Gary Paulsen Timeline and Summary

•  Back
• More 

• Paulsen moves to the Philippines to live with his parents. He rescues a dog, Snowball, who was being raised for meat.
• Paulsen and Snowball spend their days exploring the Philippines, which was recovering from World War II.
• One day, walking along a trail, a snake tries to attack Paulsen. Snowball kills the snake and saves his life.
• Snowball dies before the family can bring him back with them to the U.S.
• At 13, Paulsen meets Ike. They hunt together every day, even though Paulsen has no idea where he came from.
• One day, Ike doesn't show up for their hunts anymore. Paulsen worries that he died.
• A few years later, Paulsen's living in the basement of his apartment building, trying to avoid his alcoholic parents. He has to fend for himself, paying for all his own food and clothes.
• He has several jobs around town so he can support himself. He works in the bowling alley setting pins and sells newspapers in bars late at night.
• One problem: a local gang is always stealing Paulsen's money. Those jerks.
• That is, until Dirk the bodyguard comes into Paulsen's life. Dirk follows him around down and throws down on all his enemies.
• During his teenage years, Paulsen works on farms in the summer. He meets Rex, a hard-working collie.
• Fast-forward to Paulsen's adult life. He's living in the Colorado Mountains with his wife, child, and a tomcat named Arnie.
• A Great Dane, Ike, moves in. He's huge and hilarious. After some years, he dies.
• Though Paulsen's adult years are a bit jumbled in later chapters, we know for sure that Cookie the sled dog saved his life in 1980.
• Also, at 43, Paulsen meets a veteran who turns out to be Ike's owner. Finally, Paulsen learns what happened to Ike: he returned to his owner when the man got back from a year in combat. Mystery solved.
• In Minnesota, he lives with a dog named Fred and a pet pig (named, aptly, Pig).
• In Alaska, he picks up a new mutt: Quincy. Quincy saves Paulsen's wife from a bear attack.
• Finally, in 1998 (when the book was written), Paulsen sits with Josh, his 20-year-old collie. Together, they reflect on a life well lived. The book ends here.