For a 16-year-old boy out in the world alone for the first time, every day’s an education in the hard work and boredom of migrant labor; ever...
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reviews
Nov 27, 2011
Doug
rated it: 
I thoroughly enjoyed the build-up of this story and the descriptions of the boy's jobs and adventures along the way. I felt the opening was so well written where we get a brief but telling glimpse of the boy's disfunctional family life - BUT - I did not like the ending, not because of the topic of teenage sex, which Paulsen did a good job with, including his inexperience not seeming stupid or funny, but just ... normal. I did not like the ending because it felt disconnected from his previous jou
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Sep 16, 2011
Lanica
rated it:
SCHOOL LIBRARIAN REVIEW:
By having the name "Gary Paulsen" on the cover, most librarians/readers would assume that this book is another great read for boys. Hatchet is one of my go-to books for middle school boys, and if they like that - well there are a ton more where that came from. I say, "Here are the Gary Paulsen books if you want to read more by him." and let them browse.
This book is not meant for middle school boys.
* First off, it's a slow story More...
By having the name "Gary Paulsen" on the cover, most librarians/readers would assume that this book is another great read for boys. Hatchet is one of my go-to books for middle school boys, and if they like that - well there are a ton more where that came from. I say, "Here are the Gary Paulsen books if you want to read more by him." and let them browse.
This book is not meant for middle school boys.
* First off, it's a slow story More...
Dec 06, 2010
Raylee
rated it: 
This novel follows the story of the boy as he works during his first summer on his own. He runs away from home when he is 16 and finds a job thinning beats. He learns a lot from the migrant workers that he works with as they take care of eachother and he finds a family of sorts. As a group they move from farm to farm until he finally leaves them for a tractor job. After working on this farm for a while he is taken in by the local police for being a runaway. After stealing all of his money the de
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Oct 25, 2010
Mandy
rated it: 
Gary Paulsen/ Country/boy teen fiction
A teenage boy runs away from a disturbing and broken family to make his own way in the world by working out in the beet fields. He works hard only to be taken advantage of, thus needing to move on once more. He catches a ride from a stranger which ends in disaster, works for an old woman, then becomes a carnie where he finally loses his virginity. The end.
That's what the book is. One summer of a boy who comes from a weird family and l More...
A teenage boy runs away from a disturbing and broken family to make his own way in the world by working out in the beet fields. He works hard only to be taken advantage of, thus needing to move on once more. He catches a ride from a stranger which ends in disaster, works for an old woman, then becomes a carnie where he finally loses his virginity. The end.
That's what the book is. One summer of a boy who comes from a weird family and l More...
Nov 01, 2011
Cody
rated it:
This was a real good book if you like the outdoors and farming. It was about a boy who ran away from home because his parents love to drink all the time. He was young with no food, or home,and he was living on the streets with no money. He came to a farm that needed help on the beet fields. The farm owner gave him a job and he was working in the fields everyday from dust till dawn. He worked with a family of Mexicans who didn't really talk to him, until one day and he became close to them. Whan
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Nov 02, 2011
Brandon
rated it: 
This is a good book because some of the thing you don't even see coming. because first he is working with some Mexicans. and he learns how to eat like them. because he was eating the samwiches he had to buy from the farmer and they weren't very good. so he started to eat with the Mexicans. but he didn't have any money to put in and so the would clime up in the barn and kill pidgins. and then after that farm. they moved to another and he had to work on the tractor.And he saw the farmers daughter
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Sep 10, 2011
Erica
rated it: 
Gary Paulsen, you crazy author! I did not expect as much from this book as I got out of it. Paulsen is awesome, and this story, which veers away from what you think of when you think "Gary Paulsen" (i.e. Hachet, Tucket, Iditarod), is a real history lesson wrapped into fiction. The main character, who has no name, is a 16-year-old boy trying to escape a bad life and make some money to both survive and move on to better things. What he learns over this summer in what I'm guessing is
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Sep 02, 2011
Evelyn
rated it:
Ok?
That was my reaction when I finished this book. It's your typical YA novel of a troubled youth searching for identity and redemption. His dad is lost at war, his mom's a drunk and he runs away in an adventure full of arbitrary encounters resembling Holden Caulfield's own search for self in Catcher in the Rye. Gary Paulsen claims that in writing this book he achieved a greater sense of honesty than in his other novels. And perhaps it is an honest reflection of disillusionment in life More...
That was my reaction when I finished this book. It's your typical YA novel of a troubled youth searching for identity and redemption. His dad is lost at war, his mom's a drunk and he runs away in an adventure full of arbitrary encounters resembling Holden Caulfield's own search for self in Catcher in the Rye. Gary Paulsen claims that in writing this book he achieved a greater sense of honesty than in his other novels. And perhaps it is an honest reflection of disillusionment in life More...
Jun 09, 2010
Lindsay
rated it:
The only other Gary Paulsen book I have read is The Hatchet, and I read it in fifth grade. Choosing this book I decided to look for something a little different. This book is definitely different from the typical books by Gary Paulsen. The book follows the story of a young boy who runs away from home. In order to survive, he works on a few farms, with an older woman, and eventually in a carnival. It is a coming of age novel where he learns about hard work, friendship, and lust.
This i More...
This i More...
Mar 30, 2011
Dan
rated it:
Book Review:
The Beet Fields
Star Rating: 4
Hook: You are in a police station because you are a runaway and the cop takes all of your money that you had worked hard for for a whole summer. This is the life of the boy in this story.
Paragraph: In this book, a boy runs away from home in search of a new begining. He is 16 and he decides to work in the fields of the mid west. Here he meets a variety of people including a Carnival Manager who he gets a job More...
The Beet Fields
Star Rating: 4
Hook: You are in a police station because you are a runaway and the cop takes all of your money that you had worked hard for for a whole summer. This is the life of the boy in this story.
Paragraph: In this book, a boy runs away from home in search of a new begining. He is 16 and he decides to work in the fields of the mid west. Here he meets a variety of people including a Carnival Manager who he gets a job More...
Feb 05, 2010
sweet pea
rated it:
this memoir chronicles a rather tumultuous summer with molesting moms, agricultural work, deadly pheasants, crazy ladies, and work as a carny. while the individual elements were engaging, the transitions were abrupt and disconcerting. the series of families he creates he leaves without notice. the final sentence angered me greatly. that was the only lesson you learned? an interesting if somewhat scattered read.
Aug 11, 2010
Beth
rated it:
I've had this checked out to see if it's OK for our library, but I didn't really feel like reading it. Down to my last 3 books, I finally got through it. It wasn't bad for a coming-of-age story (Paulsen's writing is always good), but the ending was a little over-the-top for middle school. There's also a brief but horrible car wreck. Plus, I don't think they'd be really interested in it. It's probably fine for high school.
Aug 12, 2011
Ruth
rated it:
Autobiographically based, Paulsen shares his summer working in the beet fields with a Mexican family who welcomes them into their fold and his first encounter with "love" with a circus hootchie-kootchie dancer. Beautifully done coming of age story that will resonate with teenage guys. Sadly, this one did not get the attention it deserved. I think it is one of Paulsen's best.
Apr 15, 2011
Zack
rated it:
this was a very good book. I basically love every book that Gary Paulsen has written. The boy had a troubled life, and he turned that all around and made something for himself
May 28, 2011
Natahlia
rated it:
This book kind of got inappropriate towards the end, but I liked it. The thing that frustrates me the most, though, is that I never learned the main characters name.
Oct 12, 2010
I have no memory of reading this book - the only Paulsen I've read, despite working at Wonderland for 5 years. Seems like other reviewers found it similarly unmemorable
Aug 28, 2010
Sarah
rated it:
A very quick read. 6 days. Officially a kids book but also got “not suitable for younger readers” warning on it as it does deal with sexual issues.
Dec 08, 2011
Dan
rated it:
this book is a great book to read if you ever tend to do something like this.
May 18, 2011
Daisy
rated it:
Shockingly good. Makes me want to read everything Paulsen's ever written.
Aug 21, 2011
Hanny
rated it:
The end is totally inappropriate.... It wrecked the book for me...
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Nov 12, 2008
Art
rated it:
Wow! Youth, Coming of age, Farm Work.
Several of the words that I would use to describe this book.
I like how Gary talked about the people he met in life, while working as a migrant farm worker during the summer of his sixteenth year.
Made me think of the girls, farms and farmers that I met in Pennsylvania and Minnesota.
Several of the words that I would use to describe this book.
I like how Gary talked about the people he met in life, while working as a migrant farm worker during the summer of his sixteenth year.
Made me think of the girls, farms and farmers that I met in Pennsylvania and Minnesota.
Oct 06, 2007
Jon
rated it:
I loved this book. Its a good story about a child of alchoholics who leaves them behind in search of a better life for himself. I only had one sticker with this book. has anybody read Tiltawhirl John? it sure seems a heck of alot like Beat Field, the main characters even run the same ride. Has anybody else noticed this?
Oct 04, 2007
Rachel
rated it:
I wanted something easy to read and I thought this would be good since I've read the Hatchet and that was great. It turned out to be a total waste of time and it was really lame. I'm not really sure what the point of it was.
Feb 01, 2012
