Masters of Disaster

Masters of Disaster

3.57 of 5 stars 3.57  ·  rating details  ·  261 ratings  ·  79 reviews

Roped into wacky attempts to break world records, imitate scenes from books, and other inspired ideas, Riley and Reed follow their fearless leader Henry into the wilderness, the bull-riding ring, a haunted house, cataclysmic collision with explosive life forms, and off the roof of a house on a bike.

Kindle Edition
Published (first published 2010)

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 423)
filter  |  sort: default (?)  |  rating details
Jennifer
I LOVE this book! Gary Paulsen is an awesome author, if you are looking for a fun, enjoyable and entertaining read for young people - try one of his many titles.
I actually laughed out loud during several of the adventures in this book, something that I wish I could say happened to me more often... I read lots and lots of books in an effort to supplement / enrich my class reading list(s).
I originally picked it up to appease my curiousity... our school library has this book listed as a middle gra...more
Teresa
Paulsen strikes again with another zany adventure book. Henry Mosley has plans for himself and his two friends, Riley Dolen and Reed Hamner. He announces a series of plans to "Prove Our Manhood and show us What We're Made Of. And if we play our cards right, we might just Alter the Course of History a time or two. And, of course, Impress Girls and Get Them to Notice Us."

However, none of the tasks goes exactly as planned, but all are deemed huge successes, although each one somehow ends up with th...more
Peep (Pop! Pop!)
Had to listen because it was Nick Podehl and to be honest I am kinda obsessed with the dude. Enjoyable book. Loved the adventures and good to see friends being friends. Was kind of sad to see it was over.

I enjoyed it because I took it for what it was, a couple of kids doing things. There really isn't a plot. Things just happen and Nick Podehl, the narrator, makes it fun to listen to.

Henry came up with some good ideas but he really should have brought along a camera! How could you do all those s...more
Sarah W
I found this book to be shriek-out loud hilarious. While some could say this book is lacking in plot, I found the mayhem caused and endured by these characters more than made up for that. Henry is the master schemer of plots. His friend Riley is always prepared for everything and can pull anything from first aid kits to college pamphlets from his sack. It is poor Reed who ends up doing the dangerous, dirty and smelly work in all these schemes.

It starts with wanting to set a world record for bic...more
Lisa Mckay
Henry, Reed, and Riley are three twelve-year old boys on a mission for adventure. It all started one day when Henry came to the conclusion that they needed to stop sitting around and make a name for themselves. One by one, Henry came up with missions for the group. Their missions included things such as breaking records and solving mysteries. Each adventure had its fair share of difficulties such as tiger encounters and diapers in the face, but nothing stopped the trio. Along the way, the boys h...more
Denise Dykstra
If you are looking for a fun book to read aloud to your boys, look no further than this book.

Recommended to me by a friend, it was an easy choice to read since my oldest son is a Gary Paulsen fan.

While this book may be a great read for any boy, reading it aloud to my boys was such fun! We laughed at all the funny parts and whenever I glanced up from reading, they were enthralled, hanging on every word. Their giggles were my favorite part of this book.

The book follows three boys as they try to b...more
Leo
I recently finished Gary Paulsen's (very humorous) Masters of Disaster. It is about a group of kids who have, well, a limited amount of common sense. They are really just, as the title suggests, masters of disaster. After first trying to break a world record by biking off a roof into a trash can full of baby diapers, they figure out they need to do some more interesting things with their life. Paulsen makes the boys a perfect match for each other. One a daredevil, one a man with a maybe not s...more
Lucia
This is one of the funniest Gary Paulsen books I have read! It was laugh-out-loud funny. I tried reading it to my sons and didn't think they were listening, but found out later that they could recite the parts I read to them. Now I am concerned they will try to ride their bike off the roof!

Three boys, with one clearly in charge, decide to make their life more exciting by trying crazy stunts to get them into a world record book. Henry is the brains, Riley is the secretary and Reed, well, Reed is...more
Afton Nelson
I wish someone would publish my book with no plot, but I guess when your name is Gary Paulson, regular writing rules don't necessarily apply. Not that this book isn't fun and entertaining. It's just a bunch of chapters strung together about 3 boys who come up with different extreme stunts to pull off. Well, one boy thinks of the stunts, another records the details of the stunts and blogs about it, and the third kid is the schmuck who gets roped into actually doing the stunts--each one dragging h...more
Austinhunter
I really liked this book. I like these books that have a lot of stuff in them or that don't really have any boring parts in them and this is one of those books. This book is full of things a dare devil would do. I also like it how it is three average kids doing this, and they are actually pretty smart. I also like it how they only think positively and never think of the bad thing that could happen when they are doing something that could result in injury. I think it is weird how one of the boys...more
Marie
Do you know an upper-elementary/middle school boy who isn't wild about reading? Give him this book! Gary Paulsen once again writes the hilarious misadventures of a small group of boys. Henry is the idea man, whose flair for the dramatic creates life-threatening deeds of daring-do. Riley is the scientist, always prepared for anything. And Reed...usually ends up in some sort of doody. Each chapter is an adventure, so this book can be read in small segments. All around great fun!
Carol Owen
I grew up with four older brothers, and so this humor was right up my alley, yes, even all of the doody references. I read it with a group of fourth grade students to introduce them to Gary Paulsen, and they LOVED it. And I loved it yesterday with some of them came in to class and said, "Guess what! We looked in the library and there were lots of Gary Paulsen books!" In their hands were their new choices...more flames ignited...I'm beginning to feel like a pyromaniac!
Richelle
Off the "New Books" shelf at the library is where I picked up Masters of Disaster. I knew the author, Gary Paulsen, from Hatchet so I thought I'd see what the latest from him is like. I'd say the book is for boys grades 3-5 and maybe a little older depending on their interests. There are three friends who go through self-created adventures like crazy bike stunts, scientifically examining the contents of school dumpsters, staying in the woods overnight survival-style with no supplies and more. No...more
Megan
Usually when I start books where I can't stand the characters, I put the book down. I kept reading this book because it is in both the elementary and junior high book competition. It's in both competitions so it must be good, I kept telling myself.

This book is about a boy who decides to have adventures with his friends. The first adventure is to drive a bike off of a three story house, and somehow the child didn't die or even have major injuries.
Katie I
This is another book in Gary Paulsen's latest group of short, fun novels. I truly enjoyed this book! It involves three boys in Cleveland who decided they need adventure to live a more exciting life and maybe get the attention of some cute girls. The characters are unique and their adventures are entertaining. The writing isn't Newbery winning but I am pretty sure it will win the hearts of 4th and 5th grade boys!
Alyssa
Another book Brooklyn is supposed to read. This one wasn't bad. It was about 3 12 year old boys who think life is too boring so they create their own adventures. I reminded me of the Great Brain series. It is short and kids would find it pretty funny. I would say the target audience would be 3-5 grade boys. They would love this book & get a lot of the humor, which as a mother, was not quite as funny to me.
Erik
As you'd expect for the title, this book is about action, adventure, and primarily mishaps (usually involving offensive smells). I wasn't as excited about this book as I'm sure boys in 4th-6th will be, but I can appreciate that there was a good progression to the story with a little humor to make sure the kids keep having a good time reading it. Should be an easy book to direct kids (especially boys) to.
Angela
I didn't finish this one--not my thing. Think Jackass for 8-11 year old boys with plenty of grossology and potty humor. The audiobook editor also had one of the characters sounding eerily like the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz which threw me off in trying to listen to it. Not for me but fans of Captain Underpants would probably LOVE it. Paulsen indicates that it's the beginning of a new series.
April Suter
Henry, Riley and Reed are going to have An Amazing Occomplishment to Get Everyone's Attention. The three boys want to break a record, stop the bully or just get girls to look their way.
This is a perfect read for guys (or girls wanting to laugh) in Paulsen's style of getting what the boys are thinking about in their head and writing it on the page.
102 pages
Joenna
Twelve-year-old Henry's grand adventures spell disaster for best chums Riley and Reed, who always seems to land in a pile of "smelly goo."

I LOVED this book! A quick read and will be great for boy reluctant readers that are older (5th grade and up). I'm really enjoying Gary Paulsen's books more and more.
Luanne Hatcher
I couldn't believe this book was a Gary Paulsen book. It was unlike any of the books I've read that were written by him. The adventures in this book were taken out of boredom, but were quite silly instead of being "adventurous." Its A.R. reading level is 6.5. It is appropriate for young readers.
John Worthington
I love Gary Paulsen books and this book doesn't disappoint the reader. This is a story of three friends and their antics. One friend is the instigator, another the recorder, and finally the third friend is the guiena pig. You can read this a chapter at a time and laugh the whole time.
Mr. Norman
This book is a great read for boys in 5th grade. These three friends continually like to create crazy ways of trying to do dangerous things. (Things you would know better than to try...) Very funny and well written, by one of my favorite authors, Gary Paulsen.
B
Very funny book of three boys who in their quest to distinguish themselves, and hopefully attract girls, have several "adventures" which end up as the title suggests. This is the third book I've read by Gary Paulsen that ends on p. 101. Very sneaky of him.
B
-Not great literature but a great book for boys in grades 4-6
-Funny - sometimes laugh-out-loud hilarious
Three friends:
Henry,the mastermind
Riley, the researcher/recorder
Reed, the fearful who ends up in the thick of the misadventures
Cloie
We read this book on a car trip with the kids and we were laughing the whole time! Great boy book but even my 12 year old girl was snickering. Dirt, diapers, trash and experiments gone wrong. Very witty even for an adult reader to endure.
Kevin Miller
Not really what I would have expected from Paulsen. I was preparing for a great set of adventures and excitement but it turned out to be a bit too fast paced, filled with forced humor, and lacking in development. Very predictable.
Christina
This book was a quick and easy read. I really enjoyed the voice of Reed. I could picture him and his friends easily. The adventures were clever and funny. I will encourage my students who enjoy humor books to give this one a try.
Mary
This series of short stories revolves around three boys that make it a point to find adventures which often gets them into trouble. Sometimes I love Gary Paulsen, but this time I just liked him.

Sasquatch nominee 2013
Beth
Adventure is what the main characters crave. With one in charge of the plans, one to write the report and one to do the crazy stunts, they have quite a team. And when the book ends summer is about to begin!
« previous 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 14 15 next »
There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »
Masters of Disaster (Hardcover)
Masters of Disaster (Paperback)
Masters of Disaster (Audio CD)
Masters of Disaster (Hardcover)
Masters of Disaster (MP3 CD)

18
Although he was never a dedicated student, Paulsen developed a passion for reading at an early age. After a librarian gave him a book to read--along with his own library card--he was hooked. He began spending hours alone in the basement of his apartment building, reading one book after another.

Running away from home at the age of 14 and traveling with a carnival, Paulsen acquired a taste for adve...more
More about Gary Paulsen...
Hatchet (Brian's Saga, #1) Brian's Winter (Brian's Saga, #3) The River (Brian's Saga, #2) Brian's Return (Brian's Saga, #4) Brian's Hunt (Brian's Saga, #5)

Share This Book

Your website