Gary Paulsen's "Gone to the Woods" teachers' review

Brief description of Gone to the Woods:

In this memoir of the first two decades of his life, Gary Paulsen (author of over 130 books including Hatchet and Northwind) gives insight into the experiences that he used to write his survival stories. He had a tough childhood. At five his grandmother insisted he be sent away from Chicago to his aunt’s farm in Minnesota . She wanted to get him away from his alcoholic mother, who was taking him to sing in bars to attract boyfriends, while his father was serving in the military overseas. The boy travelled alone on the train on a six hundred mile journey. He found love and security with his aunt Edy and Uncle Sig. But then his mother reclaimed him and took him to the Phillipines to reunite with his father. Both parents ignored him as they sank deeper into their drinking. The boy witnessned brutal killings as he roamed post World War 2 Manilla on his own. Upon returning to the US with his parents the author made many attempts to escape and recorded the profound influence a kind librarian had on him in encouarging him to read widely which later led to his writing career. He really only felt safe in the woods or a library. The third person narration (he refers to the ‘boy’ rather than ‘I’) captures the tragedy of his traumatic childhood. Paulsen uses humour and provides insight into the practical skills that helped him survive.

Gary Paulsen is a three time Newbery Honour winner and a winner of the ALA Margaret Edwards Award for his contribution to Young Adult literature.

Distinctive features of Gone to the Woods:

• The memoir is divided into five parts: The Farm, The River, The Ship, Thirteen and Soldier and covers episodes in Paulsen’s life from the age of five to twenty years old. It concludes with a short reflection from the eighty year old author.
• Rather than a full autobiography this memoir has vignettes or revealing episodes from his early years and young adult life.
• Instead of using a first person narrative in his memoir Paulen choose to employ third person, as if he needed to distance himself from the trauma of his childhood.
• A clear link between Paulsen’s fictional work and his non fiction memoir is survival in the face of challenging circumstances. Many of his books are survival stories, tales of the beauty and the dangers of living in the wilderness.
• Trauma and horror sit side by side with humour and kindness in this text.
• Vivid descriptions and the delibrate use of short sentences for dramatic impact are features of Paulsen’s style.