I started and stopped this several time, and probably wouldn't have finished it at all if it hadn't been picked for our Mock Newbery. I finally ended up listening to the audio book, which was good.

Gary Paulsen is obviously a talented writer and he's done a great job here, but Woods Runner didn't stand out for me. Maybe it was too brief for me to really get into it and invest in the characters and the story. Maybe the characters, though well depicted, felt sort of stock. Gary Paulsen's most famous character is a boy who has an almost unbelievable ability to survive, and Samuel can be described that way too. Competent, serious, determined. You get the picture. The plot moves forward at a good pace, but the ending seemed kind of predetermined to me. At no point was I really worried about the main characters' survival, which is weird because they were totally in danger all the time. So, for me, the story lacked the suspense I thought it should have had.

I would certainly recommend this to middle schoolers (especially boys) who want historical fiction or survival stories. It's a good book, but not my pick for the 2011 Newbery. ( )

Gary Paulsen never disappoints. Excellent information. Excellent writing. ( )

This book is about 13-year-old Samuel, who grows up in the frontier wilderness of western Pennsylvania. Due to the emptiness of the frontier, he hears little about the growing conflict between the American colonies and the British. One fateful day, however, the war comes to him and his whole world turned on end. Young Samuel must make his way from Pennsylvania, to New York City, to rescue his parents from the British. As always, Paulsen brings us action-filled adventure in this story, which is filled with historic detail on many topics. 'Woods Runner' is a great pick for any young reader craving some action! ( )

Brief, interspersed historical notes illuminate a riveting wilderness adventure, as 13-year-old Samuel tracks his parents, who were kidnapped from their Pennsylvania homestead by British forces during the American Revolution.

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