girl tries to kill herself becuase she is unwed and pregnant. She gives birth to a stillborn child "from the folds of her skin". She births with "her body writhing forwards and backwards" and delivers right in front of this 14yo boy. He takes the baby out into the snow and leaves it there for the animals to eat. He doesn't even try to wrap it or bury it. Both kids meet no consiquences for killing the baby, let alone all the other illegal acts.
There is also a reference about cannabolism;"Old mother can we eat you until the deer come bacK?.The dear came back that day and we did not have to eat our old dear mother."
The two kids head north as far as they can go. The book ends before they reach their destination. This isn't even a good versus evil book. I can't belive it was even allowed to be rated as young adult fiction.

No child should read this book! There isn't a director in Hollywood that would put these images into a film. My son and several other children in his 6th grade class are reading alternate reading material.

As parents we monitor what they see on tv, internet, and in video games. I never thought I would have to monitor what my child read in school. This book really bothers me weeks after I read it and went before the board. Reviews say it is enviromental and about survival. The boy has a father. He left his father to live with an older man. He drops out of school. He things there is a lack of game because of the snowmobiles. He wants to help bring the old ways back to the inuit people, but instead of trying to change his people he decides to run with a dog sled as far north as he can possibly travel.

I wonder how the Inuit People feel about this book.

The Tent is an easy read for anyone. This book has a great message and I recommend it for any reader that needs an adventure. The message is one that makes one think about it over and over. I don't want to give any of the story away. My students enjoyed it!

The book The Tent is such a good book you won't want to do anything or go anywhere until it is over. The Tent is about this family and how they don't believe in God and never talk about God until one day their dad tells the story about God. Then they start to preach. I had to stay up until 11:52 just to finish the book; I didn't want to go to,but I had to because my eyes wouldn't let me stay up.

SCook

The Tent is about a young boy and his fater that are very poor.One night Steven and his father are talking and his fater brings up that hs friend got rick by preaching in little towns.So they go to Steven's friend house and buys a old army tent.The next day they go to a motel and stole a bible from there.They have never been to church before in ther life.When they start to preach in little towns on the boarder of Texas they start to bring in good money.One day they meet two guys By the names of Davis and Jamey and they said you will bring in more money if yo start to heal people so they do.You need to read the book to see what hey do with the money.

Steven is skeptical when his father decides that preaching the Word of the Lord is their way out of poverty into fame and fortune. He doesn't really think that his dad will follow through. Then his dad purchases an old tent and they set out for Castle, Texas to hold their first meeting. It is then that Steven's skepticism turns to concern. Neither he nor his dad knows anything about the Bible or religion. His dad says it's OK to make money from preaching, because isn't what they are doing helping people? But to Steven, it feels more like lying and stealing...at least at first.

The Tent is a powerful, short parable about the power of God's Word to transform. It reminds me of the movie Leap of Faith starring Steve Martin as a traveling preacher who "faked" his miracles until he was changed by the power of a true miracle.

Both book and movie give reason to pause and reflect on the fact that, as Jesus often upset the Pharisees by demonstrating his power in ways they didn't consider "proper" or "orthodox," He continues to work in unexpected and surprising ways today.

Armchair Interviews says: A highly enjoyable and thought-provoking read.

Don't buy this book, or support this author. He is immoral and speaks of illegal acts.

I read Brian's Hunt and "Dogsong" after my son told me things that he read really bothered him. There was alot of gore that even I never saw in an R rated film. I will not ever read another one of his books. If you are a teacher read the one star reviews from kids. Even they know this author mental. I went before my schoolboard to have this book removed from the classroom.

I asked my son's 6th grade teacher for a copy of this book and a the next one the class was reading
"Dogsong". I ended up going before the schoolboard to have "Dogsong" removed from the class assginment.

Dogsong is about a 14yo boy who drops out of school and assists in a suicide. The book contains misleading timelines. It takes place in the 1980's. There is reference to
poligamy,
suicide,
assisted suicide,
9+ cats of animal abuse,
cannabolism,
self mutilation,
mercy killings(a mother sits with a strangulation string to kill her starving children),
a young teenage girl tries to kill herself becuase she is unwed and pregnant. She gives birth to a stillborn child "from the folds of her skin". She births with "her body writhing forwards and backwards" and delivers right in front of this 14yo boy. He takes the baby out into the snow and leaves it there for the animals to eat. He doesn't even try to wrap it or bury it. Both kids meet no consiquences for killing the baby, let alone all the other illegal acts.
There is also a reference about cannabolism;"Old mother can we eat you until the deer come bacK?.The dear came back that day and we did not have to eat our old dear mother."
The two kids head north as far as they can go. The book ends before they reach their destination. This isn't even a good versus evil book. I can't belive it was even allowed to be rated as young adult fiction.

No child should read this book! There isn't a director in Hollywood that would put these images into a film. My son and several other children in his 6th grade class are reading alternate reading material.

As parents we monitor what they see on tv, internet, and in video games. I never thought I would have to monitor what my child read in school. This book really bothers me weeks after I read it and went before the board. Reviews say it is enviromental and about survival. The boy has a father. He left his father to live with an older man. He drops out of school. He things there is a lack of game because of the snowmobiles. He wants to help bring the old ways back to the inuit people, but instead of trying to change his people he decides to run with a dog sled as far north as he can possibly travel.

I wonder how the Inuit People feel about this book.

The Tent is an easy read for anyone. This book has a great message and I recommend it for any reader that needs an adventure. The message is one that makes one think about it over and over. I don't want to give any of the story away. My students enjoyed it!

The book The Tent is such a good book you won't want to do anything or go anywhere until it is over. The Tent is about this family and how they don't believe in God and never talk about God until one day their dad tells the story about God. Then they start to preach. I had to stay up until 11:52 just to finish the book; I didn't want to go to,but I had to because my eyes wouldn't let me stay up.

SCook

The Tent is about a young boy and his fater that are very poor.One night Steven and his father are talking and his fater brings up that hs friend got rick by preaching in little towns.So they go to Steven's friend house and buys a old army tent.The next day they go to a motel and stole a bible from there.They have never been to church before in ther life.When they start to preach in little towns on the boarder of Texas they start to bring in good money.One day they meet two guys By the names of Davis and Jamey and they said you will bring in more money if yo start to heal people so they do.You need to read the book to see what hey do with the money.

Steven is skeptical when his father decides that preaching the Word of the Lord is their way out of poverty into fame and fortune. He doesn't really think that his dad will follow through. Then his dad purchases an old tent and they set out for Castle, Texas to hold their first meeting. It is then that Steven's skepticism turns to concern. Neither he nor his dad knows anything about the Bible or religion. His dad says it's OK to make money from preaching, because isn't what they are doing helping people? But to Steven, it feels more like lying and stealing...at least at first.

The Tent is a powerful, short parable about the power of God's Word to transform. It reminds me of the movie Leap of Faith starring Steve Martin as a traveling preacher who "faked" his miracles until he was changed by the power of a true miracle.

Both book and movie give reason to pause and reflect on the fact that, as Jesus often upset the Pharisees by demonstrating his power in ways they didn't consider "proper" or "orthodox," He continues to work in unexpected and surprising ways today.

Armchair Interviews says: A highly enjoyable and thought-provoking read.

The narrator inherits an old lawn mower and starts a lawn mowing business. Before he knows it, he's got more business than he can handle and a hippie stockbroker making investments for him. Each chapter title has something to do with an economic principle and we are taken along on the ride as the young narrator learns more than he ever wanted to learn about capitalism.

Very quick read. Cute.

I was excited to order this book for my 12 year-old son as I attempt to encourage his entrepreneurial skills. I was hopeful that the book would be engaging and educational (In the back of my mind I had "The Goal" -- a novel used by many business schools to teach business concepts). This book started out strong and did introduce a few concepts in a pretty clear manner. However, I felt the ending was lacking. The conclusion was completely unrealistic and, if one of the goals of the book was to teach, the ending may have cost credibility throughout as it really missed the mark. I do give the book credit for being engaging. It is an easy read. However, the book sparked no conversation from my son--I didn't see him running out to start a business. The motivation that I had hoped for didn't come. Buy it for entertainment, not for motivation or education.

I got this book because the story sounded really interesting, and it is. It's really poorly written though, which was disappointing. It could have been much better

My 9 1/2 year old nephew started out enthusiastically on this book, but was soon daunted by the high falutin finances that took over. Not a book for every kid.

the end is the best part!!!!!!! 2nd best book I've ever read.#1 is dairy of a whimpy kid series. This book looks boring to us kids if you just read the name of the chapters,but read them and they are funny. The chapters look like the teach you and make you learn but they really have nothing to do with the names. They do really astonishing things with the money he earns. IN OTHER WORDS, READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




READ THIS REVEIW TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


RATE IT GOOD TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tony is the average 12-year-old boy with an average life plan: be an adult, become successful, have Corvette, and marry Melissa. The trouble begins when he adds becoming an artist to the list. With only innocent and professional intentions, he gets permission to sit in a strip club dressing room, where his mom works, to use the strippers as living models. His mom is a stripper by the way. The drawings are not only amazing but impress his art teacher who has them entered in a public show. A few days' later social services are responding to a compliant of child abuse and are at Tony and his mom's door. I read this 99-page book in 1 hour and 15 minutes. It's a fast, fun and bumpy ride. Tony is written true to form has a rambling teenager who give us a glimpse of his life normal yet not normal world. The ending is maybe a little too resolved and neat.

While this book is a fun, easy read, there's not a lot of substance to it. It's written in the style of a 12-year-old boy, which makes it highly authentic but slightly irritating when applied to run-on sentences. It also perpetuates the idea of the "good woman in the bad business" stereotype; in this case it's Al, mother of Tony, who dances in the Kitty Kat Club but reads the classics, holds an English degree, and is a wonderful mother. All of this gives the mature Tony an opportunity to draw "the girls" from life without being sexually excited. So while the book is meant to be fun, and is at times funny, it's a bit too formulaic to rate more than 3 stars.

Does your child need to read a high lexile book for their school? This one rates 1500 beause of some rambling 1 sentence paragraphs. They will have fun and it will get the teacher off their case. It is a quick and enjoyable read.

The Glass Café is about a boy named Tony who decides that he wants to be an artist. His art teacher tells him that some of the greatest artists ever drew the female body. Tony decides to try for himself. Tony's mom is an exotic dancer and Tony asks his mom, Al, if he can go to the club that she dances at and draw the other dancers if they allow him. His mom says that's fine and he draws pictures of the exotic dancers. When his art teacher sees these drawings, she enters them in an art contest and he wins. The pictures are displayed in a museum. Eventually a complaint is lodged against Al and Child Welfare comes to investigate. Then this innocent art project becomes a hilarious adventure.
I am an 8th grader and I liked this book.

I laughed all through this book and I'm an adult (although my wife sometimes will disagree with that). It is somewhat of a farce, but tells a great, funny story. The story of a mother doing what it takes to raise and defend her son is told from the son's viewpoint.

Although the mother is a stripper and the son does draw some nude dancers, there are no descriptions of nudity in the book. Those who are looking for that as a reason not to let their kids read the book won't find it.

Read it, you'll laugh. (Unless you're a total prude.)

"The boy who owned the school"is about a boy named Jake.He has an "F" in English.The only way he can get a beter grade,is to work a fog machine in the school play "The Wizard of Oz".I think I have told plenty.The ending is awesome.If you want to find out what it is,read the book.

It's been a while since I read this, but I can remember reading it, and then rereading it, and then reading it again. This book is a one-afternoon book. You sit down and start reading, and then you finish the book without getting up. The main charachter is a reclusive boy who avoids other people, which is hard because he goes to school. You hear a lot about his popular model-in-training sister, and the lady who poured warm oil...
Pretty funny and an engaging read. Kind of corny in spots though.
Trevor

This book is alright but I wouldn't strongly recommond this book to people who like action or funny booksa. Because this book is neither one. I don't like it that much but you may. It's about a boy named Jacob who does not want to be seen. And he has an F in English. To get his grade up, he has to work the fog machine in the school play. But he didn't want to do it. To find out out if he does it, you have to read the book.

The Boy Who Owned the School by Gary Paulsen keeps you on the edge of your seat. Jacob Freisten, a middle school student, was an extremely unusual boy. Jacob does not like to be noticed by any of his friends and peers. He makes a fool out of himself in front of the girl of his dreams. The story leads up to Jacob getting embarrassed.
This book is a must read because at the end of every chapter it leaves the reader hanging. The end was unusual to read youýll just have to pick up the book to see how unusual. There were so many exciting details.
Gary Paulsen is an outdoor man. All of his books are based around nature. He had to fend for himself because his parents drank too much. Once he walked into a library to get warm. If you want to know more about The Boy Who Owned the School check it out in your library

Jacob is the high school student that we all remember, and sympathize with to some extent: the social misfit who is beneath the quirky geek clique; a kid who is so socially inept that he never speaks to anyone, and indeed spends most of his time and energy figuring out how to avoid conversation altogether.
The book follows Jacob as he maneuvers his way through a distant home life and a harrowing school life. One of the most beautiful girls in school takes note of him when he is assigned to operate the fog machine in the school play, but he is so smitten with her that his usual social awkwardness devolves into a tongue-tied panic.
The Good and the Bad:
I liked the character of Jacob, and I certainly remember a student or two in school who he reminds me of. The book does a good job of fleshing out that anonymous character, and giving us reasons that contribute to that type of personality. The writing is also engaging and fun, with funny descriptive metaphors that are sure to capture the imagination of many children. But I rate the book fairly low because it is presented as a realistic story, but many of the scenes are so unrealistic as to seem surreal, or at least borrowed from a low-budget made-for-tv comedy about the horrors of high school (thought the characters seemed more junior-highish to me). For example, when Jacob accidentally stumbles into a school bully, the bully promptly stuffs him into a locker without so much as a word. There are no pop culture references, no shades of nuance in most of the characters, and a series of stereotypes about the jocks who seem to make up the majority of Jacob's classmates. Also straining belief was Jacob's over-the-top clumsiness, which often left him sprawling around like a clown in front of a crowd of peers. Nevertheless, the book is a quick and enjoyable read, and may give students a moment of reflection about their near-invisible classmates. The socially awkward student himself, however, is not likely to gain much in the way of constructive advice, as the solution to Jacob's problems lie in the persistence of a beautiful girl who is willing to put aside all of the social hierarchy because she wants to date Jacob.

The setting of story was Norsten Minnesota in the year 1989. The main characters in the book are a boy name Carley,David and Emily.My favorite character was the boy Carley Silly because he was funny when he fell down.My favorite part was when they ate the popcorn.I recommend this book to people 7 to ten years old because it is an interesting story about a boy who moves to a new city.

I love almost anything that Gary Paulsen writes, but in my estimation this book is one of the best. I was deeply moved by the little man who accomplished so much for the love of his family. The protagonist is a juvenile, in legal trouble, who is sent to live with his uncle, a blacksmith in rural Minnesota. The boy learns the value of work from his hardworking uncle, but he learns more when the uncle spends his little spare-time to create a carnival for his children because he wasn't able to take them to one.

I have owned this book for a long time but recently bought a second copy to lend to other admirers of Paulsen. I am a librarian in off-road Alaska. This book is so different from his better know and loved survival tales, that I wanted others to see the more tender side of Paulsen.

The book started off boring then it got more interesting. Carley goes from a bad kid to a respectful hardworking kid. This book is the most interesting book I have read this year I didn't want to put it down. I started the book and didn't put it down until I was down. I think this is a good book or anyone to read. To find out why I gave it a five you'll have to read the book.

Popcorn Days and Buttermilk Nights is a book about Carley moving to his Uncle's farm. Carley's uncle lives in Norsten, Minnesota, which is a big change from the big city, Minneapolis. He learned to adapt to new lifestyles and found a new hobby that he could spend his time on. Then something happens to David and Carley is the only one who could help.

I think that this is an OK book. It has great descriptions," The grass in the pasture was wet green and heavy with dew, and my feet were soaked in no time at all. But it was warm now, and the wet didn't feel bad." It has a well-written story where you can never predict what is going to happen next and some events that may surprise you.

Sometimes the book can get a little boring. Especially in the beginning, "But it wasn't summer, it was high spring. This came just before low summer, which led to high summer and low fall and then middle fall and first freeze-which led to low winter, and high winter, and so on." Near the end it gets boring again until the last event, which is my favorite.

In the end of the book David and Carley make a great achievement that nobody thought was possible, not even to Carley himself. When David gets disappointed that he doesn't have enough money to send his kids to the circus, he gets an idea. He decides to build a circus. David and Carley build a the circus rides while others joined in to make circus games and food stalls.

I thought the book was pretty good. At first it was boring then it started to get good. I kinda wish it was longer in a way. But it was a really good book. I thought it was so good I think everyone should read it.

I so love this author ever since reading "Winter Dance".
He's absurdly funny like...say...a Canadian sense of humor.
This book was a good read. Quick. Hated to hit that last page.

It surprises me that there aren't more reviews of this nice little book - I know Gary Paulsen is a writer for youth, but this is a book for adults (careful of some of the language if you're easily offended). As a rider myself, I found many things Paulsen wrote about to be spot on, how a person can become attached to his machine. His "side trips" (ruminations) about previous life experiences were well written and interesting. Maybe I was just in the mood for an easy read about one of my favorite hobbies (motorcycling), but I liked this book a lot and have loaned it to a couple of my friends who have enjoyed it as well.
I hope Paulsen reads this review so I can tell him how much I liked this book.

I had hoped for more from this book, which failed to hold my interest, despite being less than 200 pages. It's not a dud, however, but if you want an exciting read check out "Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro's Cuba." I read this in one sitting, finishing about 4 a.m.! It's a fascinating and sometimes hilarious, sometimes hair-raising story of a 7,000-mile journey and justifiably won both the 2002 Lowell Thomas Award "Travel Book of the Year" and the North American Travel Journalist Association's Awards of Excellence "Grand Prize."

If you want to read 224 pages of someone telling you how tough they are and how bad they've had it in life, with very little about motorcycling, then this books for you!This book is written on about a 4th grade level with dirty words thrown in as if to show off that he's a "man". Save your hard earned money!!

I love many of Gary Paulsen's books. I've heard Gary discuss his books at a bookstore appearance; Gary appears to be a very genuine, intelligent, and caring man and author.
BUT, this book seems to have been cobbled together to meet a contractual obligation. Not only is the book just 179 pages, but the print line spacing is expanded to "fluff" the text. Typical books have 28 to 32 lines of text per page; this book has 24. The title, on second thought, tries to play the life of Gary Paulsen in terms of a motorcycle ride: "zero to sixty" refers to Gary's current age, and "the journey of a lifetime" refers to Gary's life, not the motorcycle journey.
There's some glorification of how a Harley, different from any other motorcycle, "brought me out of myself, out ahead of myself, into myself, into the core of what I was, what I needed to live," but no thought about WHY the Harley brand does this for Gary -- or why other motorcyclists feel that other brands fit THEIR soul. (See _The Perfect Vehicle: What It is about Motorcycles_ for Melissa Holbrook Pierson's take on her relationship with her Moto Guzzi.)
_Zero to Sixty_ contains some interesting insights into Gary Paulsen's life, and has some beautifully written passages: but that's what you might expect in a long magazine interview.
The profanity is inappropriate and very stilted. Further, the profanity suddenly and almost totally stops halfway through the book at the start of chapter five -- almost as if an editor said, "Gary, you've got to throw some profanity into the first half of the book. After all, it is a 'Harley book.'" Who knows -- maybe the same editor later said, "hey, let's put out the same book under a different title and not tell anyone."
Borrow this book if you must read it -- it's a very quick read.
As the Librarian in Michigan pointed out, you can probably find this book in the library under its original title _Pilgrimage on a Steel Ride: A Memoir About Men and Motorcycles_.
But DON'T give up on Gary Paulsen if this is your first book of his -- he's an excellent writer -- just not here -- and perhaps not in his other directly autobiographical books.

Daniel took last look at his bedroom. He grabbed his suitcase and his sleeping bag his mother work days at the coner cafe in town. it took them a year to save up enough money to send Daniel to Eagle nest in the Premonition Moutains. Daniel didnt want to the camp. His dad died in the Rocky mountains with his uncle smitty. There is a bigstorm while they are driving and the wind almost blew them off the road. Branches clawed at his face. The current yanked his legs under neath the tree. Daniel held on with what strength he had but he kept going and going and he finally made his way up to the tree.

Have you ever been thrown into a river in a car when it is sinking? Well Daniel has in Danger on Midnight River by Gary Paulson. Daniel is with some of the boys from his school. Although he does not like them, he still helps them on their adventure. If you want to find out if Daniel survives you will have to read the book Danger on Midnight River.
The age group for this book is between 10 & 12. This book is very adventurous, and it is also helpful for camping. One of the weak points in this book is the ending. And one of the strong points is the crash.

Danger on Midnight River by Gary Paulsen is an adventure story. Daniel was a strong swimmer, but the swift-moving current was too much for him. It was all he could do to keep his head above the surging waves. A couple of times he thought he heard someone yelling. But for now he had his own problemes. The river was freezing cold and it offered no way out

I like Danger on Midnight River by Gary Paulsen. It was a good adventure story. I liked it because it was realistic and made me think of my life. You see, Daniel (the main character) did not want to go to camp, but he got in the van anyways. Did Danny end up at camp or did he end up somewhere else? Read this adventure story to find out!

Danger On Midnight River by Gary Paulsen is a world of adventure book .
Danger On Midnight River is about when a character named Daniel helps save his worst enemies because they make fun of Daniel. This book is very interesting ,and could probably help you in daily life today. Also, this book made me want to read the next chapter, the next chapter, and the next chapter. So, if you like adventure books, this would be the book for you. Read this book to find out what happens to Daniel and his worst enemies. By: Nicole Smith