Gary Paulsen

Iditarod Journal

Lawn Boy has been selected as a finalist in the 2008 New Mexico Book Award!

	The Amazing Life of Birds Zit monster. Puberty Werewolf. I’m Duane. Duane Homer Leech. Don’t ask. I’m 12. And one week. What I want to know is, where is this whole puberty thing going? So far it’s just something put on earth to destroy me. And I don’t have a clue what’s coming next.

	The Legend of Bass Reeves Available in paperback Born into slavery, Bass Reeves became the most successful US Marshal of the Wild West. Many "heroic lawmen" of the Wild West, familiar to us through television and film, were actually violent scoundrels and outlaws themselves. But of all the sheriffs of the frontier, one man stands out as a true hero: Bass Reeves.

	Lawn Boy One day I was 12 years old and broke. Then Grandma gave me Grandpa's old riding lawnmower. I set out to mow some lawns. More people wanted me to mow their lawns. And more and more. . . . One client was Arnold the stockbroker, who offered to teach me about "the beauty of capitalism. Supply and Demand. Diversify labor. Distribute the wealth." "Wealth?" I said. "It's groovy, man," said Arnold.

	Play the White Fox Memory Game

Dear Readers,

Welcome to my Iditarod Journal. Follow along as I run the famous Alaskan dog sled race.

Update #2 (February):

Right now I’m in Alaska, about 100 miles north of Anchorage in the bush. The snow is 5 ½ feet deep although slightly north of here the snow goes up to 14 feet. It’s an amazing amount of snow!

In Training for the First Day of the Iditarod

The Iditarod officially begins the first Saturday in March—on March 5. I’ve been in training so far. I’ve run the dogs about 700 miles, but I would love to have run 2000. I’ve got 31 days now until the race and only 22 of those I’m going to be able to run. I do not know if I will finish the Iditarod or even that I will start it. I’m down to 13 or 14 dogs that I think will be able to make the run. If I get down to 10 dogs, I will not run this year. If trail injuries occur or they catch a flu I can’t finish training the dogs and get the miles on them that I need.