The Foxman

by Gary Paulsen
audiobook 3 discs
performed by Johnny Heller
genre: YA realistic fiction

Overall, this was a wonderful story of a teenage boy growing up. Some of the language choices were odd - not exactly outdated, but weird. I can't remember the phrase Paulsen used for lip balm . . . it wasn't Chapstick, but close. An odd term I'd never heard before.

The north woods setting, the uncle and aunt who take him in when his alcoholic parents become abusive, the elusive and mysterious Foxman all add up to a wonderful coming-of-age story for Carl.

The ending was so sad, but fitting. Heller's vocal work is fine for the story.


(Above posted 11.02.2017. Below added 04.14.2020.)

We actually own this audiobook, so while the libraries were closed due to Covid-19, I grabbed it to re-listen in the car.

Carl is actually the cousin that the protagonist goes to live with. I can't remember the protagonist's name and now I'm wondering if Paulsen ever gave him one! He is the one who is drawn to the Foxman and who grows so much over the course of the story. (Though his cousin Carl gets his teenage girlfriend pregnant and will most definitely have some growing up going on!)

When he gets snow blindness and panics, I love the observation he makes about how easy it is to be level-headed when you're in the comfort of your own home and how hard it can be to think clearly when you're panicking.

Also, he let the books burn with the cabin?!?!? Why???

In the author's notes at the end of the story, I was again struck by Paulsen's reference to praying to luck or "whatever" is out there. After I read one of his other books where he basically said he had done too many bad things to be forgiven by God, I wrote him a letter explaining that ALL have sinned and fall short of God's glory. God loves all His creation, Mr. Paulsen. Just ask Him. (I never sent the letter . . . )

There was a lot of autobiographical info in the book. The author interview was very interesting.

Tiltawhirl John

by Gary Paulsen
PRMS discard hardcover 127 pages
genre: YA realistic

The first part of this story reads like a less-entertaining version of Paulsen's The Beet Fields. The rest is about the main character's experience working with the carnival. It's a pretty standard coming-of-age story, but definitely not one of Paulsen's better told stories. I'm okay with removing it from my collection and donating it to Better World Books.

The Tent

by Gary Paulsen
PRMS hardcover 86 pages
genre: YA fiction (historical?)

This is super short, with only 86 pages and lots of white space. As I've been weeding my collection, it's so hard for me to get rid of books that seem interesting and/or were written by authors I admire. This one had lots of stereotypes (preachers with big hair, phony messages, etc.) but a wonderful change of heart that surprised and delighted me.

Basically, a teenager named Steve and his dad Corey are dirt poor with tough prospects. Corey decides to become a traveling preacher and get rich. Steve thinks he's kidding but goes along with it. They end up becoming very successful financially, while pushing aside their reservations about the right or wrong of what they're doing.

Chapter headings:
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also
Ye cannot serve God and mammon (money)
A man's life consists not in the abundance of things which he possesses
Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction
Take heed and beware of covetousness (greed)
Watch and pray that you fall not into temptation
A corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit
And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many
And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things entering in choke the Word

pages 68/69 have Steven contemplating their wealth and standard of living. "Was it bad, he thought, to tell people about God and get money for it?" "And his objections went." "And he changed." The transition from a kid with a conscience to a kid who's all about what he can get . . . was disheartening.

pages 78-84 Corey and Steven catch one another's eyes in the tent. "The same look. The edge, the hard cut of guilt, of doubt . . . " I love how the story changes here! What a lovely surprise ending.

The Beet Fields

by Gary Paulsen
Hennepin County Library audiobook 3 discs
read by Macleod Andrews
genre: YA coming-of-age

This was a re-read and I love Paulsen's ability to tell stories! Andrews' vocal work is wonderful. I always wonder how much is fiction and how much is true to Paulsen's own experience. I would love to share some of the opening sections with working in the beet fields with the Mexicans . . . with my students. But some of it is inappropriate for middle school.

Popcorn Days & Buttermilk Nights

by Gary Paulsen
PRMS LA hardcover 100 pages
genre: YA coming of age

I think my sixth grade book club is going to have a hard time with this. I picked it because I had never read it before, it's short, and I had multiple copies. As much as I love Paulsen, this one was odd. The preface has someone coming into "Norsten" Minnesota. Part of that setting includes a burned-out smithy . . . and then the story starts and we learn that Carly is a troubled boy from Minneapolis who comes to stay with his uncle. I spent the whole book waiting for Carly to accidentally (or on purpose) burn down the smithy. Nope. He is reformed from his bad ways by hard work, seeing the poverty of his relatives, and helping David to build a carnival. Some lyrical passages, but not much in the way of a story.

The Haymeadow

by Gary Paulsen
Dakota County Library, audioCDs, 3:32
read by Richard Thomas (John Boy!)
genre: YA realistic fiction, adventure, survival

My memory of this book was that it had a slow start, but got really exciting as it went on (once John was alone in the haymeadow and responsible for what happened to the 6,000 sheep). Though Thomas' voice work was wonderful, this time around the story seemed slow. Paulsen remains one of my favorite authors, but this one . . . not sure about it. The ending, with John and his father seemed stilted.

How Angel Peterson Got His Name

by Gary Paulsen
PRMS paperback 111 pages
genre: YA, biography / memoir, humor

Gary Paulsen is a master storyteller. It would be interesting to interview the other guys in this slim book of stories about his adolescence. This book is cleaner than some of Paulsen's other stories of his youth. This was a re-read for me, to get ready for our 8th grade book club this week. Archie is a memorable character - older and somewhat dangerous.

Lawn Boy Returns

by Gary Paulsen
PRMS, hardcover, 101 pages
genre: YA fiction, capitalism, humor

I didn't enjoy this one as much as Lawn Boy, but it was still a fun quick follow-up to the narrator's rise to fame and fortune in the first book. Zed is a nasty scoundrel who adds some zest to this story of what sudden f&f can bring to life. Very quick read.

The Beet Fields: Memories of a Sixteenth Summer

by Gary Paulsen
PRMS hardcover, 160 pages

I had never seen this Gary Paulsen title before! I enjoyed it even though it doesn't flow as smoothly as some of his other stories. Paulsen shares his memories of this time in his life in a painfully honest manner. It makes me so sad for the childhood he never had. My favorite part was when he worked with the migrant laborers and felt connected to them. This book might appeal to some of the same kids who like Harris and Me, even though it isn't funny like that book.


Added 11/25/12:
Rather than create a new entry for this re-read, I decided to edit the old. This seems to me to be extremely autobiographical . . . but it's also very raw and personal. The narrator is describing events from the summer of when he was fifteen going on sixteen. Running away from home after his drunken mother makes a pass at him, working the beet fields with migrant workers, falling in love (but never actually talking to the object of his affection), getting ripped off by a deputy, joining a carnival . . . . this is for my older, more mature readers.

Lawn Boy

by Gary Paulsen
CMSW, hard cover, about 70 pages

The 12 year old boy gets an old lawnmower from his grandma as a birthday gift. He starts mowing neighbors' lawns and pretty soon he has a stockbroker and 100% ownership in a boxer. Funny and light, this is the novel that the seventh grade has chosen to go with the Stock Market Game in seventh grade. Should be fun!

The Crossing

by Gary Paulsen
CMSW, paperback, 114 pages

Manny Bustos is an orphan on the streets of Juarez. He hopes to get to America where he has heard there is food, shelter, and opportunity. Robert is an American soldier who has seen too much death and goes to Juarez to drink himself into oblivion. The two meet on three different occasions, and their lives are dramatically altered. Although we never find out if Manny makes it across the border for sure, the implication is obvious. This book is serious in tone and more contemplative than action-oriented (until the final scene).