Author Gary Paulsen does a great job of explaining the science fiction aspect of this book for me, since my aptitude for this genre is pretty weak. Aimed at children 10 and up, The Time Hackers carries the reader through countless historical events, such as the Revolutionary War, the time of the Wooly Mammoth, pirate ships attacks, Cro-Magnon cave paintings, and the Crusades.

Main character, Dorso, and his friend Frank are unwittingly brought into a time-travel game concocted by 2 gamesters. Dorso's laptop holds the chip responsible for the whole saga and it is hoped that Dorso can do somthing to eventually stop the two gamesters from literally changing history. If this summary sounds confusing I apologize, but you really need to read the book to fully understand the story. That may sound like I'm trying to get out of writing this review, but my recommendation is to read it and enjoy it for the science-fiction/fantasy aspect it has to offer.

Draft Four

Book Review by Vivian

The Time Hackers by Gary Paulsen



What would you do if one day you open up your locker and a dead man is hanging in there and disappears a few seconds later? And what would you do if you and your best friend were traveling back and forth in time? Find out what two middle school boys will do in The Time Hackers by Gary Paulsen.

A middle school boy, Dorso opens up his locker and finds a dead body in it. This is not the first time that things have been appearing in his locker then disappearing. So he and his friend Frank think it is just a prank by someone else using a projector, but this time it smells. They realize this in not a prank at all, and things from the past start to appear in their time... or are they going to the past? A mysterious young man is also following them to the times they travel to - at least they think they’re time traveling. Now Dorso and Frank have a huge problem - they have to save themselves from being lost in time!

I like how the book is written so detailed that you can visualize the whole story in your mind easily and make a clear movie of it. It doesn’t only tell you what happens in the story, it also tells you about the setting, the thoughts and dialogue of the characters. The Time Hackers is also written in a way that makes it so exciting that it’s hard for me to stop when I have to.

I think the author wrote this book to show people that you can solve a huge problem with only just a couple people if you work together. I also think he wrote it to have fun for himself and also for the readers. I was surprised when I saw this book in the Gary Paulsen section of the school library because he had never written a science fiction story before.

I think The Time Hackers is a great book. Some of the parts where they were talking about time travel got a little confusing for me. But I think the whole book in general is pretty good. This is not the best book by Gary Paulsen that I’ve read: I think my favorite book by him is Mr. Tucket, the first book of The Tucket Adventures. I think so because Mr. Tucket is much more interesting and meaningful to me, and it’s also a lot deeper than The Time Hackers.

I think if you have a chance to read The Time Hackers, you should definitely try it. I think anyone who likes to read an exciting science fiction adventure story would like it. In addition, people who don’t read science fiction should try this as well because it’s interesting, exciting, and Gary Paulsen is a great writer. And of course, if you have a chance to read The Tucket Adventures, definitely read those too! So whenever you see The Time Hackers or The Tucket Adventures, don’t hesitate to pick them up and read!

MontanaLibrary2Go
Waste of time. Fortunately not a lot of time, as it's only 96 pages and so only wasted half an hour of my evening. The characters are annoying (yes, I get that 12 year old boys want to see naked ladies. I do not believe that there are many 12 year old boys who are so consumed and obsessed by the concept that it takes precedence over all else, including the amazing events happening to him and his friend here. Additionally, if he wants to see naked women, why do they have to be naked famous women? I can't imagine that the poorly-constructed-by-author blocks that the government put in place to protect youth from seeing inappropriate things covered every moment that any female anywhere in time or space through the entire span of human existence was briefly nude), the technology is badly defined, plotted, and explained, the story is pointless, the conclusion is too neat, the whole thing probably took Paulsen a good, I don't know, 15 minutes to write and another 15 minutes to calculate how much money he thought he'd get from it. There was not a bit that wasn't either unnecessary or badly written, sometimes both.

Quite a departure from the other Gary Paulsen books I've read, but an engaging, quick read. Scientists have discovered how to look into the past, so anyone can view the actual battle at Gettysburg or see what Cleopatra really looked like. Then Dorso (what on earth is up with that name?!?) discovers that it's possible to actually go to the past and change the course of history. (Guess whose fault it is that Beethoven went deaf!)

There is some talk (by 12-year-old boys) about trying to see famous women naked or taking baths, so I'm not sure I want my nine-year-old son reading it yet, but it's really pretty tame. Some of the explanations seem a bit rushed and overly tidy, but it was a fun diversion for an hour or so.

For more book reviews, come visit my blog, Build Enough Bookshelves.

Dorso and Frank, normal ten-year-old boys, live in a time when technology has advanced enough to allow anyone to watch historical events as they happen. Sadly, someone is playing practical jokes on the two boys, and they are popping in and out of various time periods, unexpectedly. Their goal is to find out what is going on and who is behind it.

This is a sort of Hardy Boy mystery with a cool sci-fi slant that is sure to please any young boy who hungers for adventure!

this book is petty good i enjo the creep but wierd also interesting twist that the story throghs at you

tThe Time Hackers by Gary Paulsen is a very intriguing book. The book is staged in a world where bringing back images from the past is possible. For example, if you wanted to, you could see the Gettysburg Address if you wanted to. The main character of this book is a twelve year-old boy named Dorso. Dorso has a friend named Frank who is always trying to find a way to get around the blocks that prevent you from seeing naked women in the past. Dorso has been getting holograms from dead animals in his locker and they make it smell really bad (the images also bring smell). One day, Dorso gets a hologram of General Custer and Custer looks right at him and almost waves, which is impossible because holograms cannot see you, you can only see them. Then it happens again, this time with Beethoven. Dorso tells Frank this but Frank doesn't believe him, until a mammoth comes out of nowhere and kicks frank ten yards! They realize that somebody somewhere has figured out how to break the time paradox but wonder why it was Dorso who got Thrown in the middle of this. They later find out that it is a game by two gamesters (crazy people). The object is one person goes back in time and tries to mess it up and the other tries to stop him. Dorso and Frank find them and steal their laptops (the things that let them time travel. After that, they go through a series of time jumps and meet the real creator. He explains that the time machine was built for good, but those two gamesters found it and used it for bad, but Dorso and Frank saved all of time from them!

tThis is one of Paulsen's better books. He had a way of connecting to the reader through Dorso and Frank. He also had a way of keeping me addicted to the book. Not everything is perfect and this book had its flaws. Paulsen could have used more imagery because I found myself having to image what the scenery looked like a lot. Overall, The Time Hackers was a very engaging book!

I really liked this book. It is a mystery in a way. I always wanted to keep reading because I always wanted to know what was going to happen next because there was always something about to happen and a piece of the puzzle about to be put together. It was very interesting because it seemed like it could be happening now because of how things are but in the book there is so much technology. It is funny how they act like that kind if technology wasn't a huge breakthrough and how it is a part of their everyday lives. So I rally enjoyed reading this book.

I wonder what made Paulsen write this book. Known for wilderness adventures, this is a sci fi story.

The blocks of the time paradox have been breached! The fate of the universe rests in the hands of two middle school boys. The book The Time Hackers by Gary Paulsen was a tale of two boys wrapped up in the elaborate scheme of two extreme gamers. In the story, figures and items from the past can be brought back into holographic form in the future. When this technology was invented, people used this to their advantage, but not in a positive way. People used this to view pornographic images, and and to alter the space time continuum. To continue, the two boys were accidentally involved, one of the boys named Frank had a laptop that he sent to the factory for repairs, and during its time there a chip was inserted into his computer. This chip sent Frank and his best friend Dorso to all sorts of places and situations throughout history, the chip almost caused the demise of both of the innocent boys. In the end the boys made a few discoveries that shocked both of them as the situation was not the same as it appeared to be. Time Hackers great read for middle school aged kids looking for a somewhat complicated, but short and thrilling read. This sci-fi thriller has great twists and shocking turns in the plot, and this helped me rate it as a 7 out of 10 chips. The author did a great job of putting a huge amount of information in a short book while organizing it all to perfection. The author also had a great ending, it left me with many curiosities, but I felt like I understood all of the jarring twists and turns he through at me. Overall, I thought time hackers was a great and thrilling read, I recommend anyone looking for a quick read to try out this book.

Interesting. I do enjoy Paulsen's writing.

I read for 10 minutes 10-6
I read for 20 minutes10-7
I read for 15 minutes 10-8
I stopped reading this book because it really did not appeal to me. I had a little trouble following it because the author sort of just started off. THey never really explained the characters. I started a new book called Night of the Twisters.