"Woods Runner" by Gary Paulsen

 

Hi summer readers,

I have just read "Woods Runner" ,a historical fiction book, for our summer reading and it really sucked me in. It was set in the time of the revolutionary war, and while it started in the frontier you traveled to New York and Philadelphia. Samuel was the main character. He was a simple boy living on the frontier, hunting, and providing for his family. Until one day his whole world is turned upside down. The British attack their humble little settlement for no reason while he is out hunting. The cabins are burned, the valuables are taken, and Samuel's parents are taken hostage. He must find them and take them back. It seems an impossible task, can he do it?

I'm no history fanatic but this book taught me a lot. After each chapter there was a brief page or some time just a half page of information. Like say that you just read a chapter that mentioned Hessians. I for one had never heard of Hessians before I read this. Well this brief page gave me a short background on them. The amount of damage done to innocent civilians in the war really shocked me. So many children were orphaned because the enemy simply didn't care about them. The Hessians attacked innocent people that had surrendered to them and bayoneted farmers that had helped their troops. I also learned that people that lived on the frontier didn't always live in large groups. Somethimes it was a cluster of four or five cabins. One cabin would have a small store in the back and while men hunted women did the chores while children played. For most childhood would end at about age eight or nine. As soon as they were strong they did chores and helped the house.
I think that this book would make a very good movie. It would have most key parts that movies usually have. Emotional parts like when Samuel comes back from hunting. His home is burned to the ground and his parents are kidnapped. How he buried all of his neighbors so they wouldn't be eaten by scavengers. That would be hard to show every ounce of emotion that the author put in. Or when Annie's parents are killed by the Hessians. They did nothing they surrendered to them. The Hessians bayoneted them anyways. Annie was terrified, mortified,and crushed all at once. The only comfort she found was Samuel. There were also lots of action parts in the book. When Samuel comes up to the British camp where his parents are and people start shooting and he gets hit in the head by a tomahawk. That part was short and quick but would be easy to put in a movie. Another part was when they were rescuing Samuel's parents from New York. There were many unexpected twists. When they ran into Samuel's mom on the road and they got to speak was so sweet but heartbreaking. When they got to the prison they only expected Samuel's dad but they got thirty to forty men waiting at the door. They also thought that Samuel had killed the guard with the brick but then when he sounded the alarm they learned differently.
I liked all of the (nice) characters in "Woods Runner." My favorite was Abner though. One because he was a totally wicked spy. I love anything spy related and he was great at keeping his cover. So he could bring pigeons to fellow spies he posed as a traveling peddler or merchant. He was a quick thinker. He saved Samuel and Annie by having them pose as his grandchildren. He devised a quick plan to rescue Samuel's parents from New York. He also was willing to help them for no reason except that he was to old to fight and he wanted to help the Patriots. He had his friend take them across a river into enemy teritory just to rescue two people.He also had his other friend provide a meal for himself,Annie, and Samuel. Abner might have been a spy but he was a very kindhearted soul