Gone to the Woods by Gary Paulsen

 This is a new memoir about the life of the hugely successful author, Gary Paulsen.  This one deals with his very early childhood up to his time in the military.  At the age of five he was put on a train and sent to live with his aunt and uncle on a farm.  It was a happy time and there he learned to feel at home in the woods.  Then he talks about living in Manila while his father served on a military base there.  His parents were so caught up in alcohol and fighting that Paulsen was left to live like a street kid. His parents' neglect and abuse of him and each other continued into his teen years, but he was greatly influenced by a kind librarian who first encouraged him to write. The final part of the book talks about his time in the military and how he decided to leave his military career in the end.  

I have had the great fortune to hear Gary Paulsen speak to a small group of librarians.  I had heard some of these stories before, and some were new to me.  He is a very interesting man who has lived a life more incredible and intense than any of his amazing books.  Even though he was treated so badly as a child, he grew up to be a man with a mischevious smile and a twinkle in his eye as he tells some of his many adventures.  I am glad he wrote this book, even though it has some hard realities in it.  There are kids out there who are living their own hard realities, and maybe this book will give them a sense of kinship and hope that there may still be good things ahead, even if they are in a bad place right now. I must add a warning that this is not a great choice for a kid that is sensitive and easily upset.  I probably wouldn't give to anyone under 12 unless I thought they particularly needed it. (368 p. 2021)