Gone to the Woods: Surviving a Lost Childhood by Gary Paulsen

Author Gary Paulsen is known for his tales of survival in the woods and wilderness.  This book is a different sort of survival story -- the true story of how he survived his childhood.

He escaped his neglectful mother in Chicago when he travelled to spend a summer with his aunt and uncle in the North Woods.  It was this experience that inspired his most famous book -- Hatchet.

He then spent the remainder of this childhood in post-WWII Philippines and his teen years back in the states with two drunk parents who continued to neglect him.  His saving graces at that time were the woods that he still loved and the public library.  The library handed him the first book he ever read at 13 years.  It started a lifelong love of reading and then writing when she gave him a notebook to write his own stories in.

The book ends with his time in the army when he discovered his true calling as a storyteller.

This is a sad, yet hopeful, story of a neglected child becoming who he was meant to be.  It is inspiring to hear how he turned his life experiences into stories that have thrilled children for decades.  I would recommend this to older children and teens who are fans of Gary Paulsen's stories.  (It might be a little rough for younger children.)  I would also recommend the audio version as the narrator did a great job of sharing Gary Paulsen's story.
 

Real Friends by Shannon Hale

Shannon and Adrienne have been best friends since the start of school.  But one day, Adrienne becomes friends with Jen.  Now, they are all part of The Group, a circle of girls that are friends.  Everyone wants to be next to leader Jen and some of girls will even bully the others to get to that coveted position.

Now every day is a roller coaster for Shannon.  Will she and Adrienne stay friends?  Can she stand up for herself?  And is she part of The Group -- or not?



This graphic novel memoir by author Shannon Hale is really well done.  It accurately portrays how it feels when your friends start to abandon you and when a former friend becomes an enemy.  It also incorporates OCD in children without forcing the issue.  The symptoms are merely mentioned at times without any commentary.  I would highly recommend this to grade school girls to read.

Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl is the world famous author of children's books such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG, and James and the Giant Peach.  But he started out as a young boy growing up in Wales and England.

In this memoir, the author recalls stories from his childhood including his time at boarding school, his summer vacations in Norway, and his large family of brothers and sisters.  The stories are interesting and humorous.  Dahl does a great job of highlighting how things have changed since the 1920s and 1930s when he was growing up.

I would highly recommend this biography for anyone who has enjoyed Dahl's stories for children.  It is a great audiobook for those who would like to listen to the stories.  It is narrated by Dan Stevens, the Beast in Disney's live-action movie Beauty and the Beast.

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

I am born on a Tuesday at University Hospital
Columbus, Ohio,
USA --
a country caught

between Black and White.

Jacqueline Woodson's memoir written completely through poems tells of her childhood from being born in Ohio, living with her grandparents in South Carolina, and moving to New York City with her mother and siblings.  She spends her early years in the racially divided South where they march for equal rights.  Her grandmother gives her religion.  Her grandfather becomes her "Daddy".  She later moves to New York City just before starting school where she has problems reading quickly like the other kids.  Yet she wishes and dreams that one day she will be a writer . . .

Each day a new world
opens itself up to you. And all the worlds you are --

gather into one world

called You

where You decide

what each world
and each story
and each ending

will finally be.


Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson is the 2015 Coretta Scott King Author Medal winner for most distinguished book by an African-American author, a 2015 Newbery Award Honor Book for best book for children, and a 2015 Robert F. Sibert Award Honor Book for best information book for children and teens.