Hi,
Today I am reviewing
a book that I first read a few years ago and recently have reread. The book is Canyons
by Gary Paulsen. Gary Paulsen is a good author and has written books like Hatchet.
Canyons is a good example of why he is a good author, with the story being
able to follow two very different protagonists simultaneously while still being
easily comprehensible. He is also able to make very believable characters that
feel real and unique.
Canyons is
a novel set in El Paso, Texas. It follows two 14/15-year-old protagonists,
Brennan, and Coyote Runs. Coyote Runs was an Apache boy who had been killed
many years ago in the canyons. He was close with nature and was finally old enough to become a
man and go on a raid with the other men, however the raid does not go according
to plan. Brennan is a modern boy who loves to run. He lives with his mom, though he is not very close with her at the beginning. One day when on a camping trip in the canyons, he
finds the skull of Coyote Runs and develops a calling to it immediately. He desires to know about the life and death of the skull. He hears
voices and instructions from the skull. Coyote Runs needs Brennan to return his
skull to his sacred place, however it will not be an easy job for Brennan
I
remember writing my book report on this book and while I had read the book
before, I understood the idea of the book much better when rereading it. I
think it was very cool how my perspective on the book changed in a few years. Now,
I see that even though the characters are set in different times and have
completely different surroundings, they are both kids that just face challenges
as they start to become men. I think that the main idea of the book was to help
people recognize how some aspects of human nature stay constant throughout generations,
in this case how challenges that shape character will always be fundamental
parts of life. Overall, I give Canyons an 8/10 and I recommend this book
to anyone who has read other Gary Paulsen books or just wants something
relatively easy to read. I also recommend going back and rereading books from
your past as it can be interesting.
Thanks for reading,
Thomas Ballard
This book sounds extremely interesting and unique with how it follows two different main characters at the same time. The plot itself sounds great too with how Brennan finds Coyote Runs's skull, which tells him to return it to the sacred place, and the adventures with the raid and the camping trip sound cool. I'll have to check out more of this book
ReplyDeleteIt sounds unique an interesting, as it sounds different than any other book that I have read. I found it interesting how this also kinda relates to the native religion and ideas as it sounds like a legend about a spirit. Pretty good review for a pretty good book.
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds quite interesting. If I'm understanding correctly, this sounds a little bit like the novel Holes, where the book follows two different plots of separate time periods, but whose stories came together to have significance eventually. The characters in Canyons seem like they connect more directly and in different ways from those from Holes. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds exquisitely peculiar, I have a liking of books that switch between two characters. I like would like to hear how you used to think about the book vs your current opinion.
ReplyDeleteI like how he hears the calling to the skull, like from Frozen 2 with Elsa spirit thing. I loved Hatchet when I read it in 5th grade, so this author is worthy of me, and if you read it twice, then that means it's gotta be pretty good. Thanks for the recommendation and I like how you talked about how the characters felt real and unique, which helps you connect with the book.
ReplyDelete