Helpful Score: 2
This book is very funny. My 5th grade son's teacher read the book to his class. My son would come home every day to tell me another funny section of the story. He begged me to get a copy and read it to him. Even my husband enjoyed listening to me read it. It was hard to read with a straight face. This is the kind of book that would encourage a reluctant reader to actually sit and read.
Great book by Gary Paulsen!
We LOVE this book! I and my children have read it several times and each time we laugh and cry. I have gotten copies for friends and family, too.
In one way this is a sad book, as it is the story of a boy from a very dis-functional family. But in many other ways it's funny. Child services send him to relatives on a farm for the summer. He thinks it is the worst thing which could have happened to him. He is very wrong.
You know how when you find something so funny your chest heaves, you have trouble with your breath, your eyes water, but no sounds are coming out of your mouth? Well, that happened to me with this book. There were numerous times I laughed out loud, but toward the end of the book, Paulsen describes an incident so funny, I had trouble reading the book, in fact, I couldn't. For two or three pages my chest heaved, my eyes watered and I had to stop reading. Then I had to put the book down to recover for 30-40 seconds. But when I read the next line, or only got part way through it, my soundless laughter fit started all over again. And I can't even remember the last time that happened to me.
I've really enjoyed many of Paulsen's books, and think it unfair they are identified as being in the Young Adult genre. This prevents many adults from reading them.
You know how when you find something so funny your chest heaves, you have trouble with your breath, your eyes water, but no sounds are coming out of your mouth? Well, that happened to me with this book. There were numerous times I laughed out loud, but toward the end of the book, Paulsen describes an incident so funny, I had trouble reading the book, in fact, I couldn't. For two or three pages my chest heaved, my eyes watered and I had to stop reading. Then I had to put the book down to recover for 30-40 seconds. But when I read the next line, or only got part way through it, my soundless laughter fit started all over again. And I can't even remember the last time that happened to me.
I've really enjoyed many of Paulsen's books, and think it unfair they are identified as being in the Young Adult genre. This prevents many adults from reading them.
As a mom of 2 boys, I enjoyed this book very much. It has many Laugh-out-Loud moments as these boys get into some pretty hairy trouble on a rural farm and how life is not always what we want it to be.
Funniest, most endearing book I have ever read. A must read for ALL ages.
This summer will be different, that's for sure. When an 11 year old city boy is dropped off to stay on a farm with reletives, he doesnt know what to expect. His cousin Harris soon takes care of that. Harris is rude and crude and finds trouble at every turn. He leads his city cousin into everythingfrom wrestling slippery pigs to catching mice to a daredevil jump out of a barn loft. And that's not all. There are swimming and cowboy movies and enough food to fill the boys up for days. Farm life is hard but never lonely. Before long, Harris's cousin has found a place where he belongs. If only summer would last forever.
