How to Train Your Dad

Ages 10 to 14

From the legendary author of Hatchet comes a laugh-out-loud middle grade romp about a boy, his free-thinking dad, and the puppy-training pamphlet that turns their summer upside down.

Twelve-year-old Carl is fed up with his father's single-minded pursuit of an off-the-grid existence. His dad may be brilliant, but dumpster-diving for food, scouring through trash for salvageable junk, and wearing clothes fully sourced from garage sales is getting old. Increasingly worried by what schoolmates and a certain girl at his new school might think of his circumstances—and encouraged by his off-kilter best friend—Carl adopts the principles set forth in a puppy-training pamphlet to “retrain” his dad’s mindset . . . a crackpot experiment that produces some very unintentional results. This is a fierce and funny novel about family and untangling some of the ties that bind from a middle grade master.

About the Author

Gary Paulsen (1939–2021) was the recipent of the ALA Margaret A. Edwards Award for his contribution to young adult literature and a three-time Newbery Honor winner, for Hatchet, Dogsong, and The Winter Room. His books have sold over thirty-five million copies. garypaulsenauthor.com