Fourth Grade Journey

A Fourth Grade Teacher's Journey Through the World of Books

Monday, October 24, 2016

Masters of Disaster by Gary Paulsen

How I Heard About It:  Another audio book.  Another Gary Paulsen book.  Another middle-grade listen.  I've been on a roll.  It has been fun!

What It Is About:  Three boys trying to fit in.  Three boys trying to make a name for themselves.  At what lengths will they go to become "known".  One of the boys is the idea guy.  The second guy is the planner.  That leaves the third kid to actually pull off the stunt and/or adventure.  They make a list of things they will do, record them, and hope that their classmates, especially girls, will begin to notice them.  One crazy incident after another takes place, and at moments they aren't sure they will survive all this "craziness".  



What I Thought Of It:  I have been enjoying listening to a bunch of different middle-grade novels.  They are quick reads/listens and make my commute so much more enjoyable.  It seemed during this listen I would get phone calls and forget to stop the audio.  I wasn't engaged in this Paulsen story as some of the others I've recently listened to.  Overall it was a fun and good story.  I just didn't find the "depth" I normally like.  The younger audience will for sure find this a great read because of the adventure, silliness, and wacky things these three young boys set out to do.  

Who Should Read It:  As I think about this story, I already have some of my own readers in mind that will enjoy the book.  Boys may tend to be the perfect audience because of the characters and plot, but I don't want to limit it to just them.  Readers in grades four and five would be best for the book.  It is so great that Paulsen is able to write such different stories and I look forward to bringing in a variety of his novels into the room to expose them to my readers.  Happy Reading!  

Rating:  3 STARS out of 5 Stars

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