Gone to the Woods

The boy understands what it is like to be alone.  With his father a vague memory gone to war and his mother only using him to get attention from men at bars, he's learned how to look out for himself.  His world changes in an instant when he is sent to live with his aunt and uncle in the Canadian wilderness.  For the first time, he feels like he's found a place where he fits.  

He learns how to fish, hunt, and appreciate the beauty of nature.  Sig and Edy also welcome him in a way that feels like he has always belonged with them.  But eventually, his mother returns and takes him to a war-ravaged Manila to live with a father he barely recognizes.  The drinking and fighting begin immediately, and the boy learns to survive and explore the streets where he learns about the kindness of strangers and the dehumanizing effects of war.

Back in the United States as an adolescent, he works odd jobs to buy food for himself as he hides from his angry and drunken parents in the cellar of the building.  The streets are even worse with bullies ready to inflict violence to get anything they can.  He dreams of running away and living in the woods using the lessons he learned from Sig in his childhood.  

His only respite is the library.  He's hesitant, but it's so cold outside, and the library is warm.  It doesn't take long before he has an unlikely friend in the librarian who shows him the world of reading and books.  He devours the pages and comes back for more, and it isn't long before she explains he can write down his own stories.

After a brief stint in the army, he discovers violence isn't for him.  He's learned how to fight to defend himself, but he doesn't want to live a life of violence.  Instead, he picks up a pencil and begins to write once again.

This powerful new memoir by Gary Paulsen delves deeper into his difficult past showcasing some of the best moments of his childhood contrasted with some of the worst.  This is marketed as middle grade, but it has references to prostitution, STDs, extreme violence, and war atrocities.  Paulsen doesn't go into a lot of detail most of the time, but this may not be the book for more sensitive readers.  There are parts of this book I really loved and parts where things slowed down too much.  There are sections of truly lyrical prose describing both the beauty and the horrors of the world that will live with me for years to come.  Recommended.