Gary Paulsen

Having separated from the one-armed trapper who taught him how to survive in the wilderness of the Old West, fifteen-year-old Francis gets lost and continues to have adventures involving dangerous men and a friendly mule.

Author Gary Paulsen relates tales from his youth in a small town in northwestern Minnesota in the late 1940s and early 1950s, such as skiing behind a souped-up car and imitating daredevil Evel Knievel.

Thirteen-year-old Nikki Roberts tries to help two children trapped by a forest fire but finds her efforts blocked by poachers who want her to become one of the fire's victims.

Farm life is defined by work, and the work, in turn, is defined by nature: seaon to season, dawn to dusk. Gary Paulsen knows this well, and in 'Clabbered Dirt, Sweet Grass' he sends his readers on an unsentimental journey to a place where simplicity and sweat are understood and appreciated. The days are long, the work uncesing, the machinery treacherous, yet Paulsen manages to find goodness and grace in the simplest chore -- Cover, page [4].

During World War II, while his father is in Europe fighting and his mother is working in Chicago, a six-year-old boy goes to live with his grandmother in a rural Norwegian American community in Minnesota. Based on events from the author's life. During World War II, while his father is in Europe fighting and his mother is working in Chicago, a five-year-old boy goes to live with his grandmother in a rural Norwegian American community in Minnesota....

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.

While backpacking in the desert, thirteen-year-old Mark falls into a tube of blue light and is transported into a more primitive world, where he must use his knowledge and skills to survive.