The Brian Saga, Book 1 Gary Paulsen Ember Fiction, MG Adventure Themes: Classics, Wilderness Tales *****
Description
Brian Robeson's thirteen-year-old life is disintegrating around him. His parents are in the middle of a divorce, and he - unbeknownst to either
parent - knows the Secret why. His father has visitation rights, so during summers Brian is sent out to wherever he happens to be. Currently, it's
a remote oil drilling facility in the Canadian wilderness, reachable only by bush plane. Before he goes, his mother gives him a small hatchet in
honor of his woodsy summer destination. At the time, it seems a token gesture from a guilty parent, but soon Brian will come to treasure that gift.
After the bush pilot dies at the controls and Brian's plane goes down after veering far off-course, that hatchet is the only weapon he has - aside
from his wits. Can a city kid survive in the Canadian wilderness alone, with no camping knowledge and slim chance of rescue?
Review
This is a classic young adult tale of survival. Brian grows up very fast in his time alone, realizing that his parents' divorce is nothing in the
greater scheme of things. In addition to the ever-present danger, there is a sense of grandeur and beauty in the Canadian woods, and even as Brian
fights to live he learns to see that beauty. The story moves quickly, with a sense of the real struggle for survival the hero endures.
Two years after his incredible survival in the Canadian wilderness, the hype and publicity have finally died down. Brian is doing his best to return
to "normal," though he knows the experience has permanently altered him. One day, a team from the government shows up on his doorstep. They train pilots
and soldiers how to survive in the wilderness, but nobody has studied the psychological changes required to live in the wild for any length of time. They
want Brian to go back to the Canadian woods, this time with an observer, to help them teach others how to survive, especially how to think to survive.
The wilderness, however, isn't a party to the "game," and before long what was a relatively pleasant return to the woods becomes a real life-or-death
struggle, as lightning fries their radio and sends the observer into a coma-like state. Brian must get the man to civilization, and that means braving an
unknown river with an untrustworthy map in the middle of nowhere.
Review
This is another excellent tale of Brian in the wilderness. His return to the wilderness teaches him new lessons, building on the old. Highly recommended to
people who liked Hatchet.
The Brian Saga, Book 3 Gary Paulsen Ember Fiction, MG Adventure Themes: Wilderness Tales *****
Description
At the end of Hatchet, Brian is unexpectedly rescued after nearly two months in the Canadian wilderness. By then, he had learned enough to live on
his own. But what if events had gone slightly differently, and Brian hadn't been rescued before the weather turned? This is the story of the
alternate Brian Robeson, who must adapt all over again as the weather robs him of the resources he has come to rely on, except his wits. And his
hatchet.
Review
This is an excellent "sequel" to Hatchet, as Brian relies on dim memories and observation of the natural world to survive as the seasons
change. The author's extensive experience with the North in winter lends a distinct ring of authenticity to Brian's struggles. As a warning, it does have
more bloodshed, as Brian is forced to move beyond fish and small animals to find food. I found I actually preferred this alternate tale to the original
ending, if only because I liked seeing how the hero kept rising to the challenges piled upon him by the unforgiving wilderness. A great adventure.
After being rescued from the Canadian wilderness in the harsh Northern winter, Brian tried to return to a normal life, but something felt wrong.
After two years of growing unease, culminating in an uncharacteristically violent retaliation against a bully, Brian realizes that he needs to return
to the woods. Try as he might to deny it, he was changed irrevocably by his survival experience. When he returns to the wilderness, can he find the
piece of himself he left behind and resume his old city-bound life?
Review
Another excellent story, the last in Brian's survival sequence. His journey of self-discovery is interesting and powerful. Also interesting is the
author's afterword, where he describes how Brian's experiences mirror many of his own. (Barnes & Noble sometimes lists this as the first in Brian's saga,
although perhaps it is simply the start of a new trilogy: I see a new hardcover book, Brian's Hunt, is in bookstores now. Considering Paulsen's
afterword, which is essentially a farewell-and-good-luck to Brian, I don't know why another book is needed, but I'll be buying it as soon as it comes out
in paperback nevertheless.)
The Brian Saga, Book 5 Gary Paulsen Ember Fiction, MG Adventure Themes: Wilderness Tales ***+
Description
Brian Robeson, the boy who survived for months in the Canadian wilderness after a plane crash, has quickly settled into life in the northern woods.
It's almost as if he never left, as if the time between being rescued and coming back of his own accord was some sort of bad dream of noise and crowds
and city stenches. One night, a wounded dog comes to his campsite, and he has a chilling sense of foreboding about its arrival. He's been meaning to
visit his Cree friends, the Smallhorns, in their camp to the north, and the dog's mysterious arrival - from the north - sets Brian's deepest instincts
on edge. Has something happened to his friends? If so, is it too late to do anything to help them? Brian and his new four-footed companion have no choice
but to investigate.
Review
This wasn't really a necessary continuation of Brian's story for Brian's sake, as the other books in the series were. It was nice to revisit him, but
he was less profoundly changed by his "hunt" than he was by previous events. That aside, it was another good tale of life in the wilderness, where the
artificial line we like to draw between man and animal, predator and prey, doesn't exist. The ending's a little disturbing, though.
For decades, author Gary Paulsen wrote many mesmerizing stories, several influenced by his long and unusual life and rough childhood. Here, he relates
tales that never made it directly into his other works, incidents and memories that shaped him from a young child through his time as a young man in the
Army, from his time at his aunt's remote farm to his years in postwar Manila, from a struggling schoolboy to an eager devourer of library books... and
eventual crafter of his own stories.
Review
When the world lost Gary Paulsen, it lost a true treasure, and a window into a mindset and lifestyle that has become increasingly endangered in modern
times. He has hinted, in previous books, about various events in his life, but never collected these particular tales (though he does talk a bit about
some of these events in books like Guts and This Side of Wild, and the afterwords to some of his fictional works). It starts when "the boy" (oddly, he
chose to write his memoir in third person) is five years old; his mother, in Chicago to work in a factory during wartime while her husband is overseas,
has become a bar regular (with numerous "uncles" vying for her attention), and encourages him to sing on tabletops to attract attention and garner free
drinks, until Gary's grandmother gets wind of the situation and snatches the child away to live with relatives in the deep woods. The solo train journey,
among cars full of wounded servicemen back from the front lines, leaves an indelible mark on his young psyche, and is also his first introduction to the
green world of the forests that would dominate so much of his future, a spiritual connection he feels the moment he locks eyes with a black bear from the
train window. Paulsen, as always, manages to evoke a strong, almost spiritual sense of the world around him, from the green paradise of his summer with
his aunt Edith and uncle Sig in the green woods to the nightmare of watching sharks tear into plane crash victims on the Pacific ocean and the
bomb-cratered city of Manila, where the stains (and bodies) of Japanese occupation still fill the caves and litter the jungle, even to the Hell of his
brutal alcoholic home life and the unexpected sanctuary of the town library. As a final book, this makes a fitting last bow, even as it remains clear that
there are many more stories where these came from that will now never be told.
In the widely-acclaimed young adult book Hatchet, a city boy named Brian finds himself stranded in the wilderness, relearning the very
basic human skills of observation and survival which modern civilization has largely forgotten. The author, Gary Paulsen, based most of Brian's
adventures on his own experiences, from a childhood spent hunting in the Minnesota wilderness to later runnings of the Iditarod. In this book, Paulsen
describes the parts of his life that later formed the basis of young Brian Robeson's transformative experiences in the deep woods.
Review
Someday, Gary Paulsen needs to write himself a proper autobiography, but in the meantime this makes for a fascinating glimpse into a life full of
adventures that some would relegate to another age: run-ins with insane moose, attacks by bloodthirsty insects swarming thick enough to block daylight,
white-knuckle flights in Alaskan bush planes, even watching as seemingly tame wildlife showed its true spirit to unwary, foolish bystanders. Looking
beyond the basics, it reveals a way of thinking that too many of us never learned. As an increasingly materialistic and urban civilization, we seem to be
forgetting the mentality that made us such a successful species, the ability to observe and become one with the world around us, the drive and desire to
know and learn which not only makes survival possible on a basic level, but makes for a more fully-experienced life. I wonder how much longer we will have
people like Gary Paulsen and his fictional proxy, Brian, to remind us of that... and tracts of unspoiled wilderness in which to exercise it.
After his mother died in childbirth, with no father named or known, the boy Leif grew up as little better than a thrall among the seafaring folk,
first on the docks and then on the ships, until at last he and a handful of others were sent to a small camp to smoke fish and wait for the return
of the seal hunting crew. Only the crew never returned, and the only ship that came was an ill-omened vessel of dead and dying strangers who so
poison the air with their brief presence that soon everyone falls ill. With the last of his strength, Old Carl sends young Leif away in a dugout
cedar canoe, telling him to head north, always north, and never return to this cursed place. For the first time in his often-wretched young life,
Leif finds himself alone... and for the first time, he must learn who he truly is, what he is made of, and if he can survive the wild, unforgiving
world in which he wanders.
Review
This is, I believe, the last story published by the late Gary Paulsen, and his ability to bring the wilderness to life, in all its wonders and
glories and dangers, remains clear. Set in an unspecified prehistory in Nordic lands, Northwind is a coming-of-age journey for a young man
who has lived his whole life next to the sea, on the sea, surrounded by the sea, but has never truly experienced the sea until thrust upon it in the
little dugout canoe. As in other Paulsen titles, Leif's adventures are as much about his failures and moments of quickly-dashed hubris as they are
about his successes and discovering the marvels, the borderline-spiritual connection with the natural world - not just the animals, but the winds
and waters and living currents, the very pulse of the sea itself. Unlike some of Paulsen's other stories, there isn't a clear goal for Leif to drive
for; he's not trying to return to the village he came from, where he'd just be a veritable slave again, or any other particular destination. His
journey falls somewhere between exploration and spirit quest, potentially one he will never finish even in a long lifetime. This lack of goal makes
the ending feel a little anticlimactic, almost like Paulsen may have planned for a sequel or series or simply another part of this book but (for
obvious reasons, unfortunately) never finished the thought. Still, even a somewhat inconclusive tale by Gary Paulsen is a beautiful thing, a poetic
ode to nature and a way of life and thinking that sadly seems endangered.
Gary Paulsen Laurel Leaf Fiction, MG General Fiction Themes: Country Tales ****
Description
In 1768, when America began to chafe under British rule and the first hints of revolution were stirring, the gunsmith Cornish McManus built perhaps the
perfect flintlock rifle, impossibly accurate and incredibly beautiful, a weapon and a work of art. From him, the rifle comes to the hands of John Byam, a
legendary marksman in the Revolutionary War, before it passes on to another owner... and another... After Byam's death in the trenches, none of its
successive owners thought to check the old muzzle-loading gun to see if it was still loaded as it passed through the years to the present day. If they had,
things might have been different...
Review
This is a book about what guns mean to various people in various times, and poses the question of whether the gun or the owner is truly the killer when
terrible accidents occur. An interesting story which doubles as a cautionary tale about having respect for firearms, even antiques that seem harmlessly
rustic but were truly designed for the purpose of taking a life.
Popular author Gary Paulsen reflects on animal encounters through his life, from the dog Gretchen (who would hold long "conversations" over
cups of bitter-dark coffee) to the toy poodle Corky (who proved unexpectedly brave against Alaskan grizzlies), not to mention his ongoing,
frequently contentious relationship with ravens.
Review
This is an interesting, if sometimes meandering, collection of stories demonstrating the intelligence, playfulness, and occasional spite of
all manner of animals. In his observations, he comes to agree with a conclusion reached by an animal trainer friend of his: one does not train
animals, but animals train us, having far more awareness and agency than humans like to credit them. Paulsen sees how even wild animals learn to
manipulate humans, in memorable encounters at a highway rest stop and on a desert horseback ride. He also offers glimpses into his long and
colorful life, not to mention a brief detour into the true horrors of nuclear warfare, as part of his military training introduced him to facts
that were deliberately withheld from the general population on warhead lethality. (It's Gretchen, the dog who appeared to have figured out a way
to hold wordless talks with her people, who helps him deal with this troubling knowledge.) As usual, I enjoyed Paulsen's writing style, though
the chapters sometimes wavered and wandered in their focus. Overall, though, it's an interesting collection of animal encounters, mostly domestic
but a few wild, that can be enjoyed by somewhat older children and adults alike. (Some of the material is a little graphic for very young
readers.)
Thirteen-year-old Mark was hiking across an abandoned missile range in the desert when a strange light from the sky transports him to
another place, another world. Here, Mark finds his skills put to the ultimate test. Can he survive in this strange new wilderness, among
warring primitive tribes and other, stranger enemies, long enough to find a way back home?
Review
Something about this story just didn't "click" with me, though I can't for certain say why. I've certainly read worse. Paulsen's
experience with survival and wilderness adventure lends an air of authenticity to Mark's experiences, but this isn't an alien-world
Hatchet. Much of the book concerns Mark trying to fit in with the native cultures and their peculiar customs. Some of the plot
twists seemed a little obvious, and Paulsen's girls were essentially decorative pieces so far as characterization was concerned, nowhere
near as capable of fending for themselves as Mark or the other men. Paulsen also goes out of his way so Mark can try his hand at the old
modern-kid-dazzles-rustic-natives trick of not only remembering the ingredients of gunpowder, but being able to recognize them in their
native state, find them all in easy distance, and grind them finely enough and in proper proportions for a nice explosion without any
preliminary experimentation or guesswork. The ending... well, it wasn't all a dream, I'll give him that, but it still felt like a letdown
of similar proportions. I enjoyed parts of this book, and Paulsen's efforts at creating alien wilderness regions were good, but I'm not
sure how well his writing translates to the sci-fi genre.
Since before he could remember, Samuel has been drawn to the woods beyond the family homestead on the frontier of colonial America.
His city-born parents barely venture out of sight of their cabin, but the boy thrives among the trees, learning to read trail sign as
easily as letters. By the time he turns 13 in the year 1775, he's the main hunter in their small settlement. When rumors reach the
farm about unrest in nearby Boston, Samuel doesn't expect it to matter. The homesteaders aren't rebelling against anyone, harmlessly
tending their land, too far out of the way to be bothered by wars or politics.
Then Samuel comes home from a hunting trip to find the farms ablaze, most of his neighbors dead, and his parents missing - taken
captive by redcoats.
Barely surviving an encounter with the English soldiers and their Indian scouts, Samuel is rescued by a group of Americans on their
way to join up with the fledgling rebellion. The young man still wants no part in wars or violence, but the war has stolen away his
family, and there's nothing he won't do to free them - even venture far from his beloved woodlands to the teeming throngs of
English-held New York City.
Review
Intercutting Samuel's story with historical facts on the American Revolution, Paulsen presents a side of the conflict that often
gets brushed aside, the average colonist who never even thought about politics or rebellion until the brewing war trampled their
lives and drew first blood. Though his parents are first-generation farmers learning as they go, Samuel has known no life but that
of a woods runner, and despite all the books he reads and stories he's told by other homesteaders he could see no finer future for
himself than spending his days among the trackless frontier forests, far from city folk and their troubles. The small settlement
he's part of thinks that their indifference and insignificance will spare them having to choose a side, but they barely even hear
of the Boston Massacre (communication being a slow and spotty thing in the late 1700's) before they wake to find redcoats at their
door. Most are slaughtered outright, but Samuel's parents are taken captive... and thus begins Samuel's journey, not just from the
woodlands to civilization, but from peace to war. From the outset, despite his misgivings over killing another human being, he is
determined to do whatever it takes to get his parents back, even despite the great odds against him. He's never even seen a real
town before, much less a proper city - and New York City is firmly in the grip of the British forces, where thousands of colonist
prisoners languish in desperate, often deadly conditions, with minimal food and no medical care; more Americans died as prisoners
of war than in combat during the Revolution, according to historical records... and even those records often gloss over civilian
casualties. Through sheer grit and some luck, Samuel manages to rise to the occasion, though the experience leaves scars, not all
of them physical. A relatively short tale, Woods Runner successfully evokes both the feeling of the long-lost primeval
frontier wilderness and what it was like to quite literally have an international war turn up on the doorstep, ending a small and
quiet dream of pastoral life in a single world-shattering moment.
