Gary Paulsen

Jacob Freisten's goal in life is to go about unnoticed. He's perfect at gliding past the jocks' lockers and sneaking into his English class. That was, until now. If Jacob wants to pass English, he must work for extra credit on the stage crew of the school production of The Wizard of Oz. Jacob...

The story is all true and happened to me and is mine. Tony’s mom, Al, is a terrific single mother who works as a dancer at the Kitty Kat Club. Twelve-year-old Tony is a budding artist, inspired by backstage life at the club. When some of his drawings end up in an art show and catch the...

Zit monster. Puberty Werewolf. Potty Boy. Doo Doo Rules! I'm Duane. Duane Homer Leech. Don't ask. I'm 12. And one week. What I want to know is, where is this whole puberty thing going? So far it's just something put on earth to destroy me. And I don't have a clue what's coming next. 2006 by Gary...

TODAY MOLLY Learned her wacky grandma was coming to spend the day at school with her; Lost her Notebook with Everything that Matters in it, including her homework; Got a black eye. Tore her skirt. And it's only 9 a.m. Could things get any worse? You bet! 2004 by Gary Paulsen...

You ever open your locker and find that some joker has left something really weird inside? Seventh-grader Dorso Clayman opens his locker door to find a dead body. Thirty seconds later it disappears. It's not the first bizarre thing that has appeared in his locker and then vanished. Something's...

Family fun takes center stage in three-time Newbery Honor winner Gary Paulsen’s hilarious novel for middle-school boys. Kevin Spencer is the glue that holds his family together. When his wacky relatives decide to have a double wedding in the backyard, Kevin takes charge. Planning two weddings...

Some people lead and some people get out of the way. It’s a universal rule. A cosmic inevitability. Kevin Spencer is one lucky guy. Tina Zabinski, the World’s Most Beautiful, Most Perfect, Best-Smelling Girl, is finally his girlfriend. But now that he’s got the girl, will he be able to...

An experienced Iditarod racer, Gary Paulsen celebrates his lead dog and longtime companion, Cookie, in this intimate essay. Paulsen takes readers inside the kennel as Cookie's last litter of pups grow and learn to pull sleds across the snowy frontier. 1996 by Gary Paulsen...

They are four different people with four separate lives: Sue, a young woman distanced from her native roots; David, a traveler in search of a dream; Laura, a student seeking her parents’ understanding; and Peter, a rock star struggling to create a perfect sound. One looming fate threatens them...

In the winter, life in McKinley, Minnesota, revolves around the rinks, where kids play hockey and grown-ups skate to scratchy phonograph records. Then, the year Marsh and his best friend, Willy, are twelve, Carl appears at the rink, wearing a battered, old leather flight jacket and doing a...

His uncle wanted him to stay home and work the farm. But the boy knew there was a world out there he had to see. Yet being a runaway meant you were outside the law – fair game. That’s how he got caught on the farm gang. There was no way out, until Tiltawhirl John picked him up and taught him...

Carley would rather have been anywhere but here: a town deep in Minnesota’s farm country, with nothing plentiful except poverty. Still, staying with his Uncle David and his family was better than reform school – which was where Carley was heading. Something was eating away at him, making him...

WHEN YOU GROW up in a small town in the north woods, you have to make your own excitement. High spirits, idiocy, and showing off for the girls inspire Gary Paulsen and his friends to attempt: Shooting waterfalls in a barrel The first skateboarding Breaking the world record for speed...

Harold Schernoff, 14-year-old science whiz and social nerd, has a theory for every problem, from dating, to bullies, to making money, to sports, to how to buy a car when you're underage. When he and his buddy team up to put his theories to the test, nothing goes according to plan. A ski lesson...

Another such wave could easily be the end of us. I had to do something, fix something, save the boat, save myself. But what? Gary Paulsen takes listeners along on his maiden voyage, proving that ignorance can be bliss. Also really stupid and incredibly dangerous. He tells of boats that owned him...

As a punishment for lying, Kevin has lost his allowance. He doesn’t lie now, but he’s broke. He’s got to find a way to make money. Lots of it, so he can impress Tina Zabinski, the World’s Most Beautiful Girl, and ask her on a date. So Kevin gets creative—and his life becomes a...

Survival in the wilderness—Gary Paulsen writes about it so powerfully in his novels Hatchet and The River because he's lived it.These essays recount his adventures alone and with friends, along the rivers and in the woods of northern Minnesota. There, fishing and hunting are serious business...

Born into slavery, Bass Reeves became the most successful US Marshal of the Wild West. Many "heroic lawmen" of the Wild West, familiar to us through television and film, were actually violent scoundrels and outlaws themselves. But of all the sheriffs of the frontier, one man stands out as a true...

Every time Kevin Spencer sees Tina Zabinski, the Most Beautiful Girl in the World, he’s in danger of tripping, falling, and making a fool of himself. He can hardly say a word to her. But Kev knows he’d be the perfect boyfriend for Tina. He’s not bragging. Just pointing out the obvious. Kev...

"Let's face facts: We may be the most boring twelve-year-olds on the planet." Henry Mosley decides that he and his pals Riley and Reed have got to liven things up. They need to go on some earth-shaking adventures and make a name for themselves. Henry is the mastermind; Riley's the cautious...