Full-proof reluctant reader book for boys. True stories from Gary Paulsen's youth of stupid stunts he and his friends pulled that should have got them killed-- flying on a weather kite, skiing behind a car, etc. If the kids like this one, they'll love his book "Harris and Me," a fictional account of many other boyhood experiences like peeing on an electric fence and building a motorcycle out of a bike and tractor engine. Good stuff. I almost peed my own pants reading these!

Not only do I feel as if this book describes in great detail the life of Gary Paulsen and his friends, but also many other guys out there! They are reckless, curious, and into every form of trouble possible! In this story you will see and learn about several different real life adventures that this crazy group of boys went on throughout their wild childhood in Minnesota. Carl Peterson aka "Angel" and Gary Paulsen found themselves constantly getting into mischief and disaster! Peeing on fences, riding bikes through flaming hoops,driving cars way too fast, to fighting bears in a cage all because, in the words of the country song, "the chicks dig it." And these are only to name a few of the stories he went on to explain throughout this biographical story.

While reading this particular story, I kept getting flashbacks of my own childhood with my younger brother and older sister. We were always getting into something new around the neighborhood. We share lots of exciting stories and lots of not so exciting stories! Gary Paulsen does an amazing job at telling these stories in a way that will really capture an audience and make them feel the same feelings I did while reading. I strongly recommend this book to any student and know it would be very entertaining and enjoyable for them to not only read the stories but also to learn about an author we all know and love.

12/14/12

I am currently reading the book How Angel Peterson Got His Name By: Gary Paulsen. The book is about a 13 year old boy named Carl and he did a lot of crazy things. One of the crazy things he did was to try to break the speed record on skis; he had to go seventy-four miles an hour to break the record. But there was one problem there were no hills near by so he couldn't get any speed, but Carl said "I don't need any hills all I need is a car." They went to go buy all of the gear so he wouldn't get hurt. If you want to know if he did break the speed record on skis you will just have to read the book. Another crazy thing Carl did was pee on an electric fence so he got electrocuted and did a back flip!

I can relate to this book because my cousin is always pushing things to the limit like when someone tells him to do something and he will do it the more fun but dangerous way. He doesn't really think before he does something. I was falling out of my chair because this book was so funny. I really recommend this book to you if you like funny books.

Funny, very entertaining!