The Cookcamp

By: Gary Paulsen

Narrated by: C. J. Critt

Length: 2 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

In 1944, a little boy travels to Minnesota to live with his grandma, a Norwegian-American woman who cooks for the men who are building a road to Canada. Award-winning storyteller Gary Paulsen reveals the boy’s adventures with poignant honesty and adventurous spirit.

©1991 Gary Paulsen (P)1995 Recorded Books

Sooo good

I’m sad that I hadn’t read this until I was a grown man, but this was still a fantastic read, that was nothing but real life that is more fascinating than any fiction. Loved it so much, and can’t wait to read it with my boys.

Narrator rhythm is odd

Rhythm of the narrator is slow. Too much time between sentences. I played it on 1.2 speed.

It's Gary Paulsen

I haven't found a Gary Paulsen book that hasn't been great, very talented author,
For me, it all started with Hatchet

Author Interview (Included) Adds Interest!

So ... I didn't love this, but I also can't really say anything specific negative about it. It just seemed a little simplistic a story, one I almost wondered why it was being told. This is where the author's interview at the end helped up the appreciation. Paulsen states that (paraphrased) while this is a novel, it's really non-fiction, it's basically what happened to him when he was young.

It was all just a little ambiguous ... no specific time/year is given (as often is in books), just stated that during "a war" (the assumption is ww2?) the boy's father (like in "Harris and Me" ... we are never given the boy's name, he is just "the boy" throughout) is gone to war, the mother is working and brings home "Uncle Casey" who really isn't his uncle, and the boy finds his mother and the man on the couch together making sounds he doesn't understand but doesn't like ... the writing IS simplistic like that, which I guess is representative of the way a 5-year old might think (this is from his POV). Reminiscent of "the secret" (parent's divorce) mentioned in Hatchet. The prologue here mentions how he "was sent to live with his grandmother" and that repeats three or four times in just a few pages (because it's not that simple, each time it's said he gives a few more background details). I'm sure there is something to discuss here ... some writing technique ...

I picked this one up because I am a Gary Paulsen fan (my boys and I enjoying the Hatchet series). I had a copy of the physical book donated for my LittleFreeLibrary, and I thought I'd give it a quick read before offering it up. It's short/quick. I had also happened to hear someone on one of my Facebook groups mention it, saying the strong relationship between the grandmother/grandson touched her. Me ... not quite so much. Similar to "Harris and Me" (also the story of a young boy, although older than 5 years, going to stay with extended family for the summer), and I think I preferred the latter. Just a little more going on.

It IS so crazy to think about the different times ... sure, just put a five year old with a note pinned to him onto a train to travel several states away on his own. I'm not sure if I figured out the relationship between the grandmother and the boy's mother (why they weren't talking) ... but didn't re-read/re-listen to clarify (I remember one section going into the grandmother's history, but then it saying ALL her children had died, but then this seemed to cover years at one point ... which also makes me wonder about the sequels? I'm not really planning on continuing on).

There are a few covers - don't love any. The physical book here has the realistic (real? was this made into a movie, can't see anything on that) faces of grandmother and the boy. Included in AudiblePlus, the narrator was a woman ... might have made more sense to have it be male, but then again it was more of an omniscient narrator overlooking it and telling the story, 3rd person/Past tense. The ebook was also on Hoopla, but I'm a Kindle snob. No library had the Kindle copy, and I didn't feel like it would be worth $4, especially as I did already have the text/physical book to glance through.

While this is YA, and a simple story, I do feel like IF I were to study it closer, make notes, discuss it with bookclub ... I'd probably find some things worthy of a deeper delve. Just based on my quick listen though, it's not really one that will stay with me.