Woods Runner Author: Visit Amazon's Gary Paulsen Page | Language: English | ISBN:
037585908X | Format: EPUB
Woods Runner Description
From Booklist
Steering his narrative through an unsentimentalized and deglorified depiction of the American Revolution, Paulsen’s latest work of historical fiction provides a stark glimpse of just how awful the war really was for those who suffered through it. Though his parents are city folk trying to hack out a life on the frontier in Pennsylvania, 13-year-old Samuel is entirely at home in the woodland wilderness that surrounds their little settlement. Soon after word arrives of the uprising in Concord and Lexington, Samuel returns home from a jaunt in the forest to find his home burned down, the neighbors slaughtered, and his parents missing. Samuel tracks his captured parents through the countryside to British-held New York, encountering scalping bands of Iroquois, pillaging squads of mercenary Hessians, and a few hardy, helpful rebels along the way. Paulsen alternates chapters of Samuel’s story with historical notes that illuminate the sobering realities of the Revolution and add some context not found in most history books. Paulsen’s rewarding and fast-paced novel offers an honest assessment of heroism writ both small and large. Grades 6-9. --Ian Chipman
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Review
Starred review, Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2010: "A superb reflection on the nature of war."
From the Hardcover edition. See all Editorial Reviews
- Age Range: 12 and up
- Grade Level: 7 and up
- Paperback: 176 pages
- Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books; Reprint edition (January 11, 2011)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 037585908X
- ISBN-13: 978-0375859083
- Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.4 inches
- Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
After spending the past 30 years researching, writing and doing school presentations on the Revolutionary War, I always have mixed feelings when I learn about a newly published YA novel on this subject - I look forward to reading it, but am apprehensive it will be full of historical inaccuracies. I am also hard to please. I consider Johnny Tremain too slow, April Morning too philosophical, My Brother Sam is Dead too depressing, and Octavian Nothing much, much too difficult for young readers.
I recommend L.M. Elliott's Give Me Liberty for how it shows how political events on the eve of the war impact ordinary Virginians. Also, Ann Rinaldi's The Fifth of March for her excellent portrayal of life in 1770 British army occupied Boston, with a nice love story thrown in. As for stories showing how inexperienced teenage soldiers cope with their first battle, I have yet to see any book as good as my own two, Patriots and Gone to Meet the British.
Now I'm adding WOODS RUNNER to this short "recommended" list. It has all the elements I consider essential to a good children's novel: a main character the reader can identify with, and it's exciting, suspenseful, fast paced and easy to read. Gary Paulsen's description of how Samuel uses his woods skills is right on, as well as the boy's feelings and thoughts. The story is believable, and I read it straight through to see how the conflict was resolved.
However, nearly every chapter had an extra page or two after it where Paulsen provided historical context info that took me out of the moment; those pages would have been better placed in a lengthy Afterword. I suspect this book will be around for a few decades.
If Mr.
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