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For a 16-year-old boy out in the world alone for the first time, every day’s an education in the hard work and boredom of migrant labor; every day teaches him something more about friendship, or hunger, or profanity, or lust—always lust. He learns how a poker game, or hitching a ride, can turn deadly. He discovers the secret sadness and generosity to be found on a lonely farm in the middle of nowhere. Then he joins up with a carnival and becomes a grunt, running a ride and shilling for the geek show. He’s living the hard carny life and beginning to see the world through carny eyes. He’s tough. Cynical. By the end of the summer he’s pretty sure he knows it all. Until he meets Ruby.
Gary Paulsen tells the raw truth of a boy’s first summer on his own, “as real,” he says, “as I can write it.”
WINNER 2001 - ALA Best Books for Young Adults
WINNER 2001 - Texas TAYSHAS High School Reading List
WINNER 2002 - Kentucky Bluegrass Master List
Gary Paulsen is the author of more than 100 books and the winner of numerous awards.
Visit GaryPaulsen.com!
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