Field Trip by Gary Paulsen and Jim Paulsen

Field Trip is written by my favorite youth author, Gary Paulsen, and his son, Jim Paulsen.  Field Trip is the companion book Road Trip.  This book can be read after Road Trip but can also be read independently.  The only characters that move through both books are the two collies (Atticus and Conor), the dad, and the boy (Ben).  The readers are introduced to several new characters in this book.  The reader is introduced to the twins, Brig, and a new puppy.  The setting for this story is the road.  The dad decides to help Ben and two of his classmates, Jacob and Charlotte, catch up to the school field trip bus.  This adventure takes place in the new work truck that dad purchased.  This new truck is a used ice cream truck.  As they drive down the road to catch up to the school bus, Ben's dad gets side tracked by a flea market and hold house.  Charlotte arranges to buy the old house for $1 and they give it to charity.  Jacob gets a news crew out to cover the great story of fixing up an old house and giving it to a family in need.  On their way to the meet the bus, Jacob noticed a movies set out on the road.  Jacob always wanted to be in a movie so he convenced everyone to pull over and give it their best shot to be an extra in the movie.  It all worked out and everyone had a part and even Jacob got a speaking part.  After the movie adventure was over, Ben was able to swindle his way over to the hockey try-outs and trys-out even though his dad did not want him to try-out.  Try-outs went well and they liked Ben.  After the try-outs things were pretty quite in the truck as they drove on.  As they were driving by a animal shelter, Atticus began to bark.  They stopped there to pick up Ben's new puppy.  The new puppy's name is Puck.  As they drive home, Ben discovers that his mom had bought a new house for them to move into, a hockey rink is only a block away from their new house, there will be a 10-week hockey camp with real NFL hockey players coaching, and Ben gets a girlfriend (Charlotte).  Although they never caught up to the school bus and the school field trip, all things seemed to work out.

MY TWO CENTS WORTH:
I like how this book and the other book, Road Trip, was written by both authors.  It started out as an interest story sent by Jim to his dad, Gary.  Gary responded by writing the next chapter.  This went on until the book was finished.  This style of writing a story is interesting and keeps the ideas fresh but builds upon one another.  I definitely liked the way they were able complement each other throughout the story.  It did not give the reader the impression that there were two different trains of thought.  I also enjoyed the way they included the dog's perspective.  It was always nice to "get into" the minds of the dogs and know what they were thinking as things transpired.  If you are a Gary Paulsen fan, this is a must.  If you like taking semi-planned or unplanned road trips, this book is for you.  If you like dogs and family dynamics, this book is for you.

AR Quiz: 90%