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Title: Harris and Me
ISBN: 015205880X
Author:
Gary Paulsen
Publicate Date: 2007-03-01
Publish: 2007-03-01
List Price: $5.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $2.65
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $2.65
Amazon Merchant Price: $5.95
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| Customer Review: |
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1: brady's review
My opinion on the book Harris and me is five stars. The reason I gave this book such a high rating is because the two hilarious boys in the book do things that I could see myself doing for example-they shove a straw up a frogs butt and blow so that the frog turns into a balloon sort of and floats on the water. This book is great for 12 and 13 year olds only it has a bit of language.
Harris, the main character is just a good old country boy looking for fun and excitement with no care in the world just to have fun. This book will jump out and grab you in the very first paragraph.
The narrator in the book is from the city and is not use to living in the country life but after a few days of being with Harris he learns pretty quickly. He is with Harris because his mom goes on a trip for a while and has no where to go. This is a great book so read it and find out all of the crazy adventures they go on together. Just trust me you will get sucked into this book.
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2: Not Your Typical Children's Writer
Gary Paulsen never shuns writing about real life to spare your kiddies' artificial innocence. His books deal with the pains and joys of childhood - parental quarrels, alcoholism, abusive behavior, etc. - more forthrightly than any other children's writer I encountered with my own son as he was learning to read, and my son loved Paulsen's book enough to choose them for himself.
"Harris and Me" is a first-person narrative, told by a boy whose dysfunctional family has sent him to live with kinfolk on a backcountry farm in Minnesota. Harris is the bigger boy whose family has the farm. He becomes the narrator's surrogate older brother and role model for devil-may-care enjoyment of boyish wildness. The narrator sense that his own nature is different from Harris's but he treasures Harris's spirit. It's a quick read for an adult, a kind of hyper-condensed adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. It's funny fun for the right kid to read silently or out loud, but children raised in a household devoted to propriety may find it incomprehensible, since propriety is not a virtue on Gary Paulsen's farm.
One might suspect that this narrative, like many of Paulsen's, is semi-autobiographical. I'm very certain, however, that Paulsen has somehow gotten ahold of my unwritten memoirs, and used MY childhood for his model. I've seldom read anything that depicts the experiences of farm life, in Minnesota or in Sweden, fifty years ago or today, as accurately as this short book. I mention Sweden because I lived as a boy on a diary farm near Nykoping that was identical to Harris's. Like Paulsen, I've traveled very far, physically and culturally, from that farm, but in my heart of hearts I'm still Harris, and/or his admiring sidekick, myself. For a writer like Paulsen, "home" is not so much a place but rather a time of life.
Paulsen's most popular books are imaginative adventure tales featuring intrepid boys. "The Hatchet" is his best seller. Shorter, more personal books like "Harris and Me" are, in my opinion, better choices for kids to read, offering flashes of insight into maturity, however challenging, instead of day-dream invulnerability.
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3: I love Harris!
My husband and I are both teachers and read this book shortly after it came out. It is so funny I can barely read it aloud-- I'm always laughing too hard. This is our favorite book, so much so, we named our son Harris. I love the story from start to finish, but my favorite part is Chapter 10. You'll love this story!
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4: Down to earth funny!
"Harris and Me" will keep you laughing!!! My high school English teacher read `Harris and Me' to my class, and each day I remember eagerly waiting for reading time. It is about two boys that spend a summer together on a farm and they do the wildest things. They have to create their own excitement and they spare no expense. They get into a lot of trouble but have a lot of fun doing so.
I enjoyed this book because I grew up in a rural community where entertainment was scarce so I had to learn to entertain myself. Harris's antics remind me very much of the things I used to do as a child.
One thing to keep in mind if you are considering this book is that it swears often. In my personal opinion the swearing could definitely be left out. It also talks about "durty pictures". My suggestion is to do as my teacher did with us and leave all of the swearing and "durty picture" parts out, if you do what is left is just some good old fashion fun!
I would recommend `Harris and Me', after the dirty parts were taken out, because it is down to earth funny!
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5: Hilarious adventures!
We read this book out loud in our reading class. It was good stuff! We all laughed out loud. We believe someone should make a movie of this book. Louie is an interesting character, and Harris is a silly bonehead, but loveable. That crazy rooster Ernie needs a chill pill, and the cat, Buzzer would benefit from some catnip. Outrageous adventures of growing up on the farm! Best Paulsen we've read!
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