In a memoir that reads like the fiction that made him famous, Gary Paulsen (1939-2021) leads his audience through the rugged terrain of his childhood, a period that profoundly inspired his three Newbery Honor-winning classic wilderness and survival stories. Here the beloved author candidly lays bare the details of his tumultuous youth.
Some of the most inspiring moments in the book come in Paulsen's discovery of the library and the joy of reading. There he met the woman who introduced him to the magic of books, inspired him to write and showed the 13-year-old "how to feed his brain." This awakening of Paulsen's love of story ignited hope in his dark world and is part of what made him a librarian and teacher favorite. Gone to the Woods is labeled for middle-grade children, but this literary treasure is written for book lovers of any age. --Jen Forbus, freelancer