Newbery Honor author Gary Paulsen brings together original stories that talk about books by authors such as Marion Dane Bauer and M.T. Anderson in this middle grade anthology. From Jennifer L. Holm’s story of a girl on Mars trying desperately to return to Earth to Gregory Maguire’s domestic intrigue; from Kathleen Karr’s story of a thief in turn-of-the-century Chicago to M.T. Anderson’s mysterious shipboard adventure; from A. LaFaye’s tale of magical wonderment to Marion Dane Bauer’s story of doing good, this volume provides a full range of reading for every taste. Also featured are Joan Bauer, Ellen Conford, Margaret Peterson Haddix, and Ellen Wittlinger. Sales of this book benefit ProLiteracy Worldwide, an international network with programs in the United States and partner programs abroad, whose mission is to change lives through literacy. Grade 5-10-To benefit ProLiteracy Worldwide, Paulsen has assembled a stellar lineup of children's and young adult authors to contribute original short stories in which books change lives. Paulsen's emotional introduction explains how books turned his life around for the better. It is an excellent preface to a diverse, entertaining collection. Jennifer L. Holm's intriguing "Follow the Water" features the first teenager on Mars, who compares her life on the Martian colony to the description of the Red Planet from an old science-fiction novel. In "Barcarole for Paper and Bones," M. T. Anderson created an intricate mystery about the written records of a deserted ship. Joan Bauer, Marion Dane Bauer, Margaret Peterson Haddix, Kathleen Karr, A. LaFaye, Gregory Maguire, and Ellen Wittinger also contributed stories that display a wide range of emotions in a variety of genres. There is a selection in this collection that will appeal to almost every reading taste. Edward Sullivan, White Pine School, TN Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. Gr. 4-7. In this collection assembled to benefit literacy, Gary Paulsen brings together 10 stories by fine writers for young people, with books playing a central role in some stories, and a tangential role in others. Ellen Wittlinger's "Wet Hens" revolves around a well-known children's book, Roxaboxen . Other books will be less well known among the target reading audience, but children will find humor, pathos, magic, intrigue, and sf in stories by Ellen Conford, Joan Bauer, Margaret Peterson Haddix, M. T. Anderson, and more. The looseness of the theme results in a variety that offers something for most readers. Although it's a shame that the book opens with a dry foreword, and that Paulsen himself doesn't contribute a story, libraries looking for short-story collections will find this a solid addition. Kathleen Odean Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Gary Paulsen (1931–2021) was one of the most honored writers of contemporary literature for young readers, author of three Newbery Honor titles, Dogsong , Hatchet , and The Winter Room . He wrote over 100 books for adults and young readers. Introduction Gary Paulsen Books saved my life. First reading them, then writing them. As surely as my lead dog Cookie pulled me from the bottom of a lake after I fell through the ice, books are the reason I survived my miserable childhood. As certainly as my sloop Scallywag has safely taken me through storms and huge seas, books have sustained me as an adult. The awfulness of my childhood has been well covered. But I remember two women who took the time to help me when I was a boy and both women, not so coincidentally, helped me with books. Because I lived from the age of seven to when I was nearly ten in the Philippine Islands and had a private military tutor, I had never been to a public school. We came back to the States when I was just short of ten and moved to Washington D.C. so my father, who was in the army, could work at the Pentagon. My mother promptly enrolled me in public school, took me there the first morning, handed me over to a teacher, and left. I was painfully shy, terrified at the mob of kids and could not go into the room. It was an old school and at the back of the classroom, there was a cloakroom, a shallow closet the width of the room but closed in except for one door. I went in the closet and took my coat off with the rest of the children but then I could not leave, simply could not make my legs move to walk out into the classroom. I was too frightened. There were many things the teacher could have done wrong. She could have forced me out, dragged me into the classroom, could have made me leave. Instead she did everything right. She looked into the closet, saw me sitting back in the corner and disappeared for a moment and said something to the children. Then she came back into the closet and sat down next to me in the corner and put her arm around me. She had a book, a picture book. I cannot recall the contents of the book except that it had a horse's head on the cover and she