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The Tucket Adventures #1
Mr. Tucket
Fourteen-year-old Francis Tucket is heading west on the Oregon Trail with his family by wagon train. When he receives a rifle for his birthday, he is thrilled that he is being treated like an adult. But Francis lags behind to practice shooting and is captured by Pawnees. It will take wild horses, hostile tribes, and a mysterious one-armed mountain man named Mr. Grimes to help Francis become the man who will be called Mr. Tucket.
From the Hardcover edition.
From the Hardcover edition.
Audiobook
First published February 1, 1994
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About the author
Gary Paulsen
410 books3,992 followersGary 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 298 reviews
March 8, 2013
SPOILER ALERT
I read this book aloud to my four boys. It's a great boy book. It's a Western and Indians and hunting and heros of the west and horses and just a total boy book. But even from this mama perspective, it was a fun read.
Until the end.
We had some snow days and were really making it through this book so one evening I told the boys we had just about twenty pages left and we could make it through it before bed.
In the end, a family is massacred, the hero man takes a scalp (although they don't actually say that), and it's just death and blood and sadness.
It is well written to not be brutal. My seven and eight year old got the gist of it but not the total story while my 13 year old fully understood and my 10 year old was somewhere in between.
But my poor youngest boys eyes were wide as saucer's as we ended the story and then I had to send them to bed. Even as sensitive as they are, there were no bad dreams and no tears. They all begged me to read book two. I will, but I am taking a little break from the series first.
GREAT boy book, fun story, but I would have appreciated a warning on the ending.
I read this book aloud to my four boys. It's a great boy book. It's a Western and Indians and hunting and heros of the west and horses and just a total boy book. But even from this mama perspective, it was a fun read.
Until the end.
We had some snow days and were really making it through this book so one evening I told the boys we had just about twenty pages left and we could make it through it before bed.
In the end, a family is massacred, the hero man takes a scalp (although they don't actually say that), and it's just death and blood and sadness.
It is well written to not be brutal. My seven and eight year old got the gist of it but not the total story while my 13 year old fully understood and my 10 year old was somewhere in between.
But my poor youngest boys eyes were wide as saucer's as we ended the story and then I had to send them to bed. Even as sensitive as they are, there were no bad dreams and no tears. They all begged me to read book two. I will, but I am taking a little break from the series first.
GREAT boy book, fun story, but I would have appreciated a warning on the ending.
March 6, 2017
Mr. Tucket by Gary Paulsen is my favorite book group book that I have read this year in 6th grade. The text is filled with descriptive language, action, adventure, and lot's of dialogue. It was a good book for me because I don't love fantasy books, and most of the choices were fantasy, so I chose this western fiction, and I don't regret it. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes fiction, filled with action, and adventure.
March 6, 2017
This book was overall pretty good. I liked the characters journey and how they faced all their conflicts. I recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure/action books.
November 6, 2018
The main character Francis is four-teen years old. I could really connect to him with some of his thoughts and inner thinking. Because he likes most the stuff I like to do and his maturity level is about the same as mine.
January 7, 2018
I read this book to our kids at lunch over the course of a couple of months. Our boys are a bit young (7 and 5) but they enjoyed the action and adventure. There were some great moments to teach a hard work ethic and "being tough." There were certainly some eccentric personalities, but it made it interesting, and was an education of the wild west for my little cowboys.
September 17, 2018
Reminiscent of Sid Fleischman's work, Mr. Tucket is a rollicking tale of mountain men, crafty Indians, and open frontier country for hundreds of miles in any direction. Francis Alphonse Tucket's fourteenth birthday is spent among family and friends on the Oregon Trail, moving to their new home out West in 1848. But his comfortable life is upended when he strays from his family's wagon to try out the new .40 caliber Lancaster rifle his father gave him as a present, and Francis is abducted by a swarm of Pawnee braves. He awakens in the Indians' camp, seemingly the possession of an old woman who yanks him around by a rope tied to his neck. The Pawnees don't kill him, but the boys love wrestling and use dirty tactics, and the squat, somber Indian known as Braid is dangerous. Francis's hope stirs when a white man from the mountains rides into camp, but he's just a fur trader; why would he risk his business with the Pawnees by liberating Francis?
Yet that's precisely what Jason Grimes—Mr. Grimes—does. Waking Francis from a sound sleep that night, he points him to a fresh horse and prescribes an escape route, if Francis can get out of camp without drawing attention and is durable enough to ride beyond range of Pawnee search parties. Every minute is crucial as the boy's horse pounds across the plains toward safety beyond the river bend. Francis rides until exhaustion overcomes him and he's thrown from his mount, then continues on foot after the horse runs away. The Pawnees are tenacious, but Francis's luck holds, and he reunites with Mr. Grimes after the danger is passed. The mountain man is used to traveling alone, but he's amenable to Francis joining him until he finds his family. The boy has much to learn from a man with the experience to survive in the Wild West.
Francis—Mr. Tucket, as Mr. Grimes calls him— still has his Lancaster rifle, but he's as green a marksman as they come. The mountain man trains him to hunt rabbits, antelope, and other game. He educates him in the finer points of building temporary shelter against sweltering heat or blistering cold, and how to avoid lethal encounters with Indians. Mr. Grimes isn't given to confronting enemies, not even the troublesome Braid, and steers Francis toward forgetting what the Pawnees did and making the most of his situation. It will take a while to locate Francis's family, but in the meantime he should sharpen his skills out on the great Western plains. Francis learns a lifetime of lessons from Mr. Grimes in a few weeks, but the most enduring lesson is one Francis won't absorb until he sees tragedy transform Mr. Grimes into another sort of man. Does Francis want to grow up and be like his mentor, or is there a better life for him with his family in Oregon?
Mr. Tucket does a lot more showing than telling. What Francis learns from Mr. Grimes comes mostly from example rather than wise words, and the story takes this same approach with the reader. Before he lost his family, Francis ate when hungry, but now he stuffs himself whenever there's food in front of him. "He was learning that when you can eat, you eat. It might be a couple of days before you got a chance to eat again." An abundance right now is no guarantee of the same tomorrow. You need to store up during seasons of plenty for the periods of deprivation that are sure to come. Food, water, affection...soak it up while it's there, or you'll regret not doing so. Mr. Tucket is a good Western junior novel; there isn't enough depth for me to rate it three stars, but I might go two and a half. There are four more books in the series, so we're destined to cross paths with Francis Tucket again. I wait with cheerful anticipation.
Yet that's precisely what Jason Grimes—Mr. Grimes—does. Waking Francis from a sound sleep that night, he points him to a fresh horse and prescribes an escape route, if Francis can get out of camp without drawing attention and is durable enough to ride beyond range of Pawnee search parties. Every minute is crucial as the boy's horse pounds across the plains toward safety beyond the river bend. Francis rides until exhaustion overcomes him and he's thrown from his mount, then continues on foot after the horse runs away. The Pawnees are tenacious, but Francis's luck holds, and he reunites with Mr. Grimes after the danger is passed. The mountain man is used to traveling alone, but he's amenable to Francis joining him until he finds his family. The boy has much to learn from a man with the experience to survive in the Wild West.
Francis—Mr. Tucket, as Mr. Grimes calls him— still has his Lancaster rifle, but he's as green a marksman as they come. The mountain man trains him to hunt rabbits, antelope, and other game. He educates him in the finer points of building temporary shelter against sweltering heat or blistering cold, and how to avoid lethal encounters with Indians. Mr. Grimes isn't given to confronting enemies, not even the troublesome Braid, and steers Francis toward forgetting what the Pawnees did and making the most of his situation. It will take a while to locate Francis's family, but in the meantime he should sharpen his skills out on the great Western plains. Francis learns a lifetime of lessons from Mr. Grimes in a few weeks, but the most enduring lesson is one Francis won't absorb until he sees tragedy transform Mr. Grimes into another sort of man. Does Francis want to grow up and be like his mentor, or is there a better life for him with his family in Oregon?
Mr. Tucket does a lot more showing than telling. What Francis learns from Mr. Grimes comes mostly from example rather than wise words, and the story takes this same approach with the reader. Before he lost his family, Francis ate when hungry, but now he stuffs himself whenever there's food in front of him. "He was learning that when you can eat, you eat. It might be a couple of days before you got a chance to eat again." An abundance right now is no guarantee of the same tomorrow. You need to store up during seasons of plenty for the periods of deprivation that are sure to come. Food, water, affection...soak it up while it's there, or you'll regret not doing so. Mr. Tucket is a good Western junior novel; there isn't enough depth for me to rate it three stars, but I might go two and a half. There are four more books in the series, so we're destined to cross paths with Francis Tucket again. I wait with cheerful anticipation.
August 9, 2018
Personal Response
This book showed me many ways a person lived in the Wild West. All of the lifestyle was hard back then. You had to wait a lot for a lot of things. For example you had to make your own clothes or bet something, fight, and get new clothes. Life nowadays is very simple and you can get almost anything instant.
Plot
Francis Alphonse Tucket is a pioneer that is moving from Missouri to Oregon. On the way to Oregon he turns 14 and receives a custom made rifle from his father. His father allows him to go and shoot the little gun at some targets. At that moment when he was shooting he was kidnapped by seven Pawnee Indians and taken to their camp. While he was stuck there, a white man came into the village to give powder and lead to all the Indians. The white man noticed that Francis was a captive there. In the night he told Francis to go in the back, and take a horse he has stolen from the tribe. Francis rode all night until he fell off the horse. He woke up with the white man cooking coffee and eating jerky. They introduced themselves, and Mr Grimes gave the little rifle to Mr Tucket. They both rode together and had many adventures to try to find a way to Oregon.
Recommendation
I personally recommend this book to any student that loves a taste for adventure in a book. This book has a lot of cliffhangers and action. A student from middle school and up will instantly fall in love with this book, because they can not stop reading. I was instantly hooked once I read one chapter, and I wanted to keep reading more.
Characteristics
Francis Tucker, also known as Mr. Tucket, was a simple boy traveling with his parents to Oregon. He was always hard working and helped his parents around their old farm. After he was kidnapped he felt ignorant compared to the Indians. They told Francis to fight but Francis used his fists and they said that's how woman fight. He was rescued by the white man, and the white man taught him a lot of things and Francis grew wiser by doing this.
This book showed me many ways a person lived in the Wild West. All of the lifestyle was hard back then. You had to wait a lot for a lot of things. For example you had to make your own clothes or bet something, fight, and get new clothes. Life nowadays is very simple and you can get almost anything instant.
Plot
Francis Alphonse Tucket is a pioneer that is moving from Missouri to Oregon. On the way to Oregon he turns 14 and receives a custom made rifle from his father. His father allows him to go and shoot the little gun at some targets. At that moment when he was shooting he was kidnapped by seven Pawnee Indians and taken to their camp. While he was stuck there, a white man came into the village to give powder and lead to all the Indians. The white man noticed that Francis was a captive there. In the night he told Francis to go in the back, and take a horse he has stolen from the tribe. Francis rode all night until he fell off the horse. He woke up with the white man cooking coffee and eating jerky. They introduced themselves, and Mr Grimes gave the little rifle to Mr Tucket. They both rode together and had many adventures to try to find a way to Oregon.
Recommendation
I personally recommend this book to any student that loves a taste for adventure in a book. This book has a lot of cliffhangers and action. A student from middle school and up will instantly fall in love with this book, because they can not stop reading. I was instantly hooked once I read one chapter, and I wanted to keep reading more.
Characteristics
Francis Tucker, also known as Mr. Tucket, was a simple boy traveling with his parents to Oregon. He was always hard working and helped his parents around their old farm. After he was kidnapped he felt ignorant compared to the Indians. They told Francis to fight but Francis used his fists and they said that's how woman fight. He was rescued by the white man, and the white man taught him a lot of things and Francis grew wiser by doing this.
November 24, 2012
Critical Analysis
In Mr.tucket by gary paulsen francis tucket wants to find his parents in Oregon but he doesn't know how to survive in the wild so he gets help and finds his way to Oregon. the characters in the book are influenced/challenged by the setting in several ways. First, Mr.Tucket had to walk many miles in a muddy creek. “I walked in neck deep water for miles.” (31) Mr.Tucket had been lying to Mr.Grimes when he asked him if he knew how to ride a horse he had said yes but he didn't actually know how to. Also, Mr.Tucket was in a snowstorm and he had to tough it out. “It was almost as if the storm had been waiting for them.” (141) Mr.Tucket and Mr.Grimes were having trouble with the horses because the horses were very cold and didn't want to move because of the snow. Last, living on a wagon train was way different to Mr.Tucket and his family because they used to live in a farm in Missouri. “But that was how it had been on the farm in Missouri where they had a big house and barn.” Even though the lived on a wagon train the still celebrated for Mr.Tucket's birthday they got him a cake and a rifle. To sum up there are several ways that the characters are influenced/challenged by the setting in Mr.Tucket.
In Mr.tucket by gary paulsen francis tucket wants to find his parents in Oregon but he doesn't know how to survive in the wild so he gets help and finds his way to Oregon. the characters in the book are influenced/challenged by the setting in several ways. First, Mr.Tucket had to walk many miles in a muddy creek. “I walked in neck deep water for miles.” (31) Mr.Tucket had been lying to Mr.Grimes when he asked him if he knew how to ride a horse he had said yes but he didn't actually know how to. Also, Mr.Tucket was in a snowstorm and he had to tough it out. “It was almost as if the storm had been waiting for them.” (141) Mr.Tucket and Mr.Grimes were having trouble with the horses because the horses were very cold and didn't want to move because of the snow. Last, living on a wagon train was way different to Mr.Tucket and his family because they used to live in a farm in Missouri. “But that was how it had been on the farm in Missouri where they had a big house and barn.” Even though the lived on a wagon train the still celebrated for Mr.Tucket's birthday they got him a cake and a rifle. To sum up there are several ways that the characters are influenced/challenged by the setting in Mr.Tucket.
January 14, 2021
Adventure and coming of age meet together in this fine adventure set in the 1840s on the prairie trail from Missouri to Oregon. Francis, at 14, gets snatched from his wagon train by Pawnees, and finds a whole new world. Many characters cross these pages, from Pawnees, to Crows, to Mr. Grimes, the one-armed, boiler-hat wearing, free-range trapper. From here to the end, Francis - Mr. Tucket - ripens and rises. Ideal for tweens and young teens, it will grip the reader's attention and hold it to the finish.
This is the first in a 5-volume series. I felt that Paulsen didn't dishonor native Americans, though others may disagree. It is a fictive work about the middle 19th-Century, but much in the tale is legitimate. I videoed my reading of this work for my grandchildren, and my video-recordings can be found on my YouTube channel (just look for my name and the Mr. Tucket playlist). I enjoyed reading it, as I have several other of Paulsen's works. He is a delightful author. I highly recommend the book.
This is the first in a 5-volume series. I felt that Paulsen didn't dishonor native Americans, though others may disagree. It is a fictive work about the middle 19th-Century, but much in the tale is legitimate. I videoed my reading of this work for my grandchildren, and my video-recordings can be found on my YouTube channel (just look for my name and the Mr. Tucket playlist). I enjoyed reading it, as I have several other of Paulsen's works. He is a delightful author. I highly recommend the book.
January 8, 2022
I adored this series as a kid. I'm happy to say it still holds up as an excellent children's adventure novel. There's times where the foreshadowing is obvious, and it's certainly not a complicated plot, but that is certainly not a fault, just how books for this audience should be written.
Although this is a children's book, it does not condescend. There are stakes and consequences here, and the harsh life that was "The West" is not hidden from the reader. Any child who read this would likely be sparked to think of moral questions and life truths. Excellent book
Although this is a children's book, it does not condescend. There are stakes and consequences here, and the harsh life that was "The West" is not hidden from the reader. Any child who read this would likely be sparked to think of moral questions and life truths. Excellent book
June 29, 2025
I was obsessed with this series when I was younger. We read it as a fourth grade class for our unit on mountain men, and then I loved it so much I went on to read the whole series. I love hearing about the daily life of the mountain man in this book. It's a great read for kids looking for a goof western book. There is some violence, especially at the end, but nothing in detail.
September 5, 2025
Listened to this book on audible driving home from Wyoming - so good! Loved the way Gary Paulsen described the perspective of a 14-yo boy. Loved the description of Mr. Grimes and how he taught Frances how to survive.
December 23, 2017
This book was about a boy named Francis Tucket who get a rifle for his 14th birthday on the Oregon trail. While he is testing it out Indians come and take him away. He becomes a slave to them and lives there in the Indian for a while. But then, a trapper comes into camp and helps him escape. This trapper is Mr. Jason Grimes and he takes Francis, A.K.A. Mr. Tucket, under his wing. They trap together, live together, learn together. Then all at once, the horrible Indian named Braid that might have killed Mr. Tucket's family, kills Mr. Grimes' best friend, Spot Johnnie and Mr. Grimes rides off to go kill Braid. Mr. Tucket even with orders to stay behind rides off to go help Mr. Grimes. When he gets there, he finds both of them already shot. Mr. Grimes will be fine, he was only shot in the shoulder. Braid though is as good as dead and Mr. Grimes heads over to kill him once more, as a true mountain man would. Mr. Tucket then decides he doesn't want to be a mountain man and make those kind of choices. He wants to go to Oregon and find his family. This was an okay book. You might like it if you are in to historical fiction of adventure. Overall not a bad book!
May 25, 2019
My youngest son was a reluctant reader during his elementary school years, and this caused a problem for both of us when he was assigned a book report. I was lucky enough to be working in an elementary school library at the time, so I would search the library's databases looking carefully for just the right book that would capture his attention. Once I found Gary Paulsen, my search became much easier.
The Tucket Adventures were some of my son's favorites, but I only ever read the first one myself. At a loss for something to read recently, I decided to try the whole series. Now I understand why my son enjoyed these so much! There is plenty of action, adventure, danger, and resourcefulness in the first one, and each book ends on a cliffhanger so you can hardly help but read the next one immediately. Fourteen-year-old Francis Alphonse Tucket is kidnapped by Pawnee Indians as he is traveling westward on the Oregon Trail with his family, and the stories revolve around his adventures in trying to reunite with his family. Francis grows as a character over the series, learning how to survive and how to make responsible and mature decisions. While there are some episodes of violence in the books, this would make an excellent series to read with your child/grandchild and discuss why the violence between Indians and settlers might have occurred, along with right and wrong, good and evil when your very survival might depend upon your decisions.
I highly recommend The Tucket Adventures as "boy books", especially for picky reluctant readers, but it also made a satisfying series to read for an adult. I look forward to reading Paulsen's Hatchet series some day!
The Tucket Adventures were some of my son's favorites, but I only ever read the first one myself. At a loss for something to read recently, I decided to try the whole series. Now I understand why my son enjoyed these so much! There is plenty of action, adventure, danger, and resourcefulness in the first one, and each book ends on a cliffhanger so you can hardly help but read the next one immediately. Fourteen-year-old Francis Alphonse Tucket is kidnapped by Pawnee Indians as he is traveling westward on the Oregon Trail with his family, and the stories revolve around his adventures in trying to reunite with his family. Francis grows as a character over the series, learning how to survive and how to make responsible and mature decisions. While there are some episodes of violence in the books, this would make an excellent series to read with your child/grandchild and discuss why the violence between Indians and settlers might have occurred, along with right and wrong, good and evil when your very survival might depend upon your decisions.
I highly recommend The Tucket Adventures as "boy books", especially for picky reluctant readers, but it also made a satisfying series to read for an adult. I look forward to reading Paulsen's Hatchet series some day!
June 15, 2025
I read this book with my teen, and we both enjoyed it. Mr Tucket packs a lot of punch for a middle grade story- it focuses on a teen boy in the 1800's who gets kidnapped from the Oregon Trail by an indigenous tribe, and follows his rescue and teachings from an old cowboy named Grimes. Paulsen does a great job of keeping the reader interested of what is going to happen next in the story, and does a little bit of history teaching as well. Those who enjoyed Hatchet and historical fiction survival stories or American West fiction will like this one too, and it's a great entry novel into the genre for pre-teens and teens.
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March 3, 2017I really liked this book a lot because it had a lot of adventure which I like. This book was always exciting with all sorts of stuff. I would recommend thus book to people that like adventure because thus has plenty of that
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March 5, 2018first timer read this book!
January 30, 2020
It was good.
September 29, 2021
this book was a good book called mr tucket. it was in the oregon trail and he gets kidnaped by indians,he escapes and survives on his own. i would recommend it.
May 23, 2023
A fun adventure story I read with my son, we had some good laughs with the character of Mr. Grimes and his rough ways and dry sense of humor.
August 2, 2024
Kids loved listening to this with me 😀
March 3, 2017
This would have been a great book if not for the ending. I liked how it did not really follow the rules of the heroes journey and it was not fantasy. I was a little confused because I thought Francis and Mr. Grimes were going to see his parents but they didn't. The ending left me guessing in a bad way because Mr. Grimes was wounded, Spot Johnny disappeared, and Francis left with Mr. Grimes into the sunset.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 15, 2017
The book Mr. Tucket was a good book. I liked it because all the characters were great! I also liked it because I never wanted to put it down. overall it was a great book I recommend it to people who like action and adventure.
March 6, 2017
i liked this book because it has lots of existing parts. Also i liked the time zone that its in. read PLZ.
February 17, 2014
Here's a humdinger of a present. Fourteen-year-old Francis gets a rifle for his birthday as his family heads west on a wagon train to Oregon. Can you imagine good ole dad giving you a rifle? Things were a bit different as the western frontier grew in the United States. Wherever I work as a librarian ...in Taiwan or Spain or the plains of North Dakota, students of all ages are fascinated by weapons. Shucks, I am too. I remember wanting to see what it would be like to shoot a rifle so I signed my husband and me up for a summer biathlon. He thought it odd until I explained I wanted to write a murder mystery and thought firing a gun would be inspirational. "Let's give it a shot," I deadpanned. He laughed and said, "Why not?" True love. That was about 25 years ago. I still haven't written a mystery but the experience was a blast. We ran a 10K and shot with rifles at 5 targets in a prone and a standing position. Each station had an expert who walked me through the shooting process. I laid on my stomach, lined up the target, and pulled the trigger watching the empty cartridge shell fly out of the chamber. "Cool!" I said to the expert next to me. "Look at the smoke trail!" He smiled at my giddiness. Francis gets his gun, has the same giddiness as me, heads out to practice, and winds up captured by Pawnee Indians. Yikes!
The action adventure never lets up as Francis escapes the Pawnees with the help of a mountain man, Mr. Grimes. The two travel together and Francis learns to trap and shoot a rifle. Mr. Grimes won't use his first name, but always calls Francis, "Mr. Tucket." This signifies Francis becoming a man and growing up into a man. He not only learns to use the rifle to take an animal's life, survives blizzards, Indian attacks, and more, he learns that he is more comfortable with the farming life he grew up in with his family versus the trapper life Mr. Grime's exposes him too and its different set of rules.
This story is less than 200 pages and loaded with action. There isn't much depth to the Native American issue, but the author does make it clear that Native Americans' such as the Pawnee warrior, Braid, didn't attack white settlers in wagon trains until they started to take their lands. Mr. Grimes says that he doesn't side with the whites or the Indians, but his actions at the end show he has adopted more of the Indian culture than he first let on to when talking with Francis. He's an interesting character and I wished the ending hadn't been quite so abrupt. This is the first of a series so perhaps Mr. Grimes makes an appearance in later books and maybe Francis elaborates more on his actions.
I find it hard to recommend Western books to young readers that are not too hard. Carolyn Lawrence has "The Case of the Deadly Desperados" but it is 100 pages longer than "Mr. Tucket." "The Gentleman Outlaw and Me" is probably the closest I can come to "Mr. Tucket" but it's a murder mystery versus an adventure. "Little House on the Prairie" is on frontier life but it has over 300 pages. There are not many books I can round-up in the same vein as this one and I'm glad Gary Paulsen is such a prolific writer. Readers can giddy-up into this terific series.
Reading Level 5.0
Fountas and Pinnell: U
The action adventure never lets up as Francis escapes the Pawnees with the help of a mountain man, Mr. Grimes. The two travel together and Francis learns to trap and shoot a rifle. Mr. Grimes won't use his first name, but always calls Francis, "Mr. Tucket." This signifies Francis becoming a man and growing up into a man. He not only learns to use the rifle to take an animal's life, survives blizzards, Indian attacks, and more, he learns that he is more comfortable with the farming life he grew up in with his family versus the trapper life Mr. Grime's exposes him too and its different set of rules.
This story is less than 200 pages and loaded with action. There isn't much depth to the Native American issue, but the author does make it clear that Native Americans' such as the Pawnee warrior, Braid, didn't attack white settlers in wagon trains until they started to take their lands. Mr. Grimes says that he doesn't side with the whites or the Indians, but his actions at the end show he has adopted more of the Indian culture than he first let on to when talking with Francis. He's an interesting character and I wished the ending hadn't been quite so abrupt. This is the first of a series so perhaps Mr. Grimes makes an appearance in later books and maybe Francis elaborates more on his actions.
I find it hard to recommend Western books to young readers that are not too hard. Carolyn Lawrence has "The Case of the Deadly Desperados" but it is 100 pages longer than "Mr. Tucket." "The Gentleman Outlaw and Me" is probably the closest I can come to "Mr. Tucket" but it's a murder mystery versus an adventure. "Little House on the Prairie" is on frontier life but it has over 300 pages. There are not many books I can round-up in the same vein as this one and I'm glad Gary Paulsen is such a prolific writer. Readers can giddy-up into this terific series.
Reading Level 5.0
Fountas and Pinnell: U
March 6, 2017
I thought this book was pretty interesting. it kept me on the edge of my seat. it made me want to read more, and I couldn't put the book down.
March 3, 2017
Mr. Tucket was actually a pretty good book.
February 9, 2011
I found MR. TUCKET an intriguing book, though I think that the characters could have been developed a bit better.
I think that the book focuses around two main (and interconnected) ideas. I think that the two ideas both have to do with people's relationships. I think that the relationship between Mr. Tucket and Mr. Grimes is an important one. Also, I believe that the relationship between the the white people and the Native Americans is an important relationship that the author chose to pursue.
The idea of Mr. Grime's and Mr. Tucket's relationship is important because it is very important for Mr. Tucket as a dynamic character. Mr. Grimes is an important figure in Mr. Tucket's life; teaching him not only how to survive in the world, but also how look at life from multiple perspectives...He teaches Mr. Tucket that sometimes you don't have to take a side. He stays on good terms with white people and Native Americans. He doesn't have to pick side, like most people.
Mr. Grimes teaches Mr. Tucket several lessons very similar to that, which helps Mr. Tucket change and develop as a character.
The relationship between the Native Americans and white people is also on that is pursued in the book. It is a very important one, since it affected many people's lives (Native American and whites). Gary Paulsen doesn't really take one side or another, but he does do something for Mr. Tucket. Mr. Tucket was raised white, looking upon the Native Americans more as dangerous than anything else. But Paulsen has Mr. Grimes teach Mr. Tucket that you have to look upon both sides of the fight equally - the Natives are no more in the wrong than the white.
But, while the book brought up several important ideas, I feel like it could have been a bit more realistically written.
First of all, I feel that Mr. Tucket changed/developed into an incredible almost-mountain man a little too quickly to be realistic - every time that Mr. Tucket encountered a problem, it got resolved a little too quickly. I got that same feel from Gary Paulsen's book, BRIAN'S WINTER, that things got resolved too quickly.
Also, I feel that Mr. Tucket was a bit of a perfect character. While he had did occasionally make mistakes, they were mistakes due to lack of skill, which were soon fixed by practice. But he always came out on top, and he always seemed to say the right thing. If he didn't, there was little to no consequence.
I think that the book focuses around two main (and interconnected) ideas. I think that the two ideas both have to do with people's relationships. I think that the relationship between Mr. Tucket and Mr. Grimes is an important one. Also, I believe that the relationship between the the white people and the Native Americans is an important relationship that the author chose to pursue.
The idea of Mr. Grime's and Mr. Tucket's relationship is important because it is very important for Mr. Tucket as a dynamic character. Mr. Grimes is an important figure in Mr. Tucket's life; teaching him not only how to survive in the world, but also how look at life from multiple perspectives...He teaches Mr. Tucket that sometimes you don't have to take a side. He stays on good terms with white people and Native Americans. He doesn't have to pick side, like most people.
Mr. Grimes teaches Mr. Tucket several lessons very similar to that, which helps Mr. Tucket change and develop as a character.
The relationship between the Native Americans and white people is also on that is pursued in the book. It is a very important one, since it affected many people's lives (Native American and whites). Gary Paulsen doesn't really take one side or another, but he does do something for Mr. Tucket. Mr. Tucket was raised white, looking upon the Native Americans more as dangerous than anything else. But Paulsen has Mr. Grimes teach Mr. Tucket that you have to look upon both sides of the fight equally - the Natives are no more in the wrong than the white.
But, while the book brought up several important ideas, I feel like it could have been a bit more realistically written.
First of all, I feel that Mr. Tucket changed/developed into an incredible almost-mountain man a little too quickly to be realistic - every time that Mr. Tucket encountered a problem, it got resolved a little too quickly. I got that same feel from Gary Paulsen's book, BRIAN'S WINTER, that things got resolved too quickly.
Also, I feel that Mr. Tucket was a bit of a perfect character. While he had did occasionally make mistakes, they were mistakes due to lack of skill, which were soon fixed by practice. But he always came out on top, and he always seemed to say the right thing. If he didn't, there was little to no consequence.
March 7, 2014
In 1848, a 14-year-old boy is captured from an Oregon-bound wagon train by Pawnee Indians and saved by one-armed mountain man Mr. Grimes. Paulsen ( Hatchet ) throws in enough ridin', wrasslin' and shootin' (along with plenty of dead bodies, white and Indian) to satiate the most action-loving reader. But his book is more than an impeccably detailed homage to the Saturday-afternoon horse opera. Although Braid, a Pawnee warrior, is without question the bad guy here, Paulsen makes it clear that, by settling on the Indians' land, even the most peaceable white farmers--such as protagonist Francis Alphonse Tucket's family--disqualify themselves as good guys. And the author plants doubts as to whether Grimes, who trades ammunition with the Pawnee in exchange for trapping on their land, really does ``ride right down the middle'' between the white and Indian worlds, as he claims. Superb characterizations, splendidly evoked setting and thrill-a-minute plot make this book a joy to gallop through.
October 28, 2013
My son's reading group in school was halfway through this one when I moderated the group, and after completing a few chapters with them, I was eager to discover more about Francis Tucket and Jason Grimes, so I finished it that evening. This series would be ideal for fourth-fifth grade boys, ample excitement, suspenseful adventure, and a forthright fourteen year old boy who encounters unfamiliar people, places and situations. The chapters provided copious topics for discussion and the boys were able to make sound predictions and possible outcomes for Francis. I appreciated how Paulsen was not only able to tell a good story, but he was also articulate when describing confrontations between the Native American tribes and the wagon trains or frontier settlers. It is clear that he was aware of whom his target audience would be, thus being cautious when recounting violent scenes that were integral to the plot. I would not mind reading the subsequent four books of the series and I hope that my son does the same.
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