Because I write about real things, people sense truth in my work. “Like Brian, I’ve hunted with a bow, been attacked by moose, dealt with cold so severe the trees exploded.

“Oh, I’ve seen a lot of winter,” said Paulsen, who ran 15 sled dogs when he lived in Becida, north of Bemidji. “He was one of the first to write outdoor adventure stories that appeal to kids who don’t think of themselves as readers but are drawn to these kinds of books.” “Gary’s books continue to sell steadily and constantly,” said Holly Weinkauf, owner of the Red Balloon on St. It has sold more than 4.5 million copies.Īuthor of more than 200 books for adults and young people, Paulsen won the American Library Association’s prestigious Newbery Honors for “Dogsong,” “Hatchet” and “The Winter Room.” In 1997 he won the ALA’s Margaret Edwards Award for a body of work that made “significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature.” Paulsen was one of the most honored writers of contemporary literature for young people, praised for his clear prose and exciting tales of adventure such as “Hatchet,” a 1986 novel about a boy who survives a plane crash and learns to survive challenges of nature. It told of how the author coped with his parents’ alcoholism by going to the woods and the library. He was to have read from his newest book, “How to Train Your Dad.” His memoir for middle-grade readers, “Gone to the Woods: Surviving a Lost Childhood,” was published in January. 9 virtual Book Festival appearance was canceled. Those in the local book community knew something was wrong when Paulsen’s Oct. The New York Times, citing family, said the cause was cardiac arrest. Paulsen, who was born in Minneapolis, was 82 when he died Wednesday at his home in Tularosa, N.M. Book lovers attending Saturday’s Twin Cities Book Festival at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds will see a tribute to popular and bestselling author Gary Paulsen at the Red Balloon Bookshop booth where Paulsen’s classic “Hatchet” and his other young adult books will be displayed.

Gary paulsen books