Gary Paulsen

Samuel, 13, spends his days in the forest, hunting for food for his family. He has grown up on the frontier of a British colony, America. Far from any town, or news of the war against the King that American patriots have begun near Boston.But the war comes to them. British soldiers and Iroquois attack. Samuel's parents are taken away, prisoners. Samuel follows, hiding, moving silently, determined to find a way to rescue them. Each day he confronts the enemy, and the tragedy and horror of this war. But he also discovers allies, men and women working secretly for the patriot cause. And he learns that he must go deep into enemy territory to find his parents: all the way to the British headquarters, New York City.From the Hardcover edition.

Mudshark is the go-to guy for any mysteries that need solving. Lost your shoe? Can't find your homework? Ask Mudshark. That is, until the Psychic Parrot takes up residence in the school library and threatens to overturn Mudshark's position as the guy who knows all the answers. The word in school is that the parrot can out-think Mudshark. And right now, the school needs someone who's good at solving problems. There's an escaped gerbil running rampant, an emergency in the faculty restroom, and all the erasers are disappearing from the classrooms.When Mudshark solves the mystery of who's stealing the erasers, he discovers the culprit has the best of intentions. Now he has to think of a way to prevent the Psychic Parrot from revealing the eraser-thief's identity. With a bit of misdirection and a lot of quick thinking, Mudshark restores order to the chaos . . . just for the moment.From the Hardcover edition.

"Sometimes having company is not all it's cracked up to be." Fifteen-year-old Finn is a loner, living with his dad and his amazing dog, Dylan. This summer he's hoping for a job where he doesn't have to talk to anyone except his pal Matthew. Then Johanna moves in next door. She's 10 years older, cool, funny, and she treats Finn as an equal. Dylan loves her, too. Johanna's dealing with breast cancer, and Matthew and Finn learn to care for her, emotionally and physically. When she hires Finn to create a garden, his gardening ideas backfire comically. But Johanna and the garden help Finn discover his talents for connecting with people.From the Hardcover edition.

required for 7th graders Things get out of hand for a twelve-year-old boy when a neighbor convinces him to expand his summer lawn mowing business.

In three stories--Escape from Fire Mountain; Hook 'Em, Snotty!; and Danger on Midnight River--the characters meet danger at every turn in the great outdoors and learn to face their fears head on. From a forest fire to a raging river to a scary bull named Diablo, the action doesn't stop.From the Trade Paperback edition.

As twelve-year-old Duane endures the confusing and humiliating aspects of puberty, he watches a newborn bird in a nest on his windowsill begin to grow and become more independent, all of which he records in his journal.

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 going on. Somebody has decided to make Dorso and his buddy Frank the target of some strange techno-practical jokes. The ultimate gamesters have hacked into the time line, and things from the past are appearing in the present. Soon, the jokes aren't funny anymore--they're dangerous. Dorso and Frank have got to beat the time hackers at their own game by breaking the code, before they get lost in the past themselves.From the Hardcover edition.

TODAY MOLLYLearned 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!From the Hardcover edition.

Francis Tucket, traveling the Oregon trail on a wagon, has many adventures after being kidnapped by Pawnee Indians, including meeting a one-armed man, rescuing abandoned children, and enduring bandits and fierce storms on his trek home.

Millions of readers of Hatchet, The River, Brian's Winter, and Brian's Return know that Brian Robeson is at home in the Canadian wilderness. He has stood up to the challenge of surviving alone in the woods. He prefers being on his own in the natural world to civilization. When Brian finds a dog one night, a dog that is wounded and whimpering, he senses danger. The dog is badly hurt, and as Brian cares for it, he worries about his Cree friends who live north of his camp. His instincts tell him to head north, quickly. With his new companion at his side, and with a terrible, growing sense of unease, he sets out to learn what happened. He sets out on the hunt.From the Hardcover edition.

FAMILY TIESCindy Thompson has always kept her infatuation for her brother-in-law secret. She even moved away to try to forget. But now the widowed father of triplets needs the only family he's got...her. Flynn Mallory doesn't believe in prayers, until Cindy's loving tenderness becomes an answer to his own.PROMISE OF GRACECoping with the physical trauma of a terrible accident is hard for Grace Stanton. When her fiance abandons her as well, Grace begins to turn her back on God. Dr. Noah Brady knows his surgeon's skills can heal her wounds, but can his loving heart restore her faith?

The thrilling sequel to HATCHET, the ultimate survival story. Two years earlier Brian had been stranded alone in the Canadian wilderness for fifty-four days with nothing but a hatchet. Somehow, he had survived. Now he can hardly believe it. He has been asked to return to the wilds, so that others can learn his skills. Only this time he won't be alone. This time he will be in control. But plans have a way of going wrong...

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 attention of the social services agency, Al and Tony find themselves in the middle of a legal wrangle and a media circus. Is Al a responsible mother? It’s the case of the stripper vs. the state, and Al isn’t giving Tony up without a fight.

Francis Tucket, Lottie and Billy have survived extraordinary, hair-raising adventures in their quest to find Francis's family, lost when he was kidnapped from a wagon train on the Oregon Trail. Now they meet up with a British explorer, bloodthirsty soldiers, and in a tragic, heroic encounter, with Jason Grimes, the mountain man. Their way is made more treacherous still by the secret they carry, the ancient gold they discovered in a Spanish grave. In this final adventure they head home at last, and an epilogue tells what happens to them on the Oregon frontier.From the Trade Paperback edition.

In helping an extraterrestrial get back to his planet, Amos hides him under his bed while he and Dunc think of what to do, until Amos starts displaying new powers on the football field, and Dunc thinks the mysterious alien is behind it.

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 readers along on his maiden voyage, proving that ignorance can be bliss. Also really stupid and incredibly dangerous. He tells of boats that have owned him--good, bad, and beloved--and how they got him through terrifying storms that he survived by sheer luck. His spare prose conjures up shark surprises and killer waves as well as moonlight on the sea, and makes readers feel what it's like to sail under the stars or to lie at anchor in a tropical lagoon where dolphins leap, bathed in silver. Falling in love with the ocean set Gary Paulsen on a lifelong learning curve and readers will understand why his passion has lasted to this day.From the Hardcover edition.

Things look grim for Francis and his adopted family, Lottie and Billy. Without horses, water, or food, they're alone in a prairie wasteland, with the dreaded Comanchero outlaws in pursuit. Death can strike at any moment -- but so can good fortune. When they stumble upon an ancient treasure, it takes teamwork, courage, and wit to hold on to it. By sticking together, Francis and his family wind up rich beyond their wildest dreams, and ready to head west to find Francis's parents on the Oregon Trail.

Amos wins a contest and he and Dunc are off on the Caribbean cruise of their dreams! But there's something fishy about Amos's suitcase and the two best friends wind up with more high seas adventure than they bargained for.

Nearing sixty, diagnosed with heart disease and feeling his mortality, Gary Paulsen buys his first Harley-Davidson and rides from his home in New Mexico to Alaska-and from the present into his past, through the landmarks of a singular life. Paulsen's journey is peopled with familiar faces, from the tough cop who saved him from juvenile delinquency to the prostitute whose career advice stopped him from quitting the army. And the work he does while on his bike-the work of mapping his life to find meaning-is of a piece with the pure sweat and muscle of youthful days spent on farms in Minnesota, or at the bottom of septic tank pits in Colorado, or wrangling dogsleds through the Alaskan wilderness. Amid the silence and beauty of running the road on his Harley, Paulsen celebrates the comforts of hard work, the thrill of challenge met bravely, and the peculiar joys of life lived to its fullest.