Presenting Gary Paulsen

Gary Paulsen’s funny follow-up to Lawn Boy is full of big surprises and big laughs. Lawn Boy says: The summer I was twelve, mowing lawns with Grandpa’s old riding mower turned into big business. With advice from Arnold the stockbroker, I learned all about making money. Six weeks and hundred of thousands of dollars later, life got more complicated. You see, the prizefighter I sponsor, Joey Pow, won a big fight. And a TV interview made me famous. As Arnold says, “Capitalism plus publicity equals monster commerce.” Even my best friends wanted a piece of the action. Meanwhile, some scary guys showed up at Joey’s gym. . . .

"I love writing. I absolutely love it", asserts Gary Paulsen, who, since 1966, has published more than 100 books, among them nonfiction autobiographical works for adults and paperback series and picture books for children. Still, Paulsen's widespread critical and popular reputation rests principally on his two-dozen-plus novels for young adults, which include the Newbery Honor Books Dogsong (1986), Hatchet (1988), and The Winter Room (1990). Presenting Gary Paulsen - the first book-length critical biography of this fascinating writer - offers readers both an overview of Paulsen's life and an analysis of his extensive body of work for young adults. Drawing amply on a series of personal interviews with Paulsen, Gary M. Salvner provides readers with a vivid portrait of his subject and a lively assessment of how the writer's life and work come together. Thematically arranged chapters correlate stories with life experiences and examine the motifs, techniques, and voices Paulsen so winningly employs; covered as well are the writer's contributions to adult nonfiction and children's literature. A concluding chapter investigates "The Now and Future Gary Paulsen: Today's Writing and Tomorrow's Plans".

Guess what -- Gary Paulsen was being kind to Brian. In Guts, Gary tells the real stories behind the Brian books, the stories of the adventures that inspired him to write Brian Robeson's story: working as an emergency volunteer; the death that inspired the pilot's death in Hatchet; plane crashes he has seen and near-misses of his own. He describes how he made his own bows and arrows, and takes readers on his first hunting trips, showing the wonder and solace of nature along with his hilarious mishaps and mistakes. He shares special memories, such as the night he attracted every mosquito in the county, or how he met the moose with a sense of humor, and the moose who made it personal. There's a handy chapter on "Eating Eyeballs and Guts or Starving: The Fine Art of Wilderness Nutrition." Recipes included. Readers may wonder how Gary Paulsen survived to write all of his books -- well, it took guts.

A Newbery Honor Book by the New York Times–bestselling author of Northwind. “A compelling description of farming in a bygone time.” —Publishers Weekly ALA/YALSA Best Book for Young Adults ALA Notable Book for Children Judy Lopez Memorial Award for Children’s Literature Following the turn of the seasons, eleven-year-old Eldon traces the daily routines of his life on a farm and his relationship with his older brother Wayne. During the winter, with little work to be done on the farm, Eldon and Wayne spend the quiet hours with their family, listening to their Uncle David’s stories. But Eldon soon learns that, although he has lived on the same farm, in the same house with his uncle for eleven springs, summers, and winters, he hardly knows him. “It is the palpable awareness of place and character that is unforgettable. Paulsen, with a simple intensity, brings to consciousness the texture, the smells, the light and shadows of each distinct season. He has penned a mood poem in prose.” —School Library Journal “More a prose poem than a novel, this beautifully written evocation of a Minnesota farm perhaps 40 years ago consists of portraits of each of the four seasons, along with four brief stories told by old Uncle David.” —Kirkus Reviews

In the old days there were songs... Something is bothering Russel Susskit. He hates waking up to the sound of his father's coughing, the smell of diesel oil, the noise of snow machines starting up. Only Oogruk, the shaman who owns the last team of dogs in the village, understands Russel's longing for the old ways and the songs that celebrated them. But Oogruk cannot give Russel the answers he seeks; the old man can only prepare him for what he must do alone. Driven by a strange, powerful dream of a long-ago self and by a burning desire to find his own song, Russel takes Oogruk's dogs on an epic journey of self-discovery that will change his life forever.

Gary Paulsen, a three-time Newbery Honor winner, has written over 175 books for young adults and adults for over twenty years. His stories of adventure and survival are beloved by readers, teachers, librarians, and critics. This volume examines a sample of the most widely-known and widely-studied books by Paulsen. A biographical chapter demonstrates how Paulsen's life experiences, notably the Iditarod, have influenced his writing. Each book is analyzed for plot, characterization, setting, and themes, written at a level that is accessible for young readers, yet providing in-depth information for older readers. Books analyzed in this volume include: -Brian's Winter -Dogsong -Hatchet -The Island -Winter Room

McFarland Companions to Young Adult Literature American novelist Gary Paulsen is best known for his young adult fiction, including bestsellers Nightjohn, Soldier's Heart, and Woods Runner. From his trenchant prose in The Rifle and The Foxman to the witty escapades of Harris and Me and Zero to Sixty, Paulsen crafts stories with impressive range. The tender scenes in The Quilt and A Christmas Sonata speak to his empathy for children, with characters who endure the same hardships that marred his own early life. This literary companion introduces readers to his life and work. A-to-Z entries explore themes such as alcoholism, coming of age, slavery, survival, and war. A glossary defines terms unique to his work. Appendices provide related historical references, writing, art, and research topics.

Much of Gary Paulsen’s life has been lived close to the natural world. A three-time Newbery Honor winner, Paulsen writes adventure stories, such as Dogsong, Hatchet, and Woods Runner, where his young main characters struggle to survive in the natural world. Other stories touch on family visits to Minnesota, as in The Winter Room and Harris and Me, or science fiction, as in Time Hackers. Recently, Paulsen and his son, Jim, collaborated on two books involving a boy, his father, and their dogs. In 1997, Paulsen won the Margaret A. Edwards Award for his lifetime contribution to young adult literature.