Tucket’s Ride

The Tucket Adventures #3

by Gary Paulsen

Francis Tucket and his adopted family, Lottie and Billy, are heading west in search of Francis's parents on the Oregon Trail. But when winter comes early, Francis turns south to avoid the cold, and leads them right into enemy territory--the Mexican War of 1848. Francis and the children are captured by desperadoes, but loyalty, courage, and the element of surprise offer hope for survival.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Adventure, Young Adult, Westerns, Middle Grade, Historical

Audio CD

First published January 1, 1997

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]

Trouble has repeatedly found fifteen-year-old Francis Tucket as he searches for his family in the vast Western frontier of 1840s America, but the adversity he faces in Tucket's Ride is more daunting than anything so far. Having learned wilderness survival from the enigmatic Jason Grimes, Francis was better prepared to care for an orphaned girl (Lottie) and her little brother (Billy) when he discovered them alone on the plains after their pa's death from cholera. With a mare and a mule to carry the three of them, they have traveled a great distance south into Mexican land, with the goal of swinging back up to the Oregon Trail and locating Francis's family. The resourceful teen embraces being responsible for Lottie and Billy, but hope for peaceful passage through Mexico is quashed when they come upon an American soldier forcing himself on a Mexican woman. The man shoots his gun at Francis, who is forced to return fire, and seconds later young Mr. Tucket has taken a human life for the first time. What will he do with the soldier's body?

Unwittingly, Francis has wandered into a war between the U.S. and Mexico. The fighting is mostly over, but American officers are still stationed here for administrative purposes. Francis would like to gallop away with Lottie and Billy, hoping the lecherous soldier's death is never connected back to him, but running seems wrong. He peacefully surrenders to a posse of American soldiers who escort him to the city of Taos. It briefly looks as though Francis will get the hangman's noose, but justice is eventually served in roundabout fashion. Francis's weapons, food, and other supplies are richly replenished before he returns to the trail with Lottie and Billy, but he doesn't realize they're entering one of the most dangerous parts of the country.

Francis instinctually fears Indians after a group of Pawnees kidnapped him from his family on the Oregon Trail. Worse than any Indians, however, are the Comancheros, outlaws who trade illegal goods with members of the Comanche nation. Francis, Lottie, and Billy don't stand a chance: a band of Comancheros takes them prisoner, confiscating the .40 caliber Lancaster rifle Francis's father gave him for his fourteenth birthday. Comancheros are notorious for pushing their horses to run for days through rough wilderness land, with no more than a few minutes' rest here and there. Like the Comancheros, Francis, Lottie, and Billy learn to sleep while riding, but the journey is torturous as they ride further into the isolated badlands the Comancheros call home. Even if Francis weren't exhausted to the point of delirium, escape is impossible; the cruel, unnaturally efficient Comancheros would catch up within a few hours, if not minutes. Francis and the two helpless kids he loves like siblings are doomed to be traded to the Comanches, who will work them as slaves for the rest of their lives. But though trouble habitually seeks Francis, it's usually accompanied by opportunity: a glimmer of hope exists to get away from the Comancheros, provided Francis's luck holds perfectly. Will he, Lottie, and Billy ride free once again, or has fortune favored the young travelers for the last time?

The five-part Tucket Adventures series reads more like a Western serial than a sequence of novels that each stand on their own. Tucket's Ride picks up not long after book two, Call Me Francis Tucket, and has an open ending that leads right into book four, Tucket's Gold. In between, Francis participates in shootouts, negotiates with military types, suffers at the hands of Old West bad'uns, and has a serendipitous reunion with a familiar face. A lot can go horribly wrong in the lawless West; Francis needs heaping helpings of good luck, and he always seems to get just enough to have a chance of surviving. I might rate Tucket's Ride two and a half stars; it lacks the depth for more than that, but the story moves briskly and the Comancheros are excellent villains, their nastiness and cold-eyed competence combining to make them a harrowing foe. Where will Gary Paulsen take the story next? I can hardly wait to find out.

[Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was absolutely captivated by this book. The reason for Gary Paulsen being my favorite author is because he never leaves out detail. Gary latches on to your brain and doesn't let go! When I begin to read his books, I can not put them down. It is as if I am watching a movie in my head, visualizing every detail and how things look.
In "Tucket's Ride" A 15 year old boy named Francis had previously been taken away from his family by Pawnee Indians. He had escaped from them by the help of a Mr. Grimes. Along his journey back to the Oregon trail to find his family, he found two other children under the age of ten and basically made them apart of his family as he travels on his dangerous quest in the wilderness. The story starts out slow for a couple pages then BAM! It jumps right in to excitement and you get a small rush of the interesting story that is being told and I couldn't find myself stop reading.
Overall this book is a definite read! I would recommend reading this book, especially if you're adventurous! I have read many books in my life, but books by Gary Paulsen were the books that I enjoyed the most. The reason being because I am adventurous and I love feeling the detail and visualizing the work if a genius. "Tucket's Ride" is definitely in my top ten, and I hope you all will enjoy it as much as I do.

[Emily Musgrove · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another audible listen on our trip home. Still interesting - more excitement and danger, and Frances is reunited with an old friend. Such a good series of books! This one had a bit more history, with some references to the Mexican war in the mid 1800’s.

[Michael Philliber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly adventurous, but this time with added troubles. Francis reclaimed Lottie and Billy, and now travels with them. This adds to the difficulties for various reasons, mainly because they're young kids. Other problems surface that heighten the story's intensity. Each chapter left me wanting to pick up the next chapter. Two issues in this story, one that leaves reader's scratching their head, and the other a bit of a surprise. We're left wondering what happened to Garcia? Are we to assume he's dead or run off? Will he return in the next story? And then there's the sudden, out of the blue, almost deus ex machina appearance of Mr. Grimes! Beyond these issues, the story is a heart-ponding thriller perfect for tweens and teens. You can catch me reading these twelve chapters on my YouTube channel. I highly recommend the book.

[Corey Bannow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tucket's Ride
Gary Paulsen

Tucket and his adopted siblings Lottie and Billy are heading down west after losing his family off the Oregon Trail after being abducted by Indians. Tucket and his friends go through many trials in order to find his lost family. In the story, Tucket and his friends hear a woman screaming when Tucket moves to check it out. He sees an American soldier grabbing onto a foreign woman. The soldier then sees Tucket and moves to shoot him. Tucket “beating him to the shot” shoots and kills the soldier. Filled with grief and even more questions he moves to ask the woman if she is ok. She doesn't speak English but Tucket notices that she isn't speaking Spanish either which is weird for the territory. Tucket believes it may be French.
Tuckets Ride was a good book loaded with lots of great characters and very engaging story details like with all the settings and the injuries they sustain while on their journey. I had feared that since I had not read the last two books, I wouldn't be able to connect with the characters but that was just not the case. It showed me how people thought and lived back in a time not plagued with technology, a place was they had to fight to survive and things weren't given out. From what I have read about the author so far, Gary Paulsen is known for never leaving out a detail.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book three in the Tucket series. Once again I read this aloud to the boys.

The younger boys found this one a little scary but overall they were begging me to read it. There are a lot of scary parts - a shooting, a capture, bad guys - but it was not anything to give them bad dreams about and knowing there ARE bad people out there is a good thing to know.

Overall we are so throughly enjoying this series! We'll be sad when it ends! Perfect boy read, and totally keeps my attention as well.

[Billymeyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Tucket's Ride" is the third book in this series and Francis, Lottie, and Billy are still heading west on the way to find Francis's parents. They turn south and find them self heading into the Spanish-American War. I would recommend this book to an audience of middle school section. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who does not like western books. I gave this book a 4 star because I personally thought it was a good book.

[Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just started this book but so far it is a pretty good book. It is about this boy named Francis tucket who hears this scream and go's to help. A soldier treis to shoot him but misses and Francis hits him. Now Francis is stuck with a dead soldier and has to take him back

[Colby · Rating 4 out of 5]

its a fine book

[Tyler S]

I'm reading the book “Tucket’s Ride” by Gary Pulsen. It was published march 9th 1998. It is about a boy who is searching for his family in the western us. He travels the Oregon trail and ends up in the Mexican war.

The main part in the book is that he is looking for his family and he travels down the Oregon trail and finds some Mexicans from the Mexican war. He picked up two kids on the search for his family and they were both under the age of ten and he is only 15.

I would recommend this book if you like the wilderness. I like it because it was about the outdoors and he has to find his family and i think reading about that is better than most book and this could be written of a true story .i like the was Gary Pulsen writes his book and how some of them seem like there right here in minnesota and those are some of the reasons why i would recommend this book.

[Kayson T · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book I read the book Tucket’s Ride by Gary Paulsen I liked it because it had both adventure and drama. I also liked it because it was about the war. My favorite character was Francis because he was the leader of the pack and he was the brave one. I thought it was crazy when they got caught the indians were to ruthless and mean to them. My favorite quote from the article is “Beat him to the shoot” I liked it because it showed what kind of situation they were in. They were so bad off that they had to start to shoot people. This just shows what stressful things do to people. My least favorite characters were the indians because they were so mean to the kids when they captured them. That is what makes them my least favorite character even know they were not the main people in the book.

[David Mann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Far too intense for the recommended age group, and much too short for adults to get much out of it, I wasn’t sure what to make of this offering from Gary Paulsen.

The action took place over just a few short days and read like one 30-minute episode in a season-long TV series. It should have been a few chapters in a larger book. Long after the success of the first book in the 60s, it looks like Paulsen churned our four more fast-paced books back-to-back in the 90s, which in reality should all just constitute one coming-of-age novel about a boy called Tucket.

My son loved the pace, but I had to heavily edit what I was reading to him.

This is one novel in a very short list of Westerns for children, so I’ll take it, and won’t grumble too much.

[Michael Beacom · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not for kids. Maybe my kids are just early readers but this book was not for them. It opens up with a rape scene, then a murder, then a soldier is passed out drunk threatening to hang the children. Then the hero has PTSD thinking the man is going to come after him to hang him. Makes American soldiers out to be the bad guys. Says the war with Mexico is because politicians wanted the land, rather than a legitimate border dispute. I didn't make it much further. These are not the topics an 8 year old needs to be reading about. "Why was the solider raping the mexican lady daddy?"

No thanks. Pass.

[Brogan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book wasn't great but it wasn't bad to say. The way the author portrayed Tucket was very good. The only thing I didn't like was the story line. The fact that I didn't read book 1 or 2 probably affects that. So I do have to give it a 3 star because I didn't like it but I understand why.

[Apzmarshl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Francis Tucket has a good heart and a keen sense for survival. Deep in Mexico territory during the Mexican American war.
And as an unexpected treat....Mr. Grimes returns for a moment.
Port loved this book so much he made me read it in almost one sitting.

[Stacy Renee (LazyDayLit) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Juvenile / Middle-grade
Historical Fiction

Frances Tucket was kidnapped by Natives while traveling on the Oregon Trail with his family. After being rescued by a mountain man, he sets off on his own.
This time, he rescues two young children and is determined to see them to safety.

[Cory Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three books in I’ve enjoyed this little western series that follows a 14 year old boy after being captured by Indians. At this point he’s been freed from another group and he’s now the rescuer of two little children from book two.

Will definitely let my children read this series.

[Julianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just love Francis Tucket!!

[Samira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very short and still more violent than I wanted but good.

[Shaun · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a fun book about hunting and the American and Mexican war.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Loved it...can’t wait for the next one c:

[Dean]

i think that this book is really good.It is about a boy that is going on the oregon trail.they get captured by a by a bunch of men. then they escape and there on a chase. the story ended

[Landon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic 3rd installment on the series

[Joyfully Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahhh cliffhanger

[Sara Vandenbos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably my least favorite in the Tucket series but still a thrill seeking ride for all readers.

[Emily Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun adventure read-aloud for my 7 & 10 year old kids. Perfect length for car rides

[Emma Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, Gary knocked it out of the park with a few of his books, but the Tucket series, not so much.

[Naomi McCullough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably my favorite in the series, aside from the first one with Mr. Grimes.

First part of the book might be a little much for younger readers, but the book is clean.

[Kayla Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This books takes off where the prequel left off. Previously, Jessie had escaped from a tribe of Pawnee Indians who had kidnapped him from his family while traveling on the Oregon Trail. He had done this with the help of his friend and Mentor, Mr. Grimes, who had taught him about surviving in the wilderness. In this book, Fifteen-year old Jessie takes on two children he finds after trying to get back to the Oregon trail. The three of them are making progress when Jessie becomes cornered and has to shoot an American soldier. After one of the commanders of the American army dismisses Jessie’s murder, he gives them provisions and lets them go. But just when things look promising Jessie gets them all into a heap of trouble and they are all captured by the dreaded Comancheros. A former friend of Jessie’s that parted as his enemy will be the one who helps Jessie and the children escape towards freedom. Most aspects of the book are believable and coincide with what you would expect someone to experience traveling during the time of the Mexican-American War. However, there is one part near the end that almost seems like too much. After being captured for a second time, coincidentally Jessie’s former long time friend ends up being someone who trades with their captors and helps them escape. Although it is a great twist that their rescuer is Jessie’s former friend and mentor, it all almost seems like too much good fortune at once. Otherwise, I would say the author does a good job in keeping his reader’s focused on the story, undistracted by such types of coincidences. The author did a great job applying his research and staying within a historical context. The language and the style by which it is produced are excellent. The author writes using precise language, as well as using some figurative language when appropriate. There is a lot of great dialogue throughout the book that lets the reader get to know the characters better. Even the lack of dialogue by some character gives insight into their personality and past – for example, one of the children, Billy, hardly ever speaks which lets the reader know he is more reserved, but also has something from his past that is haunting him. There are little hidden unexpected insights. Such as when Jessie is forced to part once again from his friend for what may be forever. Although he can’t quite put his emotions into words the reader knows what he’s feeling and can how it is when you must leave someone you've had a mixed history with and you don’t quite know what to say. There are different themes that go with the book such as, hunting, tracking, wilderness survival, etc. but there is really no one true theme that stands out. There is no presence of didacticism because there is no one message or moral that stands out to the reader. Perhaps, this is a form of understatement the author has utilized to let the reader take away what they so desire to. I thought this was a great read and exemplified a thoughtful work of historical fiction. I like how it highlighted a war that is not very much talked about in history books. I would not suggest this book for younger readers, as there is some mature material in the book as in one scene there is implications that a rape is about to occur. Overall, a great story of survival – definitely a book that adventure lovers will enjoy. A good book to supplement a unit about the Mexican-American War or a unit about survival.

Paulsen, G. (2008). Tucket's Ride. New York, NY: Yearling.

[Lara Kasparian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book so much when i was younger, and still enjoyed it as an adult. Books where the characters travel long distances to reach their destinations and have adventures along the way are mh favorites. I love the whole backdrop of this series. The wild west, and the Mexican war are so interesting. Francis is such a cool character, and I love seeing his growth throughout the series and how much he cares about Lottie and Billy. This book does a great job talking about serious things in a way that younger readers can handle and understand.