Packer, Tina.  A Tales from Shakespeare.   

Pacquin, Ron.  Not First in Nobody’s Heart: The Life Story of a Contemporary Chippewa.  Find it in Biography. 

A life of cruelty and hardship and racism doesn't just happen in far away places.  Sometimes it happens right here in the Eastern Upper Peninsula.  a book of local interest 

Park A Single Shard. 

Paton. Cry the Beloved Country. 

ÙÙÙÙÙ Mr. Greenlee

No one who goes to the city ever returns.  His son and his sister went, and now he's going to look for them.  Get past the beginning of this book - the pile of geographical names in Zulu, lack of quotation marks - and get onto a great novel.   

Patterson, Katherine.  Bridge to Terebithia.

Patterson, Katherine.  Jacob Have I Loved.  

ÙÙÙÙÙ Mr. Greenlee

Paulsen, Gary.  Brian's Hunt. (This is the third book in the Hatchet series.)

ÙÙÙÙÙ  Todd F., 8^th grade 

The book Brian’s Hunt is a good book for anyone who likes the outdoors.  It is about a young boy named boy who lives in the Canadian wilderness with his dog.  He has any adventures while in the woods, including an encounter with an enormous bear.  This is a great book and one of Gary Paulsen’s best books.  It is meant for middle school students and anyone older than a middle school student.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Tyler M, 10th grade 

     Brian’s Hunt was a good book that Gary Paulsen wrote it was about a boy Brian who lives in the woods in Canada.  He builds his own weapons and things that he needs to survive.  This book is mainly about Brian who got in a plane crash earlier, got rescued and decided to come back out in the woods.  He was out their in the woods when he heard a dog bark looked next to the fire and saw a wounded dog so he ran to the dog and noticed it was tore up badly.  When he got to the dog he bandaged it up and gave it some food.  He went back to food and thought that the dog would be gone but it was sitting in his canoe so he let the dog stay with him.  He remembered his friends up the river so he brings the dog with him.  When he gets to the lake of the house something is wrong way wrong. 

ÙÙÙÙÙ Thomas, 9th Grade     

After Bryan returns home from “the bush,” he decides life in the wild is better so he goes back, but this time he brings supplies for his trip. Once in the wild, Bryan decides to go see some old friends. On the way to see some old friends, he finds something that would change his life forever.

      Bryan’s Hunt, the sequel to Hatchet, by Gary Paulson is a great book, and a fairly easy read. This book I recommend to everyone and almost anyone could read it. Gary Paulson did a great job with this one, the action is great and it kept me hooked.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Mr. Greenlee  

Paulsen, Gary.  Brian's Winter.  (This is a "what-if" sequel to Hatchet, which is not really part of the Hatchet series.)

Reviewed by Gavin 

Brains winter was a great story about a boy who is stranded in the wild with limited supplies. The book is the sequel to hatchet he gets in a plane crash and ends up surviving it. He finds a few things left in the plane such as some food a 22 riffle and some other things. I would recommend this book to all but mostly younger teens.

Paulsen, Gary.  The Car.  New York: Harcourt Brace.

««««« Colton., 8th grade

Well I like reading  Gary Paulsen books. I read The Car to see what it was about and it was good because it was a teen book about cars. Therefore, I will try to read every book that is  Gary Paulsen

Paulsen, Gary.  Dancing Carl. 

ÙÙÙÙÙ Robert Chmb., 10th Gr

Not much is known about Carl, other than he lives in a warming cabin near the ice rinks, but that all changes once the hockey season of 1958 comes along. This first person novel is about a boy and his friend Willy and there Questions about Carl, why does he dance on the ice rinks, why is he living in Minnesota, and why is his behavior so odd. This is a very powerful book because of the story behind Carl and by what the main character finds out about Carl later in the story. I recommend this story to everyone, especially hockey fans.    

ÙÙÙÙÙ Jeff, eighth grade

    Dancing Carl is a worthwhile book.  This author knew what he was doing.  It starts with Marsh and Willy, two young children who love to ice skate.  Marsh sees Carl, a mysterious old timer, at the rink one day and is very interested in the way Carl goes about doing his own thing.  Marsh and Willy want to find out about Carl and his past.  This book was enough to keep me interested and was not too hard. 

Paulsen, Gary.  Dogsong. 

««««« Colton., 8th grade

Well I like reading Gary Paulsen books. I read Dogsong because I like dogs and it looked like a good book and it was. Therefore, I will try to read every book that is by Gary Paulsen. 

Paulsen, Gary.  Harris and Me.  New York: Harcourt Brace.  

ÙÙÙÙÙ Tyler C., 8th Grade 

The book Harris and Me is a wonderful book, I would give this book a rating of 5. There is a 11 year old boy that is sent to live with his cousins because his parents are alcoholics. His Cousin Harry (Harry is my favorite character) has already got him in trouble just as he got there. He experiences his new and strange life with mean farm animals and his crazy cousins. This is a great book of comedy and adventure. I suggest you read this hilarious book, and find out what happens in the end.    

ÙÙÙÙÙ Michael, ninth grade

 Harris and me is a great book, it is a short easy read packed with adventure and comedy. When this city boy is dropped off to live with his cousin and his family it will be a summer he will never want to end. He is at first shy and not used to farm life. By the end he eats and works just like the rest of the family. He experiences mean farm animals and his crazy cousin on a motor-bike. There is always action throughout the whole book and it keeps you laughing. Finally he gets used to the farm life and loves it and hoped he wouldn’t have to leave at the end of the summer.   

ÙÙÙÙÙ Tymon, eighth grade

This is one of my favorite books.  It was extremely amusing.  Gary Paulsen has the characters do what real kids would imagine.  He must have had kids come to a farm and used their imaginations to give him ideas for Harris and the main character.  It was a very easy read, but it never told the main character’s name.  This book has profanity in it so it would not be suitable for elementary kids, but high school kids should enjoy this book.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Tyler M., ninth grade

    Harris and Me is an excellent book. It is about this eleven-year old boy who is sent to live with his cousins because his parents are alcoholics. The boy has barely any time to settle in before his younger cousin Harris has them to in trouble. Went it is time to cut the field, Harris and the narrator have to go and catch mice and for each mice they catch they get a penny. When they are done with that, Harris goes to show him what exactly he needs the mice for. They go to the top of the barn in a small room and see that Knute has been making their farm out of the fur of the mice. He also sees himself in the pigpen with Harris full of mud. Finally he has found his home, somewhere he actually fits in, but when summer comes he does not want to go back to school, or to his parents. But when the cop comes and takes him back he wants to return again next summer. 

ÙÙÙÙÙ Paul F., eighth grade

“Commie Japs!” the two kids yelled as they fought with the pigs.  The kids loved playing games like army and cowboys and Indians, it is all they did to keep themselves entertained during the long summer days.  Henry went to live with his relatives in the summer, he didn’t even know who they were, but the Sheriff made him go somewhere else every summer because his parents were drunks.  This story is about two kids getting in all the trouble they can get into. This was a good book; I would recommend this book to all boys of any age.  

ÙÙÙÙÙ Robert Chmb., ninth grade

Orange pop, pig wrestling, cowboys – all some off the casualties of summer for a city kid who is sent to his cousin’s farm for the summer. This story brings summer on a farm to life with a city kid and unpredictable cousin Harris. In Harris and Me there is a first for everything. Love, homemade motorcycles, movies, and orange pop. I liked this book because it reminded me of summer and the great times that happen. I recommend this book to boys of all ages.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Mr. Greenlee

Paulsen, Gary.  Hatchet.  New York: Macmillan Children's Book Group. 

ÙÙÙÙÙ Todd, 8th grade

The book Hatchet was a good book because it was exciting.  Thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson becomes stranded on an island in Canada while on his way to see his dad.  While he is on the island, he has to catch his own food and finds out it is not easy.  He also has problems with animals on the island.  These events are fun to read about and it is a good book for anyone who is looking for a good book to read.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Caleb K, 8th grade

There is a kid who goes up to Canada to see his dad for the summer in an oil field.  On his way there the Brian gets in a crash in a plane he tries to fly plane on to water.  His mom gives him a hatchet before he gets on the plane.  On the way there the pilot died and Brian the kid tries to radio in to tell someone that the pilot has died.  Eventually he gets someone for about 1 minute and then he loses signal.  He crashes into a lake shaped like an L.  Brian tries to stay alive by eating one turtle egg a day.  And he makes fire by hitting his hatchet on a rock to make sparks.   

ÙÙÙÙÙ Andrew, 8th grade

 Hatchet is a good survival story about a boy who is flying to Canada to see his father, but on the way, his plane crashes into a lake and me must survive until the rescue party comes. This story rarely has a slow spot and at many times you wonder “is he going to live”, and at most of those times it seems almost certain that won’t.  I recommend this book for anyone likes a nice read.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Fuller C., ninth grade

Brian Robenson was a typical boy going through every boy’s life with his parents getting divorced and the average teen problems.  During the summer Brian decided to go up to visit his father when he boarded a single engine plane for the first time. It was only Brain and the pilot flying together up into the wilderness of northern Canada.  During his flight, problems arose with the pilot causing the plane to come crashing down out of mid air. So follow along with Brian as he fights to stay alive in the wilderness with nothing but his hatchet.  I rate this book a five stars and it is fairly easy reading level. I recommend it to all readers.     

ÙÙÙÙÙ Caleb, tenth grade

     I thought this book was going to be very boring when I first started to read it, but then as the story moved on it started to get more interesting.  This book is about a boy whose parents get a divorce.  His dad lives in Canada and owns an oil company in the Canadian wilderness and Brian is going to visit him.  While he is in the plane he is thinking about the “Secret”- why his mom and dad were divorced.  Then in an instant, the pilot has a heart problem and they crash into a lake.  The pilot dies, but Brian is still alive and he has to fend for himself in the wild.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Gavin

ÙÙÙÙÙ Mr. Greenlee 

If you enjoyed this, try The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, My Side of the Mountain, or - best of all - Call of the Wild or White Fang by Jack London.

Paulsen, Gary.  The Island.  

Recommended by Gavin

The Island was a book that should be read by young teens.  It's about a boy who is living at home with his parents and wants to run away to an Island by self.  Every day after school he goes to this Island and spends a lot of time on it.  The main characters of the Island is will who is like 16 and his whole reason for running away to the Island is because he is having hard time with is family at home. Mostly with his father because of his drinking problem. Wills biggest problem is that he never tells anyone what he is having problems with and who he is having them with. I would recommend this novel for young teens.  Recomanded by Gavin

Paulsen,  Gary . The Night the White Deer Died.

«««««Colton., 8th grade

Well I like reading Gary Paulsen books. I read The Night the White Deer Died because I like books that are about the wild. Therefore, I will try to read every book that is Gary Paulsen.

Paulsen,  Gary .  The Rifle.  

«««««Colton., 8th grade

Well I like reading Gary Paulsen books. I read The Rifle becsue I like guns and it was about the war back then and it came up to know. Therefore, I will try to read every book that is Gary Paulsen.

Paulsen, Gary.  The River.   New York: Doubleday.  (This is the sequel to Hatchet.)

ÙÙÙÙÙÙ Michael 

The River was an okay book. It is the sequel to Hatchet. It was not as good as Hatchet but it was also a lot shorter and an easier read. Brian is at home when a man comes to his door and asks him to reenact what he did in the wilderness to survive.  Brian eventually agrees and they go out into the wild in a small bush plane.  They decide to leave all the stuff behind or the surviving wouldn’t be real.  When tragedy hits their camp one night they wish they wouldn’t have left the supplies behind. Brian has to make his way down the river as quick as possible to save a life.  

ÙÙÙÙÙ Robert Chmb.

Oh boy! An exciting sequel to Gary Paulson’s novel Hatchet right? Wrong!  In this sequel to Hatchet there is nothing exciting, nothing unexpected, and nothing worth reading. Bryan is in the Canadian forest, again, and he is forced to survive off nothing, again. This novel is disappointing because it’s practically the same scenario as Hatchet. The ending of this book is also a reason to vomit. Gary Paulson disappointed his fans by writing this novel. If there was an award for worst sequels of all time, this book would win with flying colors.

Paulsen, Gary.  The Winter Room.  New York: Orchard Books.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Halee , 8th grade 

         The book A Day No Pigs Would Die is a great book, it tells a tell about a boy who’s father is sick. While he is sick, the boy takes care of the farm and all the work falls on him. He goes out to hunt and brings home dinner, hoping that his father will get better soon. Sadly things don’t work out or go as planned. This book is a amazing and is one that i would surely recommend. It has some tough words however, and also it has some laughing lines. This is why i give it four stars. Some words were difficult but not too bad.

Peck, Richard.  The River Between Us. 

ÙÙÙÙÙ Shayleen M., ninth grade

Bang! Bang! That is all they hear.  The civil war is going on, The River Between Us was written by Richard Peck, and it is an excellent book. This book is based around the older life style.  A family is trying to move from their winter home to their summer home with the Civil War going on, and  the son of the family wants to go and march with the town’s men. The parents don’t want him to go and march, but the son goes and stands up for his country.   

Pelzer A Child Called It.  Omaha Neb.: Omaha Press. 

ÙÙÙÙÙ Hailey A., 8th grade 

  This book was one of my favorite books. What this book is saying is that, life isnt easy. It is even worse when your are put in a situation where your are abused in your childhood or anyothere time. It also says that you should tough things out, even how bad they are and think of the furture.

ÙÙÙÙÙJessica, 8th grade 

It’s the fight for survival, and the will to survive. The little boy, known as “It” has to learn how to win his mother’s deadly games in order to survive, if he looses his next turn might mean game over. This book was okay, it kind of seemed like the child could not have survived that cruel way of living, but it was also good because it kept me reading to see what was coming next.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Amelia, 8th grade

A Child Called “It” is too sad. A boy is getting abused by his mom and his dad doesn’t do anything about it. The author said it’s a true story about himself, but its not. Too much sadness in a book for me.  

ÙÙÙÙÙ Paul W., 8th grade 

A Child Called It was sad. It’s about a child who’s mother is abusive towards him and mostly describes his struggles for surviving. I recommend this book for people who think they have a hard life just because of one small thing, like being grounded or a break-up. The child in this book really does have a hard life enduring beatings, and suffering to live another day. He fights for food and water everyday just to survive.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Morgan, eighth Grade 

  A Child Called It is a memoir of Dave Pelzer. This story took place in a town in California. Dave thought his family was great, they went on vacations together and they all had a great time, until his mother became a bad alcoholic. Everything became miserable for Dave. It’s like he was living in a torture chamber, just like his life was his worst nightmare.  It started with beatings, but then at the middle and the end of the book, it was just pure torture. She refused to let him eat, he had to live in the basement, he couldn’t talk to his brothers, he had to stay in a closed room with ammonia in it, and the worst was sitting on a burning stove. I liked this book, but I found myself wanting to stop reading this horrible and true story.   

ÙÙÙÙÙ Karlena, Junior

This young boy of about 7 is very strong willed and determined to live.  The story tells the life of one young boy who gets severe beatings every time something goes wrong.  While he never recalls doing anything to make his mother envy him, she feels that he is the odd ball in life and is an absolute disgrace to their family.  She disowns him to the family, hence the name “it,” only giving him the leftover scraps of food off the other children’s plates if she felt he was good and had completed all his duties.  Sometimes he would go 2 or 3 days with no food.  He would starve so often that he had turned to stealing food at school that resulted in severe consequences when his mother had found out.  She did things that would intentionally harm him when what she wanted done wasn’t.

   He lived on an old army cot, prayed for his life each and every day, slept in the cold garage, and never gave up hope that he would receive slightest bit of food.  This boy will forever have the vivid memories of the beatings and the “gas chambers,” and all the nights that he wished he would just die or live with someone who loved him, but he kept all that locked up and let his determination and courage overpower everything.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Tyler F., senior

This is a story, told in memoir format, about a case of child abuse so severe, the victim has to steal food from school so he won’t starve and bandage a stabbing wound so he won’t bleed to death.  This book explores both the demented reality of child abuse and the spirit to survive and prevail over adversity.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Melissa, senior 

This book takes place in a town in California, where what seems like a normal family with three boys and two loving parents.  The boys are all very close in age, except with David being the youngest.  The parents would take their children on family vacations and to the ball park, until eventually one day the mother snapped.  She snapped on what was her youngest child at the time, David.  She would break his ribs, feed him poison, and make him sleep in the garage on an army cot.  He would do all the chores around the house and had to pick up after his brothers.  He was only aloud to eat once every three days and that was if he was lucky.  Once the mother had two more children after David and the father left them David was worried there was no chance of survival for him.  This story does make a person feel very bad and sometimes almost upset to their stomach, however it is a great book and I do recommend it to anyone who would want to read it boys or girls.  

ÙÙÙÙÙ Roby, eighth grade

There is a little boy named David.  He is all grown up now but when he was little His mom abused him.  He was almost never fed.  He stole food from grocery stores and his school to stay alive.  His mom made him throw it up and eat it.  He also ate his brother’s left over cereal, but his mom stopped that very soon.  His mom kicks him and hits him so much he was used to it.  He almost died when his mom made him drink ammonia but he barely survived it thought.  The whole idea of the story is that he never gave up.  If you want to read a book without putting it down this book is for you. 

ÙÙÙÙÙ Tymon, eighth grade

     Dave Pelzer went through some of the most unimaginable tortures.  The things his mother did to him were crazy.  She even made him drink ammonia.  I didn’t really like it because I sometimes thought that he might be lying about his experiences because they are too evil, almost fake.  This was a smooth read because it was interesting and I wanted to see what was next in the book.  This book is definitely not suitable for elementary kids because it has profanity and graphic descriptions.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Christina, senior 

This book was a about a young child who at first has a normal life. Then after to many years on the bottle, the mother goes crazy. Taking out all her anger and frustration out on her child. The other brothers get to be treated and even fed like a normal child. David he is treated like a slave and is almost never fed. This mother is evil and does very mean to the boy and make him to impossible tasks just because she wants him to.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Arial, ninth grade 

   The story of Dave Pelzer is truly heart-wrenching.  It is a true memoir by Dave Pelzer.  David thinks he has the perfect family.  They go on trips together, his parents get along, and everything is wonderful.  Then his mother becomes an alcoholic and the family stops doing the fun things they used to do together.  As the youngest, at the time, Dave finds himself caught in his mother’s wrath.  It starts small with beatings, but then it escalades to unimaginable torture, such as making him lay on a burning stove or refusing to let him eat. 

      This story shows the shocking truth about child abuse in our own country.  The story was so sad I found myself wanting it to be over, so I didn’t have to read anymore about his psycho mother.  I liked the way it was written, but the content was too sad.

Petry, Ann.  Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad. 

Look for it in the biography section. 

Picoult, Jodi. My Sisters Keeper.  

ÙÙÙÙÙ Shay, 11th grade

Why can’t a family just get along? There are many reasons. Kate and Anna are sisters. Kate is the older sister that has been fighting Leukemia since she was a young child. Anna is the younger sister that is Kate’s donor. Their parents told Anna that the only reason that she was born is to be Kate’s donor. Anna is starting to question who she truly is. Anna is tired of her parents being so demanding. Anna refuses to donate to Kate anymore. Kate is in trouble now. There is not a match anywhere else for Kate. Has Anna made a decision that is going to tear their family apart?

ÙÙÙÙÙ Shay, 10th grade 

It is very hard not to help somebody out that is sick especially family. Come to find out Kate needs a kidney transplant. When she was little her parents told her something she least expected. That is what made up her mind about how she felt about her sister. Anna does truly love Kate but it is a big dissection for her to make.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Danielle,  ninth grade 

      When Anna is born, she has a very special purpose, helping her sister live. Anna was conceived so that she would be a perfect genetic match to her sister Kate. Kate has a form of leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant. But the problem is, is that no one in her family are a match for her. So this is when the idea of conceiving Anna comes in. The doctors help the family to pick and choose the embryo that will be the best match for Kate.

       This family already has so much to deal with in their lives. So when Anna springs on her lovely surprise to her parents, they just don’t know what to do. But after a while, they figure it all out, they work everything so that everyone is happy. 

       But when something tragic happens after everything is finally settled, it turns the whole story around. It throws you for a loop, never expecting something like this to happen. 

        This book was one that would touch closely to anyone’s heart. Two sisters are basically fighting for the right to live and fighting for the other to get what make them most happy.    

Preston, Richard.  The Hot Zone.  

ÙÙÙÙÙ Arial, ninth grade 

Terrifying, somewhat disgusting and true is what this book is.  It starts out in the rain forest near Mt. Elgon, a mountain in the rainforests of Africa.  A man goes into the mountain and gets this terrifying disease. It starts with the headaches, then the backaches until his entire body starts to hurt. Then he becomes sick and violently throws-up blood with black bits of the disease in it. By the time he gets to the hospital, he has started to “bleed out.”  This is when blood comes out of every opening in the body. If a doctor put a needle in him to give more blood, the hole starts would bleed uncontrollably.  Everyone in contact of this disease will probably die from it. 

This is a true story about this gruesome epidemic. The problem with this story is that the author did not set up characters. If you don’t care about the people, it is hard to get into it. The details in this book are a little over-the-top, such as “He puked into the bag until it bulged and filled the cabin with the smell.”  It also has many facts, which can make it feel like reading a textbook.  I would not suggest this book to anyone with a weak stomach.  

Proulx, E. Annie.  The Shipping News. 

a novel often used in AP English courses.  

Pullman, Philip.  The Golden Compass.  New York: Alfred A.  Knopf.

ÙÙÙÙÙ  Riley, 12th Grade         

This book is great for anyone who has an open mind, and loves reading about fantasy.  Each character has a daemon that shape shifts into an animal.  A little girl plays the main character.  She finds out about what can be a parallel universe from her uncle and wants to go explore. 

ÙÙÙÙÙ Scott R., Sophomore

ÙÙÙÙÙ Mr. Greenlee 

 This takes place in a parallel universe.  Many of the differences, such as geography, provide only a backdrop, but separating this world from ours are two major differences that play important roles.  First, there is the mysterious “Dust” and, secondly, all humans are here are accompanied by the well-known “familiar” of witchcraft lore.  Early on, the main character acquires a device that allows her to enter a trance and get information.