I really enjoyed reading about Gary Paulsen’s childhood from about age 5 to his 20’s. It was an amazing life of surviving day-to-day. I saw Mr. Paulsen at a book signing many years ago and I remembered he said that the library, really the librarian saved him. It really stuck with me back then. I’m not sure if I was already volunteering in my own children’s library back then or if I was in grad school getting my master’s degree in Library and Information Science. I have loved reading his books for a long time and especially love sharing his books with students. Love hearing that a student loved reading “Hatchet” for the first time and that book was the first book they ever finished let alone enjoyed and asked for another book by him. When I tell them there is a sequel to “Hatchet”, I love to see their eyes light up and be able to continue the journey. Gary Paulsen did that for many, many young readers. Taught them to love reading.

I was hoping to read more about how he started writing books for children and teens. He does share how he started writing but I was hungry for more information. I felt like the ending was a huge cliffhanger for me. I wanted to read more about his adult life. Still worth reading like all of his books. A must-have for any library!