Gary Paulsen

December 1, 2018
Snodgrass (Frontier Women and their Art, 2018) introduces readers to the life and works of Gary Paulsen, prolific author of wilderness and coming-of-age books for young people. The core of the text consists of 64 alphabetical entries that include literary terms, specific Paulsen titles, and themes such as alcoholism, loss, and nature, each ending with a list of sources. Other entries cover literary terms. For example, the entry on kenning discusses the history of this type of wordplay and how Paulsen uses these metaphors throughout his novels. The detailed chronology, which covers the author's life from his birth in 1939 in Hennepin, Minnesota, to his nomination for the National Book Award for Youth Literature in 2015 and his works published in 2016, conveys the chaotic events of Paulsen's childhood and how those events influenced his writing. The text concludes with a family tree, bibliography, index, glossary, and two appendixes, one of which offers suggestions for writing, art, and research topics and would be useful for librarians and educators working with young people.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)