Tag fiction

Gary Paulsen Pens a Masterpiece Adventure

Reg Spittle 3 Comments

There has been no better storyteller than the late Gary Paulsen, author of 200 books and best known for the adventure survival masterpiece Hatchet, the basis of a motion picture set in the Alaskan wilderness.

Canyons may be his best book, though. It is a story of two youths’ paths to manhood, separated by more than a hundred years, but bound by an extraordinary commitment to find closure.

Coyote Runs is a 14-year-old Apache warrior; Brennan Cole, 15, lives in New Mexico, near the canyons that Coyote Runs knows well. In 1864, during a horse raid across the Mexican border to prove his manhood, Coyote Runs is chased for days back to New Mexico, finally wounded in his leg by a rifle shot that kills his horse. He drags himself up a sandy slope and hides under a rock outcropping, depending on his spirit protector. But a bloody trail leads the Cavalry to the boy, who watches the end a rifle barrel find his forehead.

A century later, Brennan, his mom, her boyfriend, and eight pesky eight-year-old boys are camping in a New Mexico canyon. Seeking quiet and privacy, Brennan pulls his sleeping bag up a sandy slope and unfurls it under a rock outcropping. He crawls into his bag, so ready for rest.

”What’s that?” he thinks. He sits up, digs under the sand and finds a round rock—no, it is a skull. There is a hole in the skull just above the eyes and a much bigger void in the back.

Thus begins Brennan’s quest and he will not–no matter the roadblocks and consequences–quit until he discovers who died in that canyon and brings closure to the boy’s spirit, whose words guide him.

This week, I returned to Canyons, which I had read to my sons and to hundreds of students. It didn’t matter that I knew the spellbinding conclusion. Like all those times, my heart hung on Gary Paulsen’s every word.

Disappearance Turns Around Boy’s Life

Reg Spittle Leave a comment

Catherine Ryan Hyde, who authored the huge best seller Pay It Forward, is sneaky. I was an hour or so into Have You Seen Luis Velez? and wondered how her book would measure up to 10 others by Hyde that I had read. And then it happened.

I was hooked, just as I have been in all her books, when I was drawn like a powerful magnet to the seductive mysteries surrounding the lives of the major players.

Raymond Jaffe, 17, lives in a New York City apartment with his mom—who is preoccupied with two jobs—and an aloof, cold stepdad. Every other weekend, he stays with his dad and his stepmom, who sees Raymond as a painful reminder of her husband’s previous life.

His best (and only) friend moves away, leaving him as a school outcast who cares for a feral cat that lives in an abandoned building. As you might expect, Raymond is lonely, but his backbone strengthens when he finds purpose in the greatest search of his life.

Enter Mildred Guterman, a blind German Jew who barely escaped the Holocaust. At 92, she depends on Luis Velez, a young man with a pregnant wife, two kids, and a kind heart. He takes Mrs. G to the grocery store every few days and helps her with other chores.

One day, she calls out to Raymond when she hears his squeaky shoe in the apartment building hallway. Almost out of food, she asks Raymond if he knows where Luis Velez has gone. No one seems to know. Filling the void, Raymond becomes her grocery store fill-in helper and he brings her the cat to keep her company.

For Raymond, Mrs. G is much more than a new friend, and he discovers that he can talk to her about issues in his life that he has never felt comfortable voicing to anyone. It pains him that his elderly neighbor dearly misses her best friend, so he sets out to get to the bottom of Luis Velez’ disappearance. Raymond’s journey takes him around New York City to dead ends, dangerous characters, slammed doors, and language challenges.

Does Raymond find Luis? Yes and no.

Race, bigotry, justice, and the power of kindness all play prominent roles in this story. This is an ideal choice for a book club selection and the author includes a list of questions for that purpose.

I have read about a fourth of Hyde’s 40-plus books. “Have You Seen Luis Velez?” will not be the last.