The Beet Fields:Memories of a Sixteenth Summer by Gary Paulsen 3 stars

[Rachel N.]

Narrated by a nameless 16 year old boy who runs away from home when his alcoholic mother tries to molest him. He ends up thinning beets on a farm, the first of several jobs he holds in the story. Towards the end of the book the book changes from farm work to being about carnies, kind of an abrupt switch. I'm not sure how much of the book was autobiographical. I read this solely because I needed a book set in North Dakota and didn't want to read anything too long. It was an okay book but nothing special in terms of coming of age books.