"So you know my name is Tony and I am twelve and my mother who is named Alice except nobody calls her that, they all call her Al, like she was a guy only she isn't, is a stripper, only it's called exotic dancing, at a place called the Kitty Kat, except that everybody calls it the Zoo on account of an animal act they used to have but don't anymore because the humane society said it was wrong to use snakes out of their "natural element" although Muriel, who danced with a seven-foot boa named Steve, swore that the snake slept through the whole dance except I know Steve who lives in the dressing room in a glass case and I can't tell if he's sleeping or not because he never closes his eyes."

THE GLASS CAFÉ (or THE STRIPPER AND THE STATE; How My Mother Started a War With The System That Made Us Kind of Rich and a Little Bit Famous), is such a captivating read aloud--truly a performance piece--that I have half a mind to return this morning for my third day of the IRA (International Reading Association) Convention and take a group of teachers (preferably middle school teachers) hostage so that I can have another audience with whom to share it. Fortunately, we have free nighttime minutes on our cellphone--Shari woke me up a little past midnight my/Orlando time (9:00 PM her/California time), which is when the free minutes begin, and like a jack-in-the box I bounced up out of bed, switched on the light, scooped up the book, and read twenty pages with nary a breath. This review will end shortly since, if I hurry, I can reach the Convention Center as they begin queuing up for the 9:00 opening time of the Exhibition Hall and corner a small crowd.

"I like school where I get pretty good grades in everything except gym and sometimes math when it doesn't make any sense to me like when we have to figure out two trains traveling at different speeds and which one will get to a place called Parkerville first. There is never a place called Parkerville in real life and hardly any trains go anywhere anymore and why would two trains be trying to get to a place called Parkerville in the first place? It's just silly."

Tony, the twelve-year-old narrator of THE GLASS CAFÉ (or THE STRIPPER AND THE STATE; How My Mother Started a War With The System That Made Us Kind of Rich and a Little Bit Famous), lives in Los Angeles, has a friend named Waylon, a girl he likes named Melissa, a penchant for dogs (which aren't allowed in their apartment building), and is an aspiring artist who "draws every chance I get." As he tells us the tale of what happened to him and Al, he includes a number of asides, explaining to us what he is doing in regard to his English teacher's instructions about writing a story:

"I'll talk more about that later after I do what Ms. Providge the English teacher calls 'developing the structure and character of the story.'

And I expect that adults who grab this book for a look, suspicious of having their middle school offspring read something with "STRIPPER" in the title will be rather surprised to discover the reality of Tony's mother, a single mom from whom many parents could learn a thing or two about parenting.

"...and sometimes when it's the worst day of my whole life and maybe Melissa is talking about somebody else or math is kicking my butt or I have a cold and the smog is making it worse Al can just laugh, a deep laugh that comes from way inside and I can't but smile and think of something good. Which makes what happened because of the drawings really, really stupid.

What the drawings are all about and what happened because of Tony's drawings are something you'll just have to find out for yourself...unless you happen to be one of the people in Orlando who I'll be cornering in about fifteen minutes.

Richie Partington...

I thought this was a great book, and it would make even a better movie. it was supposed to be the first in a trilogy.

I think the book Puppies, Dogs, and Northerns is a great book because I love dogs and to go be outside. The place where it was in the snow at his house and on sled trails. Gary Paulsen was the author and he used destriptive writing so I could visualize. If you like dogs and sleding you would like the book. I give this book five stars because it is so great.

Seventh grader Chris Masters is having a problem with two bullis in his school. they steal his lunch money and threaten him. His next biggest problem is a video game called "The Seventh Crystal". It came in the mail with almost no instructions. Chris is a video game wizard and he's trying to figure out this new game. Chris and his friend Jimmy are on their way to the store and are chased by Cliff and Shawn, the two bullies. the chase leads the boys into the ancient Valley of Zon. Chris' challenge is to save the Princess Darvina from the evil Mogg. If he can then the boys can return home. Does Chris save Darvina? what happenes to Mogg? Read the book and find out! I think the book's message is that even if someone tries to make you feel like a wimp, you really aren't. We are all better at some things than we are at other things. A person should not be mean to other people because we all have feelings and things that we do well. I like the book because it was exciting. the adventure never stopped and I couldn't put the book down. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes an exciting story.

My 9-year-old daughter really enjoyed this book! It is very suspenseful and held her attention until the end.

I teach at a middle school in the Chicago area, and my students love Gary Paulsen. Unlike other so-called "author studies" I have seen for elementary and middle school students, this volume really does tie together the themes in the five novels it explores. The novels are divided up into two units, and each concludes with a worksheet that ties the novels in the unit together. In my class, this led to some lively discussion sessions, and students were eager to continue exploring Paulsen's oeuvre once we had completed the unit. Highly recommended!!

I found this at our local library and it's one of my 3 year old son's favorite books. I've now bought a copy because he knew it by heart after we returned our library copy. I've read other Gary Paulsen books and have enjoyed them as well, but this simple story with it's beautiful illustrations is one of our family favorites.

The book, Harris And Me, is an intresting book full of surprises and laughs. It's about a boy who moves from his home of drunken parents and runs into his cousin Harris. Harris is a kid who loves adventure always gets into trouble. He and Harris do wild things together such as, jump off the loft onto a horse's back, shoot a real shot gun and ride a horse at the same time. Harris even went to the bathroom on an electric fence for "dourty pictures." The funny part is every time Harris and the narrator do something stupid, Harris get a slap in the back of the head. This book is also about the narrator trying to fit in at the farm. Finally, one day he sees carvings of the family and he's a carving too. It made him feel like part of the family. That is all about the book, Harris And Me.

Harris and Me is set in the 1950's and is a hilarious look at farm life through an 11 year old city boy. The narrator has been sent to live with relatives to get away from his abusive alcoholic parents. The book centers on his relationship with his half cousin Harris, a rude nine year old who constantly needs a slap in the head for his profanities. All the mishaps and troubles they get into the whole summer long is well worth reading about and I guarantee you'll be laughing so hard, you'll find it hard to breathe at some points. From jumping off a barn loft onto a massive horse to peeing on an electrical wire, Harris and his cousin will make this a summer to remember. I personally loved this book and couldn't put it down. Some of the troubles Harris and his cousin got into reminded me of when I was that age. My cousin and I did about the same outrageous (and insanely stupid) stunts that they did in the book and I sometimes found myself up half the night re-reading a few parts just for laughs. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a good laugh and for that, I give it the full 5 stars.

This book deserves at least 10 stars. I confess, it is my favorite book of all time. Read the entire first chapter and I guarantee that you won't be able to put it down. It is hilarious!

This autobiographical novel is about the summer Gary Paulsen spent at his cousin's farm. Harris is a real person! And so is Gary - so he didn't get to choose the ending to this story. Unfortunately, Gary's parents were mean drunks. But, somehow, he survived. And he has given us some of the best survival stories kids will ever read. So, if you're looking for a sequel, pick up one of his other books. Many are based on his life.

I had the honor of meeting Gary a few years ago at an author visit. He read aloud the chapter about his experience with the electric fence. We laughed so hard, tears were streaming down our faces. This story brings back some great memories of my childhood and the wild stunts my brothers pulled when we were growing up on our family farm.

Soldier's Heart is an engrossing tale of the Civil War as seen through the eyes of the young hero of the book. Charley is a fifteen year old boy who longs for the excitement of the war and so he lies about his age and enlists in the Union Army. He is not prepared for the horror he experiences or with the reality of war. The author does a good job of letting the reader see and feel what the character experiences as he goes from situation to situation I think this book would be a good one to use in class when studying the Civil War. It really brings home the realism of the Civil War. Mr. Paulsen's details are wonderful, even the slang words of the time are included without being overdone. I was surprised to find also that this story was based on the life of a real Union soldier. I highly reccomend this book, especially to middle school students and to teachers who teach about the Civil War.

A Review by Seth

The book Soldiers Heart is about a boy named Charley who goes to fight in the Civil War. He is a 15 yr old boy that lives with his family and leaves to go fight. Through out the war he writes letters and sends money back home to his family for food and supplies. He was interested in what was going on but realizes that the war was not something that was fun or interesting. He fights in Battle of The Bull Run and many other battles on the east and southern part of the United States.

Three things I liked about the book were the descriptions, characters, and the fact that it was about the Civil War. The descriptions that they have were really good. It talks about how the people die and all the fighting and shooting. As an example: Charley helps out a dying soldier by giving him a gun to shoot and Rebels that come in. The description was of his wounds and the blood. The characters were pretty good. You get a sense of reality when they talk and do things like the battles. It tells you what the people look like and how they act. Like during one of the battles he says how the Rebels are charging and screaming. The last thing I liked about it was the fact that it was about the Civil War. It to me is a really good book about the Civil War because not many other books will go into detail about the hospitals and patients. It seems like the book comes alive.

I would recommend this book to people that love descriptive books or just books that are easy to read. This book has everything I like in it description, war, blood and gore, and lastly a real story.

Gettysburg and Bull Run were the great and gruesome settings of this Civil War story. Soldier's Heart, a short novel by Gary Paulsen, is the most suspenseful I have ever read. Gary Paulsen is known for really great novels, but this, by far, is his best. I would recommend this book to anyone who has a strong stomach and enjoys war stories. It's about a 15 year old boy named Charley Goddard, who lies, and forges his way into the army. What Charley doesn't know is that this will be the lesson of his life. Gary Paulsen never ceases with details of the war: from bullet wounds to the stench of corpses, lying in the war fields. If I could change anything about the novel, I would probably change the ending. This is the best book I've ever read!

Hatchet is an outstanding book centered around a young boy at the age of 13 named Brian Robeson. His mom had given a gift to Brian on his way to the airport that saves his life. It was a hatchet. He was stranded in the forests of Canada after he had made a crash landing when the pilot died of a heart attack and fell shaking to the floor. He knew he had crashed way off course and he realized that all hope was lost for survival as soon as he watched the plane sink to the lake bottom. He was faced with one of the biggest fears of all, hunger. He also was all bruised up after he had flown through the window of the cockpit. He was forced to drink nothing but the surrounding lake water. Brian encounters many animals on his journey of survival including an enormous black bear. With only a hatchet, he builds a sturdy shelter and weapons to defend himself such as a bow and arrow and spears. He even made traps for food such as fish. He made fire that protected him at night from animals, allowed him to cook meat and fish, and kept him warm. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone who enjoys reading or needs a book for school. I could picture everything in my head from the crash to his rescue. The book is so realistic, I never put it down. Gary Paulson kept the excitement going through out the novel with many surprises. And Brian was such a well-described character. He was smart, brave, and realistic. He wasn't strong so he used his brain to overcome many obstacles. The part that I had enjoyed the most was when Brian encountered a moose that hit him three times before leaving.

I became interested in reading Hatchet from friends that told me about it. They said it was a great book to read, so I did. The book has really only one character in it . His name is Brian Robeson. He had just gone though a divore of his parents and was very unhappy and upset. His dad moved to Canada. He was flying in a small plane. About half way thogh the trip the pilot died from a heart attack and died which left Brian alone to fly and land the plane. It all goes down hill after that. Brian's first few days he gets eaten by bugs and also eats piosonous berries. After wards Brian start to figure out how to survive in the wild. His first major achievement was making fire and it was his most important. Brian also figures out how to catch food and cook it. Then Brian thinks his good luck had ran out when a tornado hit and wrecked most of his stuff. The day after it hit he notices that the tail end of the plane was sticking out of the water and he remembered there was a survival pack in there with an emergency transmitter. Brian swims out to the plane and cuts a hole in it and finds the pack. He then turns the transmitter on and is saved within a few hours. The conflict of this book would be man vs nature because Brian had to deal with nature to survive. Man vs himself is the other conflict and I think it is that because Brian had to use his knowledge and talents to survive. Over all I thought this was an excellent book and I recommend this book to any one that wants to read it. If you like exciting, adventeruos, hard to put down books then read this book.

'Hatchet' is one of those rare books that can be read and enjoyed by children and adults. No matter who you are, you're likely to learn some important lessons about yourself.

Thirteen year-old Brian is flying to visit his father in the Canadian wilderness. Brian has little time to reflect upon his parents' recent divorce - the pilot suffers a heart attack during the flight and dies. And no one else is aboard the plane. If Brian doesn't find a way to land the plane, he'll die too.

To call 'Hatchet' an "adventure story" would be a gross understatement. It is so much more. In Brian, readers of all ages will see a broad range of emotions: fear, courage, hope, despair. Brian makes several discoveries, but the most important one is an inner discovery. To survive in the wilderness, he must not only find a new way to live, but a new way to think.

'Hatchet' is so well written, I never felt that anything Paulsen wrote was contrived or unbelievable. Everything rings true, which is both rare and welcome. 'Hatchet,' like Lois Lowry's 'Number the Stars,' is one of those books that everyone should read. You might just find a new way to think...and to live.