Woodsong Hatchet Nightjohn Gary Paulsen

Woods Runner written by Gary Paulsen, is a 2010 young adult novel. The year in which the story takes place is 1776, during the Revolutionary War. The story centers on Samuel trying to find his family and the people he meets along the way. Some struggle ensues like Samuel getting hit over the head with a weapon (tomahawk), but he finds help from the rebels who heal him.

Annie and Samuel eventually find their parents and all ends well except with the decision Samuel makes to go to war. This is an interesting way to end a story because considering his age and what happened to his family, to go to war shows his desire to seek justice and protect those he cares for, even if he is a young adolescent. Some interesting facts about the story, the setting is in Pennsylvania with an abundance of wildlife, trees, and forests. The area where the story begins is a frontier settlement away from tow.

Where the British held Samuel's parents' prisoner was considered the largest city in the colonies (New York) and was an area with a host of numerous diseases due to population density. Gary Paulsen is a 76-year-old American writer from Minneapolis, Minnesota. His main subjects for his literary works are dogs, sports instruction, and adventure memoirs. His main genres are adventure novels, nonfiction, and young adult fiction. He began his writing career in 1966. He also won a prestigious award in 1997, the Margaret Edwards Awards for his lifetime contribution in writing. Some other notable works are Hatch, Woodsong, and Winterdance.

The story begins with the British killing Samuel's neighbors and taking his parents prisoner after burning Samuel's house down. Samuel is a thirteen-year-old boy that enjoys hunting in the woods. He has great survival skills and his hunting helps feed his family. When they are taken, he is left alone.

During this time, Samuel meets a war orphan by the name of Annie. Annie is 8-years old. The story is about Samuel and his connections with others that help shape him with supporting characters such as Abner. Abner is an old Italian tinker who secretly spies against British soldiers. Annie and Samuel both meet Abner McDaniel. He takes the pair to New York where they try to rescue Samuel's parent's. They eventually return home to Philadelphia and adopt Annie as their daughter.

The climax of the book is obviously when Abner and Samuel rescue Samuel's parents. Another was the scene where Samuel hit a guard with a brick, effectively knocking him out. When the prisoners began streaming out of the jail, that was also exciting. Lastly, and the most touching, was when Samuel's dad and mom cross the Hudson.

Towards the end of the book a short passage really resonated with me in that, it described the complexity and dire nature of the Revolutionary War as well felt reminiscent of the situation Samuel's parents were in. This is on page 131.

During the war, at least sixteen British hulks-ships that had been damaged and abandoned-lay in the waters off the short of New York City as floating prisons. Over ten thousand prisoners died of intentional neglect-starvation and untreated disease. Their bodies were tossed overboard into the harbor or buried in shallow graves at the shoreline by fellow prisoners. (Paulson 131)

That scene was brutal. It showed the worst aspect of war. It also revealed what would have happened to Samuel's parents had he not rescued them.

As earlier mentioned, the setting is during the Revolutionary War in Pennsylvania, then New York. There were confrontations not just with British soldiers, but Native Americans, and even Spaniards as Spain got involved in the war. This quote perfectly illustrates setting. "The War for Independence very rapidly turned into something like a world war. Native Americans fought on both sides, and Spain got involved on the American side, or at least its Navy did." (Paulsen 46) While the war lasted for much longer, the book itself happened over the course of a single year with Samuel finding his parents and then stating his desire to go to war.

As mentioned earlier, Samuel is 13 and hunts. "Samuel had gone five ridges away from home, hunting feeling the woods." (Paulsen 18) He has a mother and father. He is determined and resourceful. He ultimately wants to fight for his country and stop the British from winning the war.

Annie is 8. She is a war orphan and was used to not eating. "Annie did not eat for the first three days and he worried at that-although she drank-but in evening of the third day she took some food ... " (Paulsen 89) She is adopted by Samuel's parents. She helped Samuel reach New York. Abner is Italian. He is a tinker. He escorts Samuel and Annie to New York. "Let's start down the mill. There might be somebody we can talk to, get a mite of information." (Paulsen 127) He is a secret spy.