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Mr. Tucket

Name: Mr. Tucket
Author: Gary Paulsen
ISBN: 9780440411338

by Gary Paulsen

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Overview

Fourteen-year-old Francis Tucket is heading west on the Oregon Trail with his family by wagon train. When he receives a rifle for his birthday, he is thrilled that he is being treated like an adult. But Francis lags behind to practice shooting and is captured by Pawnees. It will take wild horses, hostile tribes, and a mysterious one-armed mountain man named Mr. Grimes to help Francis become the man who will be called Mr. Tucket.

In 1848, while on a wagon train headed for Oregon, fourteen-year-old Francis Tucket is kidnapped by Pawnee Indians and then falls in with a one-armed trapper who teaches him how to live in the wild.

About the Author, Gary Paulsen

Gary Paulsen is the distinguished author of many critically acclaimed books for young people, including three Newbery Honor books: The Winter Room, Hatchet, and Dogsong. His novel The Haymeadow received the Western Writers of America Golden Spur Award. Among his most recent novels are Soldier's Heart and The Transall Saga. He and his wife, the painter Ruth Wright Paulsen, have homes in New Mexico and on the Pacific Ocean.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

In a starred review, PW called this western adventure ``a real knock 'em, sock 'em ripsnorter'' with a ``thrill-a-minute plot.'' Ages 10-up. (Dec.)

The ALAN Review - James E. Davis

Paulsen has done it again-a survival story with relentless adventure that involves the reader from the first sentence and never lets up until the last. This time it's about fourteen-year-old Francis Tucket, who, as the story opens, is traveling on a wagon train with his family to Oregon. While practicing shooting with his new birthday rifle, he tarries behind the wagon train and is captured by Pawnees. Although part of a loving, protective family, Francis is tough, fights hard, and regularly tries to escape, but is unable to until he is helped by Mr. Jason Grimes, a one-armed trapper and mountain man who sells gunpowder to the Pawnees. Under the tough tutelage of Grimes, Francis grows up fast, becoming worthy of the name Mr. Tucket. Concentrated action, two unforgettable characters, sparse style, and a complicated mentor relationship should keep this book around a long time.