Woods Runner

My daughter started to reading this at school and finished it but wanted to read it at home. She is 12 and this gripped her attention until he very end. Great book

I picked this audiobook for a military move my family had to make a few weeks ago. So many moves and they are a great chance for audio books. As we homeschool I try to make sure at least one audio book is educational in a historic sense and this fit the bill! This book is a powerful read and like many classics, it brings the impact it needs to very serious topics. I wish I had understood that more though as I would have waiting on it when it comes to my 9 year old daughter. She didn't fully understand the topics well and I felt I couldn't research things that came up with her just then as I was driving. I had though aimed this book more at my 11 year old son who had been learning more about this part of American History. Unlike a lot of history curriculum that focuses on dates and events, this one brought to life the world of Americans in the time period and what they faced. The facts presented in the book in small snippets helped understand the numbers a bit better than even I understood before. I highly recommend this to those trying to help this time period come to life for their children or students. Perhaps though be extra sure you know they are ready first. My poor 9 year old now doesn't want to talk about Native Americans even though I tried to explain scalping to her then when she had questions about. I seem to have missed my window as she not just doesn't want to learn about them or talk about them at all and so I will be giving her time.

If you like Gary Paulsen books, you'll enjoy this story. :)

I'm a dad of 10. I try and read ahead of the kids to keep the trash out. Wish me well.Great book. Hyper violent against civilian families. The author's stated goal is to pour some reality on the conflict that was the Revolutionary War. Brutal. I'm sure it's true. It was probably worse.However, the detailed killings along with other implied terrors... don't need to be known and understood by children. It's too much. It's stuff you wish never happened.I do think there's value in it though, to understand war is horrific. Just not for the young 'uns. Around here will be marked as 15yo+. Let them be young a little longer.Parent on, parents.

If you like Hatchet, same author, you may like this too

My grandson is reading this in middle school English at the same time his history class is studying the American Revolution- what an awesome pairing, tells the story of life at that time for a 13 year old, its hard to wait for the next chapter to be assigned, he is now several ahead, I read the whole book just so we could talk about that time period.

My ten year old granddaughter loves this book!

A short and sweet "kids book" about the Revolutionary War and the toll it took on civilians and innocent people not fighting for either side. I put "kids book" in quotes because this book deals with some very dark themes that most other kids books don't. Probably of all the middle-grade books I've reviewed, this one gets the largest warning for parents (along with maybe "Mine" by Delilah Dawson).Where this book shines is in the story. Samuel goes out hunting one day like he does all the time, but when he returns home, he finds his home burned, his neighbors killed, and his parents captured by the British soldiers. He embarks on a quest to find them and save them, despite the fact that he only is one man against the entire British army.I think this book will be really popular with preteen boys. The action and the war scenes are so fun and the tropes very much follow blockbuster/heroes journey tropes like Star Wars. In fact, the burning home is reminicent of Star Wars, the quest to save captives in the enemy fortress is like Star Wars, and the side characters who help our main protagonists feel like they are older versions of Han Solo. The reasons it works well here is because it fits with the story and fits with the time period. These tropes are also just wonderful anyway, so the book feels well put together.The main character doesn't have a strong voice, despite being the point of view character for the entire book. I think this is because Gary Paulsen was trying the tried-and-true method of making a blank main character so that audiences could put themselves in them.This book has little pages at the end of each chapter that describe life in the time period, specifically around wars and prisoners and death. This information is presented in short and interesting ways and Gary Paulsen has a propensity of focusing on the gross that peak childrens interests.Speaking of focusing on the gross, the story itself also delves into difficult themes that also make it very difficult to suggest for kids. Violence is a key aspect of this book, especially the violence towards civilians. There are a lot of dead bodies in this book. Paulsen makes references to them and makes them seem horrific without actually going into specific gory detail. Likewise, there are indians who show up in one chapter and "scalping" is referenced a few times without being explicitly explained. There's also references to torture and one usage of the word "Damn". Paulsen could have made his points about the horrors of war and still omitted some of the stuff included. This is a kids book afterall. I know some might claim this to be tame, but I think that its a little strong for children, especially when AR lists this book as being for 5th graders on up. I think as usual that parents can judge for their own individual children, but I would be cautious before just handing it to your kid without investigating it yourself.I will say that the book felt like it was rushing towards the ending, and because of that has almost no character development. Its a fun story, but the characters have little to no growth. This really hurts the books rating for me, even though it was enjoyable as a whole.The anti-war sentiments are very clear, and while it may not be explicit for kids to understand what is being preached in the book, parents will assuredly catch on. I think the book is valuable for the perspective it has, but it definitely hits the theme hard throughout. Except for maybe the first chapter or two, it is hit on in almost every chapter and historical section.Overall, I think this is an entertaining book, but it is not a favorite of mine. This could have been longer, but more importantly, it needed less gross depictions of war and more character development. I'll give it a 6 out of 10.

My kids enjoyed it. Gary Paulsen is a favourite in this house

Bought it for my children, enjoyed it myself. A young boys struggle in "The Last of the Mohicans" - time and landscape.

Great book