The Tent

by Gary Paulsen

Teenage Steven and his father, Corey, take to the road with a Bible, an old army tent, and less than the best of intentions. Tired of being poor, Steven's father is certain that preaching the Word of the Lord is the easy way to fame and fortune. But just when they've got their act down pat and the money is rolling in, Steven and Corey begin to realize that what they'd originally thought of as a harmless lie is all about avarice and power and, ultimately, guilt.
    
Each book includes a reader's guide.

Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, Faith, Christian

86 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Gary James Paulsen was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction, best known for coming-of-age stories about the wilderness. He was the author of more than 200 books and wrote more than 200 magazine articles and short stories, and several plays, all primarily for teenagers. He won the Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 1997 for his lifetime contribution in writing for teens.

Reviews

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Is The Tent intended to be Elmer Gantry for the juvenile set? Gary Paulsen is known for bringing unusual influences into his writing for children, and there are undeniable parallels between Sinclair Lewis's novel and this scant middle-grade book. Set in an unspecified era of economic downturn in the United States, The Tent takes an unflinching look at the con artistry that is often part of religious revival tours which cater to audiences desperate to witness evidence of miracles, in the lives of others if not themselves. Dire financial straits drive ordinary people to extraordinary measures to change their situation, and we see just how low one man and his son are willing to go when they set off on a preaching tour of the American Southwest.

Fourteen-year-old Steven and his father Corey have lived scarcely above the poverty line in the months after Corey lost his job. With no gainful employment on Corey's radar for the foreseeable future, his wife (Steven's mother) left them, and now there's hardly enough money to keep their trailer home. On the brink of losing everything, Corey recalls a friend of his who avoided bankruptcy years ago by starting a Christian revival tour. The man wasn't a believer, but by stringing together pretty words and speaking with conviction, he coaxed Christians into his tent who were willing to spend money to hear a message of God's love and faithfulness. Within months, the man had more money than he knew what to do with. Why can't Corey and Steven follow his example? With no other promising options to fall back on, that's what Corey decides to do, to Steven's chagrin. Neither of them know anything about Christianity; how will they persuade the devout to come to them for religious instruction?

The tour gets off to a dubious start after Steven helps Corey erect their battered little meeting tent in rural Castle, Texas. Corey is clueless as a Bible teacher, but he and his son muscle through the awkwardness of their first gig and rake in a surprising haul of twenty-eight dollars. That's more than Corey used to earn from many hours flipping burgers at fast-food restaurants. As the tour progresses, father and son figure out what works and what doesn't to keep people coming to their portable house of worship. But the real cash doesn't start flowing until a pair of experienced confidence men joins the team, masquerading as a cripple and a man with a degenerative lung condition. If they can convince the growing crowds that Corey has healed them through the laying on of hands, the religious fervor will reach a new high, and attendees will be begging to open their wallets and contribute to Corey's mission.

The deception works, but if Steven or his father had misgivings initially about leading heartfelt believers astray, they've now clearly wandered into despicable territory. The money is rolling in, more than Corey fantasized he'd make when he originated the tour. They get hundreds of dollars every night, and upwards of a thousand occasionally. There's no need to live out of their truck anymore: Steven and Corey bed in luxury hotels and purchase the finest clothes, food, and entertainment available. Money has become the great analgesic for Steven's pangs of conscience, but even more so for his father, who revels in his newfound wealth and begins to enjoy the game of bilking poor Christians out of the last of their money. It would take a profound occurrence to change the trajectory of their sham ministry, and that's exactly what happens next. It's an event we don't see coming until it's directly upon the father-and-son shysters.

Gary Paulsen isn't one for organized religion, so there's not much praise of Christianity in The Tent. He takes an empathetic view of the masses as Jesus did, however, and their need to believe in a God who vows to protect them from harm. People flock to Corey's revival meetings because they're in physical and emotional pain, and seek reassurance that their creator hasn't forgotten them in the midst of their trials. It's tragic when trusting people are taken advantage of as Corey, Steven, and their co-conspirators do to those who attend their counterfeit healing sessions. They're robbing God's children, intruding on a private gift of resources from them to their creator and pocketing the cash for themselves. It's sad to see people offered false hope when they need the real thing. But perhaps by the end of The Tent, that imbalance will be righted.

I see small hints of Robert Cormier's style in The Tent. That may be the best compliment I can pay a writer, and Gary Paulsen earns it more frequently than any other. For a brief book, The Tent builds tension surprisingly well, and the characters and story come to vibrant life. Christians and nonbelievers alike can learn from what they read here. If you're partial to Gary Paulsen's fiction from the 1990s, you'll probably like The Tent. I recommend it for readers in search of a slim volume that packs a pop.

[Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a short read but a deep read i recommend this book to everyone. This book made me want to read more of Gary Paulsen's books this book was very good and it changed me in a way.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

As stated in the title, this truly is a parable in one sitting. Paulsen writes another entertaining book for young readers. This is an easy to read story with a genuinely simple lesson about living honestly and truthfully. The book has a happy and wholesome ending. While this a completely different type of story than his more well-known Hatchet series, it is appealing to he same audience.

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steven's father has a plan, and he's collecting the supplies to carry it out. He just doesn't know yet how dangerous his stolen medium really is.

[Benjamin H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the book because its about God but they want the money. Its about a father and son that are poor and cant buy much but they want to share the Gospel for the money. They get rich but they thought about it and knew it was not right to do. So they don't take the money and preach about the Gospel. It is good because they were doing the wrong thing but found out to not take money.

[katyjanereads · Rating 2 out of 5]

1. I think this book was good for what it was. A short glimpse into fake religion and enlightenment.
2. But it could have been wayyyy longer.
3. “Ever wonder why profits and prophets sound so much alike?” That’s really clever and I’ve never thought about that before.
4. I liked the chapter titles.
5. I like the redemption message at the end.

[Jan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Many people rated this book highly, so to be fair, I'm including my reasons for the one star.
In this book for youths aged 10-14, the author shines a light on fake preachers. Steven and his dad are without jobs or resources ("We don't have a pot to pee in or a window to throw it out of..."), so his father decides to become an itinerant tent preacher.
His father quickly overcomes his biggest hurdle -- not only has he never read the Bible, he doesn't even own one -- by stealing a Gideon Bible from a motel.
I was bothered by the amount of money the fake preacher earned by reading copied sermons and parading fake "healings" to his unsuspecting congregations.
In the end, reading the Bible to study for his sermons leads him to leave his deceptive, yet lucrative career. Some reviewers of this book feel that his conversion makes this book a wonderful tale of redemption. I am not sure that the ends justify the means, especially when there is no attempt made to repay the innocent believers. The preacher just ends up rich and a believer.
Hmmm.

[Jared Boothe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite book, it's a story of going from being broke and going nowhere to extremely wealthy and self made. The book is about a young 12 year old boy, who's mother passed away living with his run down dead beat father, who one day for some reason stole a bible and hatched a brilliant plan. He decides they are going to travel and be traveling preachers, setting up a huge tent and even hiring some fake crippled people to become "healthy". Over all great book definitely recommended to all.

[LeAnne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story exposes all the tricks of fake evangelists/healers but Stephen and his father have twinges of guilt when they see the faith of those they are deceiving. In the end the father actually begins to read the Gideon Bible he stole from a motel room and discovers Jesus. Each chapter is introduced by a Scripture quote that exemplifies what they are doing wrong. It is nicely done, but doesn't go beyond their change of heart. Is that because sin is more exciting than righteousness?

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

mom and dad broke up. you (a tweelve year old boy) live in a trailer w/dad and his dead-end life. until
dad figures to steal a Bible, a book he's never read and go on the revival circuit and save some souls and make some money.
what happens, if after a while, dad actually reads the Book?

gary paulsen at his best.

[Natalie]

great book, makes you think

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice, easy one night read. I liked it, nothing to dramatic but a good life lesson learned.

[Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was about the shortcomings of steven and his father. In the beginning, they start off dead broke. "in thirty-four-years-old, and I don't have a pot to pee in." fourteen-year-old Steven and his father Corey are sick of being poor. They take to the road with no money a leaky tent and a stolen bible. His father is sure that preaching will bring in good money. as the action plays out, they get enough money to get by and even live like kings. With Corey's new preaching job they gain plenty of money. But when they start faking rituals and ceremonies for the money, they realize what they are doing is wrong. Out of guilt steven and his father gave all their money away and left his "fake" preaching job.
I can connect with Steven because he is a teenager, and he was guilty of what he did. and a lot of people get guilty it's not uncommon but he did the right thing. Books like this are nice to read because it has a great storyline and it was still a very easy read and easy to follow. This book reminds me not to take having good clothes and a nice place to live for granted. because this book is much like whats happening around the world a lot of people hardly have enough money to survive.
I think my favorite part of the book is the author. Gary Paulsen is known for writing many good books that I like. And I also enjoy how easy it was to read like many of Gary Paulsen's books. I would definitely recommend this book to my peers because it is from a similar author, its short, and is a particularly unique story.

[Mason Bright · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story is about a boy, steven, whose parents have divorced and they are not in a good financial state right now. They tried to come up with money but it just wasn't happening. Corey, Stevens dad came up to him one day and told him a story about after he came back from overseas that one of the people in his unit wanted to start preaching to get money. Couple months later the same guy sent a card to Corey saying "I'm rich".They both were sick of being poor and needed something to help. Steven wasn't all about it right about but Corey sure was. They got an Army tent and started to preach and little by little more and more people came and the money started racking up. Steven finally believed that it was a good idea. Some problems they encountered were like what would they preach about and what if someone thought it was fake. They needed to have answers to all the questions that might be getting asked. I would kind of connect with Steven just because I would do this for money I would try and see if it goes well. I do believe that there are people in the world that do this for the money. None of it gets taxed either because it is for religious reasons. I like that the father never gave up on getting money and he always had a reasoning for everything that came toward him. He made the book enjoyable to read. I was always wanting to know what happened. What he could do better is that he could have gone longer and had more adventures. I don't recommend this book to someone super religious. It states that if you lie and cheat you get what you want.

[Adam Marcus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently finished reading a book called “The Tent” by Gary Paulsen. It's about a fourteen year old child and his dad, they are poor and need money. The dad gets the idea of being a preacher and preach through a mobile military tent. I would give it 3 out of 5 stars, I gave it this star rating because it's sort of in the middle of the road and the characters weren't that relatable. However I really like Gary Paulsen’s writing style and the way he uses words, he’s able to describe the characters, places, food, in great detail. In the beginning of the book the scene is tense and then Corey gets the idea of stealing a bible from a cheap motel then they're off. The rest of the book felt like the Corey and Steven were guilty but they had money so they just kept scamming people. In Hatchet the characters are easy to get attached to, the way he explained the fight scenes,tense scenes, and lucky scenes.

[Back · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought this as part of our advent reading calendar. Having never read it, but loving Hatchet and skimming the last pages seemed to suggest a change of heart for the positive from the characters, so I bought it.

This does have content not appropriate for young children. Example: the "preacher" taking a woman to his hotel room. Sadly, these events do actually happen, but children don't need to be privy to this.

I would suggest this to be read aloud instead of individual reading. I did this and explained, appropriately, why I skipped sections.

It is a short read, so that's a benefit.

We discussed how long it took the characters to change---till the end of the book. I had expressed that I was disappointed to have to wait so long in the reading for such a change. I loved my child's response, "Sometimes it takes others a long time to change." So true.

[Noelle Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

“And for the first time in his life Steven prayed.

Please, God, don’t let anybody come to this tonight.”

Title: The Tent
Author: Gary Paulsen

⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️

This is a middle grade fiction book.

Steven’s dad is sick of being poor. So when he steals a Bible from the local hotel and barters his buddy for an old military tent, his plan is hatched. His dad’s answer to their money problem is to become a traveling preacher making money off the offerings taken after each sermon. The only problem is they have never attended church nor been believers in God in general. But to Steven’s surprise people actually fall for his dad‘s scam.

This was a cute short read. It was a fun little surprise for me. I liked the ending! If you’re looking for a quick read, I read this in less than a half hour. Another Gary Paulsen marked off my list.

[Natalie Phister · Rating 2 out of 5]

GARY PAULSEN CATEGORY
Steven and his father, Corey, live in a trailer park, and struggle to make ends meet. One day, Corey decides he's fed up with it and gets it in his head to become a fake traveling preacher. So they pack up, buy a holey army tent, and set off across Texas to "give God to the people who are looking." They find almost immediate success. As they travel farther and farther, and make more and more money, they begin to ignore the niggling feelings of guilt at what they're doing. It isn't until they realize that they taken it too far that they begin to see the error of their ways and Corey decides to come clean, even going back to the places he has visited before to make up for his wrong doings. Short and sweet. A nice little parable about pride, greed, and honesty.

[TJL · Rating 2 out of 5]

On one hand: Nice and short. The story gets told without getting bogged down in extraneous detail.

On the other: The ending was way too "and then we all did the right thing because it was the right thing to do", because after weeks and thousands of dollars and manipulation of innocent people, I'm supposed to believe the dad decided to end it all because he felt bad for deceiving an old lady? The dad shows no noticeable signs of regret or remorse during the book. He's all for it until this.

The sudden heel-face-turn reeked a little bit of the stereotypical nice, tidy ending that kids books have when the author's afraid to put something a little more complicated in; or, alternatively, the author didn't successfully convey that the father was having doubts.

[Reagan Pogue · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Tent" is about a young boy named Steven and his father Corey and their adventure to try and make it rich. Corey comes up with the plan to pose as a preacher and go around Texas to collect money. In a series of events of which Steven does not think will be successful at first, Corey and Steven end up finding God and making things right in their world.

I actually really enjoyed this book! I thought it was an original story line and I enjoyed the ending. It was interesting and caught my attention throughout the whole story line. I would recommend this book for a high school audience looking for a quick read.

[Al Gritten · Rating 4 out of 5]

What moves someone to faith? The spoken word, or a movement of the Spirit? Wht role does the character of the preacher play? Can a con man move people to faith, even though he doesn't intend it? And cna a person truly preach and remain unaffected by the preaching? This little book explores these topics from the viewpoint of a young teenager whose dad takes up tent revival preaching because of the money that he can make. A friend recommended this book to me as preacher and I like Paulsen's writing but had never read this. It is n interesting little book and provides some fodder for thought while at the same time being a quick and enjoyable read.

[Tim Field · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gary Paulsen’s The Tent is a slight book, as a work subtitled as a parable should be. The premise is not very believable but in the context of a parable the meteoric rise of a charlatan preacher makes perfect sense. The young male narrator holds it all together for me and it’s always amazing how much character development Paulsen can produce in a minimum number of pages.
An important lesson for young people in not being tricked by false prophets.
Recommended.

[Rachel Polacek · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading Revival Season, I wanted to come back to this little novel. It’s so reminiscent of the 90s books for kids/teens with a strong moral. Everything moves too fast and there could definitely be more detail and character development. I remember being shocked by this book in 7th grade, but it seems so tame and innocent now…and predictable.

[Camden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a really short but good read, I really enjoyed this book. I gave this book 5 stars because there was a big twist at the end that I did not see coming at all. There was like a big change in the book dealing with the dad-Corey and his son-Steven that no one would see coming. I really liked this book.

[lini · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book not knowing it was a book about God. Despite not being religious in any way, I still read it and I’m glad that I did. This book got straight to the point and kind of reminded me of the Adventures of Sinbad in a way. The overall message of the book is great despite what religion you follow. If I were religious I would have given this book a higher rating since I could have further understood the significance.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful story by a wonderful author about the importance of being there for others and using them for monetary gain. The story focuses on the moral upbringing of a teenager and the best way to earn money for the family by dad scamming the faithful from their money.

[Lauren Buell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Paulsen’s use of Bjblical allusion and irony to comment the idea of trust and morality in a relationship between a father, a son, greed, and religion. Sometimes a journey has to include finding who you don’t want to be to help find who you are.

[Matschmomma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it but it felt rushed at the end.

[Julie Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sad parable showing the worst of people. Felt very much like reading Cormier. Liked it, will recommend it, but it brought me no joy.

[Tina Blair dickson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. Entertaining and interesting. Too short to really get pulled in though.