Rating: 
Summary: It put me to sleep IT really did
Review: Unlike Paulsen's exciting adventure and suvival stories this book is unusually introspective, offering less action and dialogue than may suit most teens. Still it presents good insight into the difficulty of communication with parents, by highlighting the coming-of-age mystery. Fifteen-year-old Wil Neuton (whose last name might imply a predilection for scientific
inquiry) desperately needs space and peace in order to find himself. Resentful of his father's demands that family move so often, Wil views his father as a selfish tyrant; his mother comes across as a wimpy pleaser. Typically clueless to Wil's real motives and dis-ease, the elder Neutons are shocked to think that they drove their son out of the house the summer that they moved to Pinewood. Why do adults automatically conclude that all teenagers are in rebellion, just acting out aggression or insecurity, innately resently of adult authority? Having
found a small island on a nearby lake Wil becomes obesessed with the idea of exploring it, then camping out there during the summer. Is he running away from his home situation or is he actually seeking a new environment where he can mature quietly?
His prolonged sojourn stirs up a hornets' nest among the adults of the small communiuty; only Susan, a neighbor girl, calmly accepts the fact that Wil just wants time and privacy to contemplate Nature and get in touch with himself. Wil is amazed to discover that as he contemplates the animal kingdom, he
gradually begins to understand Human nature as well; he grasps the vailidity of seeing through another's eyes. If he is permitted to remain on the Island which has become his world, will he emerge more in harmony with his parents--and ultimately, with himself? This book is for thoughtful readers who are trying to find internal identity, or who sitll wonder when and how they once did find it.
Rating: 
Summary: Seeking Growing Space
Review: Unlike Paulsen's exciting adventure and suvival stories this book is unusually introspective, offering less action and dialogue than may suit most teens. Still it presents good insight into the difficulty of communication with parents, by highlighting the coming-of-age mystery. Fifteen-year-old Wil Neuton (whose last name might imply a predilection for scientific
inquiry) desperately needs space and peace in order to find himself. Resentful of his father's demands that family move so often, Wil views his father as a selfish tyrant; his mother comes across as a wimpy pleaser. Typically clueless to Wil's real motives and dis-ease, the elder Neutons are shocked to think that they drove their son out of the house the summer that they moved to Pinewood. Why do adults automatically conclude that all teenagers are in rebellion, just acting out aggression or insecurity, innately resently of adult authority? Having
found a small island on a nearby lake Wil becomes obesessed with the idea of exploring it, then camping out there during the summer. Is he running away from his home situation or is he actually seeking a new environment where he can mature quietly?
His prolonged sojourn stirs up a hornets' nest among the adults of the small communiuty; only Susan, a neighbor girl, calmly accepts the fact that Wil just wants time and privacy to contemplate Nature and get in touch with himself. Wil is amazed to discover that as he contemplates the animal kingdom, he
gradually begins to understand Human nature as well; he grasps the vailidity of seeing through another's eyes. If he is permitted to remain on the Island which has become his world, will he emerge more in harmony with his parents--and ultimately, with himself? This book is for thoughtful readers who are trying to find internal identity, or who sitll wonder when and how they once did find it.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book !!
Review: What a great book!!
Written in the tradition of Thoreau, in the genre of the protagonist finding a solitary place, slowing down and discovering the wonder of the mundane around us, Paulsen does a great job.
While not a shoot-'em-up plot line, tension is introduced through visits to the island by a local girl, Wil's parents, local boys, a newspaper writer, TV reporters, and a psychiatrist hired by his parents.
Would that we all could find such an island!
Rating:
Summary: It is a good book and one can learn a lot from it.
Review: Wil Neuton, the main character, goes out to this island that he has found. Many people start to think he is crazy until they listen with an open mind, and forget what society says. Others say this book is boring because it doesn't have many adventure scenes, but there are adventure scenes, just not of the normal sort. That is what makes this book so good. They are the adventures of watching something and learning what it is, not because someone told you or you read it in a book, but because you watched it and learned what it meant to you. They are adventures of the mind and that is when you truely learn the most. That is what Wil does, he watches the animals on the island, thinks about people he knows, and thinks about things he kind of ignored before. While Wil does this, he starts to learn more about himself and doesn't want to leave the island until he has figured it out, for fear he will lose some of it if he leaves. Overall, this book is a good book if you read it with an open mind and are at that stage in your life that you are trying to figure out who you are.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Good One by Paulsen
Review: Wil Newton lived in Madison until he was 15. When his dad got a new job in northern Wisconsin, a small town called Maypine. He thought that it would be horrible but it turned out to be better than he expected. His parents left their life of luxury in Madison to life in a tiny town where there was only one of everything. Their new house was not as nice as Wil had hoped it to be. It was only a small cottage on the lake but now it was home. During the first week of Wil in his new town he met a girl named Susan, he also found an island wich became his new home later in the book. He went to the island every day for a few days the first week he was there. He would meditate and relax and ovserve his surroundings. After a few days of being on the island he decided he was going to start sleeping there and camping out. He ended up doing it for many days in a row which scared his parents. And his parents began to think he was trying to get away and seclude himself from the world. Wil began to learn and understand himself and the world after being at the island. He loved it there but he was becoming the talk of the town. Everyone was wondering what he was doing there. Ray Bunner, the bully, has gotten envious of Wil because he's spending lots of time with Susan. Ray is determinded to fight Wil, but Wil doesn't think fighting helps anything. Will Wil fight Ray Bunner? Will he be taken off the island to live with his parents? Or will he stay and live forever in happiness on the island?
This book was written by Gary Paulsen who also wrote "Hatchet", "Brian's Winter", "Dogsong", "The Winter Room", "Haymeadow", "Nightjohn", and "Call Me Francis Tucket". He also wrote many other books. He has won three Newbery Honor Awards. He and his wife now life in New Mexico and own a few other houses on the Pacific Coast. Cary writes a lot of his books about the outdoors, and are all good that I have read.
Rating:
Summary: No man can be an island to himself!
Review: Wil Newton lived in Madison until he was 15. When his dad got a new job in northern Wisconsin, a small town called Maypine. He thought that it would be horrible but it turned out to be better than he expected. His parents left their life of luxury in Madison to life in a tiny town where there was only one of everything. Their new house was not as nice as Wil had hoped it to be. It was only a small cottage on the lake but now it was home. During the first week of Wil in his new town he met a girl named Susan, he also found an island wich became his new home later in the book. He went to the island every day for a few days the first week he was there. He would meditate and relax and ovserve his surroundings. After a few days of being on the island he decided he was going to start sleeping there and camping out. He ended up doing it for many days in a row which scared his parents. And his parents began to think he was trying to get away and seclude himself from the world. Wil began to learn and understand himself and the world after being at the island. He loved it there but he was becoming the talk of the town. Everyone was wondering what he was doing there. Ray Bunner, the bully, has gotten envious of Wil because he's spending lots of time with Susan. Ray is determinded to fight Wil, but Wil doesn't think fighting helps anything. Will Wil fight Ray Bunner? Will he be taken off the island to live with his parents? Or will he stay and live forever in happiness on the island?
This book was written by Gary Paulsen who also wrote "Hatchet", "Brian's Winter", "Dogsong", "The Winter Room", "Haymeadow", "Nightjohn", and "Call Me Francis Tucket". He also wrote many other books. He has won three Newbery Honor Awards. He and his wife now life in New Mexico and own a few other houses on the Pacific Coast. Cary writes a lot of his books about the outdoors, and are all good that I have read.
Rating: 
Summary: The Island
Review: Wil's dad recently got a job in Alaska, so Wil and his family moved to an Alaskan country- town: a small, quiet, place tucked back behind the mountains, basically in the middle of nowhere. Wil met a freind, her name is Susan. He has a hard time adjusting, so he goes to an Island to "understand" things. He stays there for many days, against his parents' will. In the end, he ends up relizing that he has to understand his parents too.
At first I really liked this book, but then it got kind of wierd. The first day Wil was on the island, he seemed normal, and I was okay with that. Then he started painting inapropriate pictures of Susan, started to ask about her mom so he could understand her, and did this yoga kind of dance that was based on the movements of a heron. Then he did a dance that was based on the movements of a dead fish. I think he was trying a little too hard to understand nature and people.
My favorite part in this book was when Wil stood up to the village idiot/bully. Ray, the bully, came to his island and wanted to beat the snot out of him. He stood up to the bully and defended Susan. He ended up with a bloody ear and a fractured cheek-bone, but he was proud of what he did.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully written, but the ending lacked something
Review: Wonderful prose, relaxing and poetic, much like Thoreau's essay's, this was a suprising read for me. I want to read more of his writings. The main characters descriptions of life were very insightful and thought-provoking.
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