Looking Forward ~ Looking Back <br><i>This Week In Books</i>

Sunday Salon ...

Uhh. Did I ever say that I could be like seriously compulsive. I just discovered Gary Paulsen -- a boy-friendly author -- and have sort of been on a read-binge.

Finished:

	I was surprised to find a follow-up to "Hatchet" as Brian was rescued at the end. But Gary Paulsen doesn't make excuses, only tells us that people wanted to know what would have happened if Brian hadn't been saved. I have to say I enjoyed Brian's Winter just as much as Hatchet.
	Tracker just blew me away. In my opinion, this one is far and away Paulsen's best writing. Simply stunning story. Highly recommend this to Adults. (It's about life and death and I'm not sure youngsters have enough experience to under their belts to get the most out of it.)
	Don't know what to think about this book. I liked My Rotten Life, but thought this book wasn't quite as funny. But then again the ending was good. So I'm sort of split on whether to suggest this to Lubar fans.
	I was disappointed in this book. The main plot element turned out to be a persistent distrust Mel had for the man who she was obviously destined to fall in love with.
	I was really excited about getting this one as my family likes Clement's other stories. It's a story about an old school that sits on the shore. Real estate 'bad guys' have bought off the planning board and plan to demolish the school for a theme park. Adventure ensues and like other Clement stories there are also personal problems that our hero has to face. My own opinion was that this started off pretty good, HOWEVER, it ended so abruptly that I wasn't overly happy. This one was an ARC and won't be out until April. .
	Brian's Return This book is a continuation of Brian's adventures in the far north. I think it's amazing how Paulsen can keep such a consistent narrative up over the years.
	Nightjohn Yikes. What an excellent book. It really brought home the horrors of slavery in a way that a book lover can understand. Inspirational.
	Brian's Hunt I highly recommend the Brian series for boys who haven't fallen in love with reading yet. Librarians and teachers tell me that Brian's adventures and thoughts snag their attention and keep it.
	Dogsong This book won awards, so of course, it's not my favorite Paulsen. Don't know whether it's my contrarian nature or-what. that accounts for my opinion. It's a good story but isn't as poetic as some of Gary's other books.
	The Rifle To tell you the truth, I don't recommend this book to adults. In my opinion it was written for middle-schoolers and meant to discussed by them. It presents the "gun-control basics" in an over-the-top manner that's just going to annoy adults who have already made up their minds.
	Sleeping Beauty My daughter (who's 9) and I both liked this version of Sleeping Beauty. A lot of that had to do with the artwork which had a graphic novel feel, and Russian architecture. The bad fairy was definitely more creepy looking than in other stories. Think it was the spider legs.
	Monster Trap This was a cute book with delightful artwork. It's about a young boy visiting his grandfather. He listens to a scary radio show before bed and insists there are monsters around. His grandfather scoffs... but you never know, do you? This would be a good book to alleviate those night fears. The monsters are so cute and goofy. Maybe you could make your own monster traps.