The Car | Gary Paulsen | Driving Adventure

The Car | Gary Paulsen | The Car

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The Car

	The Car Gary Paulsen Harcourt Children's Books, 1994 - 192 pages average customer review:based on 71 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Fourteen-year-old Terry Anders is a 1990s Huck Finn, with parents as neglectful as Pap. Like Huck, he escapes, not on a raft but by constructing a kit car. ?Besides evoking a type of independence and tough-mindedness that will appeal to teens, this provocative novel introduces and explores some interesting philosophies of life while stressing the value of learning from experience.?--Publishers Weekly

Driving Adventure

Fourteen-year-old Terry's parents have always fought with each other a lot. Finally, though, they've had enough. One day neither one comes home, and in the evening Terry gets two phone messages--one from his mother, telling him to tell his father that she has all of her stuff and isn't coming back, and one from his father, telling him to tell his mother that he has all of his stuff and isn't coming back. Terry is left alone.

Terry doesn't mind at all the fact that he is by himself. His parents have always ignored him, so he doesn't really miss them. He thinks they will probably eventually figure out he is alone and one of them will come back home. And now he has the opportunity to do what he's wanted to do for a long time--build the car out of the kit his father has in the garage, the car kit his father has refused to build himself and has forbidden Terry to build.

It doesn't take Terry long to build the car, and with a set of wheels, he decides to go on the road, to drive from Ohio to Oregon to see an uncle he just barely remembers. Terry packs up the car and leaves, being careful to drive at the speed limit so he won't have to risk getting pulled over. Soon into his trip, he meets a hitchhiker who convinces Terry he would be able to help him on his journey. The man's name is Waylon and almost without intending to, Terry decides to bring him along.

Before long it is Waylon who is guiding the trip, advising Terry where to drive and teaching him many things he will never forget, about friendship, history, and himself.

I really liked the interactions among Waylon, Wayne and Terry. The three of them fit together really well and were able to learn from each other. I liked that Waylon was a mystery; Terry never quite knew what was going on with him, so the reader was never sure, either. I thought the ending left too much unresolved, though. I liked that the book was about a journey, but I also wanted to see the characters get somewhere.

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The Car

This book is about a kid named Terry. His mom and dad don't care about him and abandon him later on by accident. Meanwhile Terry comes across his dad's car kit and builds it back up. Later he meets some people that become his friends and go on an adventure. I think this book was amazing. There's alot of adventure, it's surprising, and makes you want to read more after the first chapter. I recommend this book to people that love muscle cars and adventure.

The car

The Car

The car is a story about a boy named Terry Anders. When he is fourteen years old his parents leave him. So he decides to build a kit car that is sitting in his garage, and take it to find his uncle in California. On his way there he stops to rest, and finds a man named Waylon Jackson. Waylon hitches a ride with Terry to help him find his uncle. Waylon teaches Terry lots of things and shows him lots of things. These two encounter an old man that can help them learn about America, a very bad road rage, and many more. The Author Gary Paulsen uses great phrases to help you understand what is really going on. One example is how Waylon "shrugs" and it injures someone. The car has hooked me on to it from the first time I opened it. I would recommend it to anyone. This is a very good book, and was a joy to read.

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The Car

Have you ever wondered what it's like to travel across the United States? Well this is a terrific book for what you're looking for because it is about a 14 year old boy who lives at home with two psychotic parents that have no supervision for him, whatsoever. One day these two "parents" abandoned Terry and he's left alone, so he decides to check out a pile of junk in his garage which used to resemble a car. After about a week he rebuilds the car, which he names "Cat" he decides to drive west; in search of his uncle in Portland, Oregon. On the way he encounters a veteran named Waylon from Vietnam which leads him through the west and finally takes him to his old friend Wayne's house. When they meet Wayne they decide to go "trucking" which means they want to go explore and learn new things. So, on their journey they meet many of Waylon and Wayne's old friends, gamble, and finally get into a lot of trouble with cowboys which ends the book with Terry fleeing away in his car towards the Bighorn Mountains. This is a very good book which gives the lesson of "With bad things, comes good ones also." This says how his parents deserted him but then he went on an exciting trip with some fastidious people.

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very god but could have been longer

Brock Bolton
Mrs. Rowe
L.A. Block 4
9-29-08
The Car
This book features three main characters Terry, Waylon, and Wayne, but I'm going to tell you about Waylon. Waylon is a Vietnam veteran and he is just fun loving the book mentions one time where he wins 15,000 off of poker. He is kind of old it says in his 50's. This book takes place in a lot of different places such as Cleveland, Ohio and South Dakota. Possibly my favorite part in this book is near the end when Wayne and Waylon are just like beating up cowboys crazy one after one. There is one major problem Terry is driving cross-country without a license or a legal license plate. This is resolved by Wayne getting a license plate for Terry's car. I think the theme is to learn as much as you can as live life.

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