Mr. Tucket (The Francis Tucket Books) [Paperback]

Gary Paulsen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1995 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: The Francis Tucket Books (Book 1)

Fourteen-year-old Francis Tucket is heading west on the Oregon Trail with his family by wagon train. When he receives a rifle for his birthday, he is thrilled that he is being treated like an adult. But Francis lags behind to practice shooting and is captured by Pawnees. It will take wild horses, hostile tribes, and a mysterious one-armed mountain man named Mr. Grimes to help Francis become the man who will be called Mr. Tucket.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a starred review, PW called this western adventure "a real knock 'em, sock 'em ripsnorter" with a "thrill-a-minute plot." Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 6-9. Francis Tucket is 14 years old when he strays from his family's wagon on the Oregon Trail and is captured by the Pawnee. With the help of Mr. Grimes, a one-armed trapper who maintains an uneasy truce with the Pawnee by trading them guns and ammunition, Francis escapes and spends a winter learning to survive by living off the land. The boy's admiration and respect for Mr. Grimes causes him to question his role in "civilized" society and delays his return to his family. Francis' image of Mr. Grimes is altered forever, however, when Grimes takes revenge on an old enemy with what Francis sees as unnecessary savagery. Paulsen nods in the direction of responsibility in his depiction of Native American peoples, and he gives us a fast plot and sufficient character development. Unfortunately, he wraps everything up in the final two and one-half pages, resulting in an abrupt "surprise" ending that is ultimately unsatisfying. Janice Del Negro --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Yearling (November 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440411335
• ISBN-13: 978-0440411338
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.5 x 7.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #147,034 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #12 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( P ) > Paulsen, Gary

More About the Author

Gary Paulsen is one of the most honored writers of contemporary literature for young readers. He has written more than one hundred book for adults and young readers, and is the author of three Newberry Honor titles: Dogsong, Hatchet, and The Winter Room. He divides his time among Alaska, New Mexico, Minnesota, and the Pacific.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Tucket, A book you want to read!, April 5, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Mr. Tucket (Francis Tucket Books) (Hardcover)

Gary Paulsen's Mr. Tucket is an exciting story of capture and escape, friendship, loyalty, and perseverance. If you love the romance of the Old West, you'll love this book. It keeps you on the edge of your seat, and you can't stop turning the pages.

Francis Alphonse Tucket celebrated his fourteenth birthday while traveling with his parents and little sister in a wagon train bound for Oregon. His father had secretly brought along a Lancaster rifle as a surprise birthday present. Francis loved the rifle, but he strayed a little too far behind the wagon train practicing his aim. He didn't even get to eat his birthday cake! About the time he noticed the wagon train was out of sight, a band of Pawnee Indians showed up and captured him. They fled like the wind to their village, erasing the signs of their passage so rescuers wouldn't be able to track Francis. At the Pawnee village, Francis was treated poorly, then lost hope when a raiding party came back with a doll that looked just like the one his sister had. It was at this sad time that Francis saw a white man riding boldly into the village. He was Jason Grimes, a one-armed Mountain Man. He was leading two pack horses loaded with goods to trade to the Indians for their furs. Francis was quickly exiled out of sight by the Indians, but Mr. Grimes had seen him. After a long session of spirited trading with the Indians in which he got most of them drunk, Mr. Grimes found Francis and released him, and helped him escape. Francis rode off barely holding on to a galloping Indian pony, heading for a place where Mr. Grimes said he would meet Francis.

The rest of the story is just as exciting as the beginning. Francis runs in and out of trouble, while learning how to survive in the wilderness and how to stand up for himself. Jason Grimes plays a large role in the story, but Francis is the star.

This first book is one of five in the series about Francis Tucket, so there is a lot to look forward to, and plenty of questions to be answered. Did his family make it to Oregon? Will Francis ever see them again, or will he become a Mountain Man like Jason Grimes, living off the land and trading with the Indians? You'll have to read it to find out!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mr.Tucket, March 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Mr. Tucket (The Francis Tucket Books) (Paperback)

Mr.Tucket, by Gary Paulsen, is by far his greatest book yet. It is about Francis Tucket who is in a wagon train bound for Oregon. He falls behind the train to practice shooting his new gun, and is captured by a groupe of indians. With the help of Jason Grimes (a one armed mountian man), he escapes the savages and learns the way of the mountians. There are two more sequels to this book, and I hope G.Paulsen will write another.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Tucket, June 3, 2002

By 

"prettysmartcutegirl" (Cerritos, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mr. Tucket (Francis Tucket Books) (Hardcover)

This book, Mr. Tucket, is written by my favorite author, Gary Paulsen. Gary Paulsen is a distinguished author of manybooks for young people. These include : The Winter Room, Hatchet, Dogsong, and many more which I have read most of them. This book, I enjoyed as much as I enjoyed many of Gary Paulsen's books. Also this book, Mr. Tucket, is a historical Fiction book and so many people and Indians introduced really existed ruing the 1800's.

It was around 1847. Many people from different places were heading for West, to Oregon. People traveled in groups in wagons because of Indians, and Francis Alphones Tucket is one of the many people moving to Oregon. It was his 14th birthday and he had received his first rifle. He was so happy, he wanted to practice shooting with it. But soon he was captured by Pawnees Indians. His rifle was taken by the Pawnees and he was used almost as a slave. During the stay at Pawnees village, little kids jumped on him and wrestled him. Francis found it really irritating and wanted to leave. Then he saw a white mountain man trading some stuff with the Pawnees. He only had one arm and looked very strong. Later at night, the white man came to release Francis and let Francis run on a black mare by himself. The next day, after Francis was running hard, he saw the white man and introduced himself. Mountain man, known as Mr. Grimes didn't like Francis nor the Alphones, so he called Francins Mr. Tucket.

That's how Mr. Grimes and Mr. Tucket finally met. Mr. Grimes helped Mr. Tucket to shoot and practice with the rifles. He taught Mr. Tucket to find meals by shooting rabbits, antelopes, and dears. Mr. Grimes showed Mr. Tucket the Sioux Indians. Mr. Grimes and the Standing Bear, the chief of the Sioux Village decided to have a competition of wrestling with Mr. Tucket and a one of Sioux Indian. Mr. Tucket was sure he was going to lose, but he didn't, and instead he won. He was rewarded a new black mare and was given buckskins. Then Mr. Grimes took Mr. Tucket to Spot Johnnie's house, Mr. Grimes' friend. After meeting Spot Johnnie, Mr. Grimes took Mr. Tucket to pond of beavers. It was located in Crows Indians' territory, so Mr. Grimes tried to be very careful. After few days after building a cabin near the pond of beavers, another mountain man, Mr. Grimes' friend, Jim Bridger came to the cabin and had a talk with Mr. Tucket. After killing 200 beavers, Mr. Tucket and Mr. Grimes skinned and stretched out the beavers.

When Mr. Tucket thought it was really bored, he rode his mare around the pond where he could see his own cabin. But saw 5 Crows Indians. He almost died, when Mr. Grimes shot 2 of the Indians and saved Mr. Tucket. They hurried and left the place and went to Spot Johnnie's house. Then suddenly, Mr. Grimes said in a very concerned voice that there was a bit too much smoke at the house and ran hard to the village. The buildings all burned down and many dead bodies were around. Mr. Grimes searched for a second and finally said that it was Pawnees Indians. They wanted powders from Spot Johnnie's, but they didn't have any, so the Pawnees just killed them. Mr. Grimes hurried and found some people riding wagon on road to Oregon. He told them to take care of Mr. Tucket and left for another fight with Braid, a war chief of Pawnees Indians.