Library Notes / May 1, 2011
Dara L. Cain

Happy Birthday! Gary Paulsen

Born May 17, 1939, Gary Paulsen is one of America’s most admired writers of contemporary literature for young readers. To date he has written over 175 books and 200 articles and short stories for young people and adults. Many of his books often appear on the best books list of the American Library Association and three of his novels – Hatchet, Dogsong, and The Winter Room were Newbery Honor Books. Paulsen’s books are great for young teens that enjoy reading stories set in the great outdoors and characters that experience thrilling and challenging life obstacles.

Hatchet

Thirteen year-old Brian Robeson is on a small engine plane headed north to the Canadian oil fields to visit his dad. Mid-flight the pilot has a heart attack and dies. Brian is left alone to try and land the plane. When the plane crashes into an icy lake Brian narrowly escapes with his life. The plane is too damaged to radio for help. Armed with only the hatched his mother gave him as a gift and the clothes on his back Brian must learn how to survive alone in the Canadian woods. This is the first book in the Brian’s Saga series. The other titles in the series are The River, Brian’s Winter, and Brian’s Return.

Dogsong

A young teenage boy named Russel Susskit can’t bear to wake up in the morning to the sound of his father’s coughing, the piercing noises of the snow machines, and the stench of diesel oil. He is frustrated with the modern ways of his Eskimo village and longs for the traditions and the songs that celebrated his people. Inspired by the words of the wise Eskimo shaman Oogruk, Russel sets out on a journey with the last remaining dog team in his village. Traveling across tundra, ice floes, tundra, and mountains Russel is troubled by a powerful dream of a long-ago self whose adventures mirror his own. Russel’s heroic journey of self-discovery and his yearning desire to find his own song will ultimately change his life forever.

The Winter Room

Eldon and his older brother Wayne live on a farm in northern Minnesota with their parents, their Uncle David, and their great-uncle. During the course of a year follow this family through the change in seasons while they do the plowing, the harvest and the butchering. The best time of the year is winter when Eldon and his brother spend their evenings in the winter room gathered around the wood stove listening to their Uncle David tell amazing stories. One evening Uncle David tells the story of “The Woodcutter,” and Eldon immediately realizes that his uncle is not the person he believed him to always be. This story has the ability to change everything for the brothers.