A five-year-old boy sees more than someone his age should witness. His father serves in the military during World War II. His mother, back home in Chicago, cheats on her spouse. After the boy caught the mother and his "uncle" making strange noises, his mother sends him to his grandmother who cooks for men building a road into Canada. While he loves his grandmother and the great adventures with the camp men, he misses his mother. I do not consider this book age appropriate. ( )

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Gary Paulsen has written many coming-of-age stories about boys, but this tale of a five year old boy away from his mother for the first time is special. His father is away from home, fighting overseas, while his mother works at a factory. Impulsively she sends her son by train to her mother, who is working in a cookcamp deep within the Minnesota woods.

I love how the boy sees the world around him, the growing relationship with his grandmother, and the bond that is formed between him and the older truckers, men building a road through the wilderness. A gem. ( )

I have abandon this book nearly at third- quarter because I did not get the story. However in the start of the story, a kid is alone because his parents were not picking her up. Also his mom had a new boyfriend. ( )