How to Train Your Dad by Paulsen, Gary

From the legendary author of Hatchet, a laugh-out-loud misadventure about a boy, his free-thinking dad, and the puppy-training pamphlet that turns their summer upside down.

Twelve-year-old Carl is fed up with his father's single-minded pursuit of an off-the-grid existence. His dad may be brilliant, but dumpster-diving for food, scouring through trash for salvageable junk, and wearing clothes fully sourced from garage sales is getting old. Increasingly worried about what schoolmates and a certain girl at his new school might think of his circumstances--and encouraged by his off-kilter best friend--Carl adopts the principles set forth in a randomly discovered puppy-training pamphlet to "retrain" his dad's mindset . . . a crackpot experiment that produces some very unintentional results.

This is a fierce and funny novel about family, green-living, and untangling some of the ties that bind from middle-grade master Gary Paulsen.

Author: Gary Paulsen
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr)
Published: 10/05/2021
Pages: 192
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.50w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9780374314170
Audience: Ages 9-12

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 6.8
Point Value: 5
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 513347 / How to Train Your Dad


Review Citation(s):
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 09/01/2021
Publishers Weekly 08/23/2021
Kirkus Reviews 09/15/2021
Booklist 09/15/2021 pg. 51

About the Author
Gary Paulsen (1939-2021) wrote more than two hundred books for children and adults, including the recent acclaimed memoir Gone to the Woods: Surviving a Lost Childhood, and the survival adventure Northwind. Three of his novels--Hatchet, Dogsong, and The Winter Room--were Newbery Honor books. In 1997, he received the ALA's Margaret A. Edwards Award for his contribution to young adult literature. His books have sold over 35 million copies around the world.