Scan barcode
protoman21's review
3.0
A pretty good book. I connected more with Brennan than Coyote Runs, so I'm glad the second half of the book focused only on him. The story was rather simple and not a whole lot happened, but the characters were strong and believable.
chris10b's review
3.0
Read for my young adult lit class. It was okay. I almost feel like it would be more appropriate for a upper elementary age child. I think young adult is pushing it.
jamiedee24's review against another edition
4.0
Amazing book. I think it’s better than Hatchet which seems to be this authors masterpiece. I liked the back and forth storytelling at the beginning and the journey of growth for our main character. Highly recommend this novel for mid level readers.
coinchantal's review against another edition
4.0
This book is a great adventure story. I liked it very much even though it is written for young adults. It has a great story in it and I couldn't put it down, I needed to know what the end would be. This book is one of the better written books by Gary Paulsen. Fast read for a Sunday afternoon!
julianna_schock's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this book! I love Gary Paulsen's Writing!
proffy's review against another edition
4.0
The Short and Sweet of It
Coyote Runs takes his place as a man among the Apache as he goes on his first raid. Over one hundred years later, Brennan Cole goes on a camping trip where he finds a skull which begins a journey connecting him to the past.
A Bit of a Ramble
I first read this book way back in the early 90s, and I fell in love. I may not have remembered the story, but I still remember the feeling I had after reading, that hard to explain sinking feeling. Not "sinking" like bad, but sinking like good. A depression that the story is over, a bittersweet acceptance of the ending and an appreciation of the journey the story took you on. Few books truly give me this feeling, few books truly touch the soul. Canyons did that for me when I was a young girl, and I devoured many of Paulsen's other works because of this. And I must say that many did truly speak to me.
Obviously, I am a much different person at 31 than I was at 11, and that difference is certainly felt upon re-reading a book which was so moving. While I enjoyed the story, I didn't love it the way I did back then. I do still appreciate the same things about the story though: the feeling of a connection to the past, a connection to a place, the strength of a young boy's resolve, the beauty of an adult's acceptance. This is a simple story which feels epic. All of these things - which are way more clear if you've read the book - are reason enough to read the book, and I highly urge you to pick up a Paulsen if you get the chance.
Like The Giver, I read Canyons while feeding Madison Paige during the night. I think I'm going to pick up another Paulsen tonight for my next book...probably Hatchet as that one also touched my soul back in my pre-teen years.
Coyote Runs takes his place as a man among the Apache as he goes on his first raid. Over one hundred years later, Brennan Cole goes on a camping trip where he finds a skull which begins a journey connecting him to the past.
A Bit of a Ramble
I first read this book way back in the early 90s, and I fell in love. I may not have remembered the story, but I still remember the feeling I had after reading, that hard to explain sinking feeling. Not "sinking" like bad, but sinking like good. A depression that the story is over, a bittersweet acceptance of the ending and an appreciation of the journey the story took you on. Few books truly give me this feeling, few books truly touch the soul. Canyons did that for me when I was a young girl, and I devoured many of Paulsen's other works because of this. And I must say that many did truly speak to me.
Obviously, I am a much different person at 31 than I was at 11, and that difference is certainly felt upon re-reading a book which was so moving. While I enjoyed the story, I didn't love it the way I did back then. I do still appreciate the same things about the story though: the feeling of a connection to the past, a connection to a place, the strength of a young boy's resolve, the beauty of an adult's acceptance. This is a simple story which feels epic. All of these things - which are way more clear if you've read the book - are reason enough to read the book, and I highly urge you to pick up a Paulsen if you get the chance.
Like The Giver, I read Canyons while feeding Madison Paige during the night. I think I'm going to pick up another Paulsen tonight for my next book...probably Hatchet as that one also touched my soul back in my pre-teen years.
mrjesse's review
4.0
Canyons is a—well, I wouldn't really call it fantasy, but...there really is no other genre that describes it. (Just know that if you read Canyons looking for a fantasy book, you'll be disappointed.)
While camping with his mom, Brennan comes across an old skull. It turns out to be the skull of an Apache boy who was killed by soldiers in the 1800s. Brennan can't get rid of it, and he figures out that a sort of magical link connects him and Coyote Runs (the Apache boy), and he must return the skull to an ancient Apache burial place.
I'll admit, the premise of this book didn't grab me at first, but as I read it, I found myself genuinely interested and liking it. It's pretty short, so you don't need to invest a whole lot of time in it; an afternoon or two is probably all you'll need.
One thing that annoyed me a bit was the writing style: there were a lot of really long sentences that I thought could have used some commas to make them more readable. It read kind of like a string of thoughts. I know most of the book is Brennan's thoughts anyway, but still, there were a lot of sentences that were more like paragraphs. Once I got used to the style, though, it didn't bother me so much.
So all in all, Canyons is a fun adventure book with a good main character and exciting ending!
4/5
While camping with his mom, Brennan comes across an old skull. It turns out to be the skull of an Apache boy who was killed by soldiers in the 1800s. Brennan can't get rid of it, and he figures out that a sort of magical link connects him and Coyote Runs (the Apache boy), and he must return the skull to an ancient Apache burial place.
I'll admit, the premise of this book didn't grab me at first, but as I read it, I found myself genuinely interested and liking it. It's pretty short, so you don't need to invest a whole lot of time in it; an afternoon or two is probably all you'll need.
One thing that annoyed me a bit was the writing style: there were a lot of really long sentences that I thought could have used some commas to make them more readable. It read kind of like a string of thoughts. I know most of the book is Brennan's thoughts anyway, but still, there were a lot of sentences that were more like paragraphs. Once I got used to the style, though, it didn't bother me so much.
So all in all, Canyons is a fun adventure book with a good main character and exciting ending!
4/5
kairosdreaming's review
2.0
Paulsen is normally a good writer. I'm not sure what was going on in this book. While I enjoy many of his tales, this one just didn't do it for me and the writing was kind of haphazard.
The story tells the tale of two different boys. One is Coyote Runs who has been invited to his first raid and takes place a little bit in the past while the Apache nation roamed the area. It is during this raid that he faces danger and so affects Brennan, the boy in the future's life. Brennan is a mostly self sufficient boy who is on a camping trip when he finds a skull. Not knowing why, he takes the skull home and strange things start to happen. He is determined to find out how to make himself stop feeling so crazy and believes the skull is behind it.
The characters in this book weren't really developed all that well. Their motivations aren't really explained and they seem to change their minds for no reason at all. Poor Coyote Runs is barely in the book at all before it is all turned to Brennan, and really, he isn't that interesting of a character.
The writing may appeal to younger boys but I wasn't taken with it. It was too rushed and things weren't explained enough. I liked the concept of the book but thought the execution could be better. It probably won't turn me off of Paulsen altogether; indeed he has some very good books out there, this just probably wouldn't be one that I'd recommend.
Canyons
Copyright 1990
184 pages
Review by M. Reynard 2011
The story tells the tale of two different boys. One is Coyote Runs who has been invited to his first raid and takes place a little bit in the past while the Apache nation roamed the area. It is during this raid that he faces danger and so affects Brennan, the boy in the future's life. Brennan is a mostly self sufficient boy who is on a camping trip when he finds a skull. Not knowing why, he takes the skull home and strange things start to happen. He is determined to find out how to make himself stop feeling so crazy and believes the skull is behind it.
The characters in this book weren't really developed all that well. Their motivations aren't really explained and they seem to change their minds for no reason at all. Poor Coyote Runs is barely in the book at all before it is all turned to Brennan, and really, he isn't that interesting of a character.
The writing may appeal to younger boys but I wasn't taken with it. It was too rushed and things weren't explained enough. I liked the concept of the book but thought the execution could be better. It probably won't turn me off of Paulsen altogether; indeed he has some very good books out there, this just probably wouldn't be one that I'd recommend.
Canyons
Copyright 1990
184 pages
Review by M. Reynard 2011
1morechapterplz's review
4.0
Canyons is a—well, I wouldn't really call it fantasy, but...there really is no other genre that describes it. (Just know that if you read Canyons looking for a fantasy book, you'll be disappointed.)
While camping with his mom, Brennan comes across an old skull. It turns out to be the skull of an Apache boy who was killed by soldiers in the 1800s. Brennan can't get rid of it, and he figures out that a sort of magical link connects him and Coyote Runs (the Apache boy), and he must return the skull to an ancient Apache burial place.
I'll admit, the premise of this book didn't grab me at first, but as I read it, I found myself genuinely interested and liking it. It's pretty short, so you don't need to invest a whole lot of time in it; an afternoon or two is probably all you'll need.
One thing that annoyed me a bit was the writing style: there were a lot of really long sentences that I thought could have used some commas to make them more readable. It read kind of like a string of thoughts. I know most of the book is Brennan's thoughts anyway, but still, there were a lot of sentences that were more like paragraphs. Once I got used to the style, though, it didn't bother me so much.
So all in all, Canyons is a fun adventure book with a good main character and exciting ending!
4/5
While camping with his mom, Brennan comes across an old skull. It turns out to be the skull of an Apache boy who was killed by soldiers in the 1800s. Brennan can't get rid of it, and he figures out that a sort of magical link connects him and Coyote Runs (the Apache boy), and he must return the skull to an ancient Apache burial place.
I'll admit, the premise of this book didn't grab me at first, but as I read it, I found myself genuinely interested and liking it. It's pretty short, so you don't need to invest a whole lot of time in it; an afternoon or two is probably all you'll need.
One thing that annoyed me a bit was the writing style: there were a lot of really long sentences that I thought could have used some commas to make them more readable. It read kind of like a string of thoughts. I know most of the book is Brennan's thoughts anyway, but still, there were a lot of sentences that were more like paragraphs. Once I got used to the style, though, it didn't bother me so much.
So all in all, Canyons is a fun adventure book with a good main character and exciting ending!
4/5