Newbery Honor
The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...
-winning short novel by
Gary Paulsen
Gary James Paulsen (May 17, 1939 – October 13, 2021) was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction, best known for coming of age, coming-of-age stories about the wilderness. He was the author of more than 200 books and wrote mor ...
. It is a
realistic fiction
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with fact, history, or plausibility. In a traditio ...
story about
logging
Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucksfirst person to two boys by their Norwegian uncle in the "
winter room
Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Differe ...
" of a
farm
A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...
in northern
Minnesota
Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
, United States. Like many of his works, it evokes a harsh
rural
In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...
environment using vivid imagery, and has elements of a
coming of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...
tale.
Reception
According to Hurst, it is a "brief, intense novel with incredible descriptive scenes", and Schmitz rates it as one of Paulsen's best.
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
found "Newbery Award-winner Paulsen never disappoints, and proves his talent again in this remarkably good tale."
Release details
*1989, USA, Scholastic Press (), Pub date ? September 1989, hardback (1st edition)
*1989, USA, Orchard Books (), Pub date ? October 1989, hardback
*1996, USA, Yearling Books (), Pub date ? July 1996, paperback
*1991, USA, Perfection Learning Prebound (), Pub date ? September 1991, hardback
*1991, USA, Bantam Doubleday Dell (), Pub date ? April 1991, paperback
*1995, USA, Yearling Books (), Pub date ? February 1995, paperback
*1996, ?, Laurel Leaf (), Pub date 2 May 1996, paperback
*1998, ?, Laurel Leaf (), Pub date ? December 1998, paperback
*1999, ?, Rebound by Sagebrush (), Pub date ? October 1999, hardback
*2005, USA, Thorndike Press (), Pub date 16 February 2005, hardback (large print edition)