Book Summary and Reviews of Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen

Name: Lawn Boy
Rating: 5 (0 reviews)
Author: Gary Paulsen

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Lawn Boy

by Gary Paulsen

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Readers' Rating (2):

Published:
Jun 2007, 96 pages

Genre: Literary Fiction
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Summary

Book Summary

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.

If I'd known what was coming, I might have climbed on my mower and putted all the way home to hide in my room. But the lawn business grew and grew. So did my profits, which Arnold invested in many things. And one of them was Joey Pow the prizefighter. That's when my 12th summer got really interesting.

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Media Reviews

"Starred Review. When it comes to telling funny stories about boys, no one surpasses Paulsen, and here he is in top form." - Booklist.

"Readers will find this madcap story a wise investment of their time." - Publishers Weekly.

"This rags-to-riches success story has colorful characters, a villain, and enough tongue-in-cheek humor to make it an enjoyable selection for the whole family." - School Library Journal.

This information about Lawn Boy was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Connie

Humorous and Educational
This book is great for the whole family. Right from the beginning it grabbed me because, partly, it reminded me of me and my siblings at 12 years old, and secondly, it was funny from the start. We too were broke and earned money by pulling our dad’s push lawn mower around our neighborhood knocking on people’s doors whose grass was tall. Most all the yards were small and paid $10 dollars, but some were a little bigger and those paid $15 dollars. The difference between us and the Lawn Boy is that we never got rich, nor did we learn much about capitalism at the age of 12. It is funny how the little boy talks about his grandmother whom he realizes isn’t crazy. His grandmother gave him his grandfather’s old riding lawn mower for his 12th birthday and this was the beginning of his, unknowingly, career. I chuckled as I read on and could not put this humorous book down. The lawn boy soon learned about investing his money, running a small business, and he ended up owning a prized fighter who comes to the boy’s aid twice. It is an excellent book.

Hilania

boring
confusing

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Author Information

Biography

Gary Paulsen

Gary Paulsen is the distinguished author of many critically acclaimed books for young people, His most recent books are The Legend of Bass Reeves, Molly McGinty Has a Really Good Day, The Time Hackers, and The Amazing Life of Birds. He lives in New Mexico and Alaska.

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