Wednesday, June 4, 2008

RILEY LEMM
My name is Riley Lemm, I live in the beautiful town of Polson, Montana. It is a small town, only about six thousand people, but I love it. Polson is at the foot of Flathead Lake, the biggest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River. To the east there is the scenic Mission Mountains that are covered in snow most of the year. I love sports and I love to do activities outside. One of my favorite hobbies is reading, but I also like to fish and collect sports cards. I don’t watch much TV and I don’t play many video games. My favorite sport is soccer and I have been playing since I was three years old. Our lake has some great fishing spots and it is a lot of fun to boat on.
I wrote this book for an advanced studies class because I am interested in becoming a writer. I decided that getting some information on how a few of my favorite writers got started and what inspired them would help me. I was also just curious about who they were and what their daily lives were like. So I wrote to them asking them some questions and that became the basis of my book. I chose eleven of my favorite authors who are popular young adult fiction writers. I am also including book reviews of one of their books, a book list of their published works, and a bio on each author. Not all of the authors responded to me personally so I am just including the bio, book list, and book review for those authors.
I found the information helpful and interesting, and I hope you will as well.
Enjoy!


Riley Lemm

Friday, May 30, 2008

Gary Paulsen
Gary Paulsen was born May 17, 1939 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mostly his mother raised him during his early childhood as his father was in the military and was stationed over seas. Gary started writing in 1962 after a stint in the military. His first book was Special War, which described the Vietnam War through the eyes of veterans. Shortly after, Gary wrote his first children’s novel, Mr. Tucket.
In 1987 the book Hatchet brought Gary Paulsen fame. He sold millions of copies, which inspired him to write a series about the main character Brian.
Gary Paulsen lives in La Luz, New Mexico with his wife. He also has a 40-acre spread north of Willow, Alaska where he breeds and trains sled dogs for the Iditarod. I’m amazed by Gary’s wide spectrum of experiences that are brought out in his incredible and varied novels.

Some of Gary Paulsen’s Most Popular Books

Brian’s Saga
· Hatchet
· The River
· Brian’s Winter
· Brian’s Return
· Brian’s Hunt
Hatchet
By Gary PaulsonHatchet, by Gary Paulson is the first book in the Brian Series. Hatchet is probably one of Paulson’s greatest books. In the book Gary introduces Brian Robenson, a city boy. Brian is on a plane ride to visit his father when the pilot has a heart attack and the plane goes down. Brian figures it might be two or three days until the rescuers come, but he is very wrong. Will Brian survive the Canadian wilds until he is rescued or will the wilderness claim his life? This is Brian’s story of stepping into a new world and finding a new meaning to life.