Through the years readers have fallen in love with books by Gary Paulsen. They have helped cultivate reading in many of my former students. Those familiar with GUTS, CAUGHT BY THE SEA, and HOW ANGEL PETERSON GOT HIS NAME know a bit about Paulsen's less than perfect childhood and the adventures of his personal life. Now his fans can learn even more about what shaped the author when they read GONE TO THE WOODS: Surviving a Lost Childhood.
Born in 1939 Gary Paulsen barely knew his father, a soldier in WWII. Early life with his mother meant watching her get drunk and hang out with unsavory men in bars. He describes how his mother dressed him in a tiny soldier uniform and had him sing as he stood on the bar to earn his supper.
At the age of five, Paulsen was shipped off to an aunt and uncle to live with them on their farm. The time he spent there was the first he felt loved and cared for. He had a room of his own and as he explains "a place" for the first time.
Paulsen was devastated when his mother arrived one day to carry him away to the Philippines to join his father. Still involved with the war, Manila was no place for a young boy. His neglectful parents probably weren't even aware of the horrors he witnessed as he scrambled to survive his time there.
Paulsen was then taken back to the U.S. to live in a small town near the Canadian border. Odd jobs at a town bar and the bowling alley, and frequent escapes into the woods helped put food in his belly and provide a few meager possessions. He details his introduction to the library and a kind librarian who opened his eyes to the world of books and writing that gave him a view of what might be possible for him.
The book ends with tales of Paulsen's stint in the army. He forged his father's signature to enlist as he hoped it would be his ticket to something better.
GONE TO THE WOODS will give readers a more complete picture of what created and shaped Gary Paulsen and the many stories he would share over the years. It's a great read!
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