Gary Paulsen Accomplishments

Gary Paulsen’s life is not one that many would envy. Spending most of his childhood exploring the outdoors and coming face to face with conflicts not known to everyday writers, Paulsen has been able to bring these adventures through into his novels. When looking at his stories one can clearly see how much of an impact his childhood had on him; through the adventure and coming of age themes present in most of his books the representation is there. At fourteen years old, Paulsen began his escapades when he ran away from home, from there he went on to have “a youthful summer of rigorous chores on a farm; jobs as an engineer, construction worker, ranch hand, truck driver, and sailor,” he continued adventuring through activities such as “two rounds of the 1,180-mile Alaskan dog sled race and the Iditarod;” these have all “provided ample material from which he creates

Spending most of his childhood exploring the outdoors and coming face to face with conflicts not known to everyday writers, Paulsen has been able to bring these adventures through into his novels. When looking at his stories one can clearly see how much of an impact his childhood had on him; through the adventure and coming of age themes present in most of his books the representation is there. At fourteen years old, Paulsen began his escapades when he ran away from home, from there he went on to have “a youthful summer of rigorous chores on a farm; jobs as an engineer, construction worker, ranch hand, truck driver, and sailor,” he continued adventuring through activities such as “two rounds of the 1,180-mile Alaskan dog sled race and the Iditarod;” these have all “provided ample material from which he creates his powerful stories,” (Gary Paulsen, Kidsreads). Diving into his stories The Hatchet, Mr. Tucket, The Quilt, The Brian Books, and Guts: The True Stories Behind The Hatchet one can understand the direct correlations with his stories and his