The Car

The Car by Gary Paulsen is an adventure filled with new experiences, new people and new places. Terry Anders, 14, lives in Cleveland, Ohio as part of a dysfunctional family. His parents constantly bicker and rarely pay attention to Terry or his activities. Unbeknownst to either parent, they both simutaneously and unexpectly move out, leaving Terry to virtually fend for himself. Terry is somewhat relieved and is inwardly happy that the fighting has stopped. As days pass by, Terry is intrigued with a kit car, a Blakely Bearcat, that is partly assembled in the garage. He decides to complete the project. Terry is so immersed in the car, that he is oblivious to the time of day, hours spent, or his need for nourishment. He is on a show more mission...that is to finish building the kit car, also known as 'THE CAT'. Realizing that he is now on his own, Terry decides to head out west, to visit an uncle in Oregon... an uncle he has only met once in his life.
In the middle of the night, so as not to disturb neighbors or alert police, he practices driving the kit car until he becomes proficient. A few days later, with expired license plates and invalid driver's license, but armed only with the $1300 he saved from his lawn service job, he sets out towards Oregon. Along the way, he meets Waylon Jackson, a world-weary, intelligent, soft-spoken Vietman veteran, who is traveling the country in search of all forms of knowledge. Evenutally, they meet up with Waylon's friend, Wayne his tour-of-duty partner in Vietnam. The trio travels to The Badlands, Deadwood, Custer's Last Stand and a religious commune among other fascinating sites. Sometimes joyous, sometimes frightening, the journey is not without excitement or danger. In the end, Terry learns much more than history or geography, but what makes a decent human being, what makes one truly happy, and what loyalty among friends really means. show less

I got this book from my mom, who was cleaning out her books. This was a very quick read and ended up being okay. I think it would appeal most to middle grade/YA boys.

This is about a 14 year old boy who parents leave him. He ends up building a car from a car kit and decides to head West on an adventure. On the way he meets some old vets and they end up showing him some old time sites that drive home what it means to be an American.

Overall it was a well written story and was easy to read. It ends right in the middle of things and didn't have much resolution. Still it was decent and I think middle grade to YA boys would probably enjoy it.

Great easy read. Never gets boring i love how Gary paulsen writes this story in such a way. Can never put it down

Gary Paulson is a great author but I do not recommend this book. Too slow and outdated.

I read this book when I was ten.
THIS BOOK IS NOT OK FOR 10 YEAR OLDS.

A teenager, left on his own, travels west in a kit car he built himself, and along the way picks up two Vietnam veterans, who take him on an eye-opening journey.

i was not a big fan of the book!!!