78 pages 2 hours read

Gary Paulsen

Harris and Me: A Summer Remembered

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1993

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Introduction

Harris and Me: A Summer Remembered

  • Genre: Fiction; semi-autobiographical vignettes
  • Originally Published: 1993
  • Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 1060L; grades 6-8
  • Structure/Length: 12 chapters; approx. 168 pages; approx. 3 hours, 45 minutes on audio
  • Protagonist and Central Conflict: The protagonist is an 11-year-old boy who spends the summer with relatives on their farm. There, he meets plain-spoken and lively cousin Harris, who pulls the protagonist into the details of farm life and a full slate of summer adventures.
  • Potential Sensitivity Issues: Narration of young children playing with guns, looking at pornographic pictures, and engaging in risky behavior; profanity; alcoholism as a symptom of war-related PTSD

Gary Paulsen, Author

  • Bio: 1939-2021; born in Minnesota; as a child, struggled in school but grew to love reading; on the path to become a successful writer, worked in hunting and trapping and took up dogsled racing; after serving in the US Army, became a corporate aerospace field engineer; became a writer of adult fiction, nonfiction, and plays, but most well-known for his young adult stories of survival, nature, and coming of age; awarded Newbery Medal Honor citations for Dogsong (1985), Hatchet (1986), and The Winter Room (1989)
  • Other Works: Hatchet (1986); The River (1991); Winterdance (1994); Brian’s Winter (1996); The Transall Saga (1998); Woods Runner (2010)
  • Awards: Booklist Books for Youth Top of List citation (1993); ALA Notable and Best Book (1993); South Carolina Young Adult Book Award (1997); Iowa Teen Award (1997)

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