Lawn+Boy

Catherine Helgesen LIC 552 September 22, 2012 Adolescent Novel Wiki

Paulsen, G. (2007). //Lawn boy.// New York, NY: Yearling Books.

//Lawn Boy// is the story of a twelve-year-old boy (no name is given, so we will refer to him as Lawn Boy) who thinks he is going to have an ordinary, boring summer break. But when his grandmother gives him an old riding lawnmower for his birthday, everything changes. Lawn Boy’s first ride on the mower starts out bumpy and awkward, but soon he gets the hang of it and starts cutting grass. When he finishes, a neighbor approaches and wants to pay the boy to cut his grass. Soon he has several lawns to cut and the money starts rolling in. Lawn Boy meets a stockbroker, Arnold, who needs his lawn cut, but has no cash to pay him. Arnold offers to invest the Lawn Boy’s money in the stock market in exchange for lawn-cutting services, to which he agrees. The demand for Lawn Boy’s services continues to grow to a point where he cannot keep up, so Arnold introduces him to Pasqual, who has a crew of workers eager to be employed by Lawn Boy. Very quickly, Lawn Boy finds himself running his own business and learning about capitalism and the law of supply and demand. Many adventures and mishaps ensue. Arnold continues to invest Lawn Boy’s money in the stock market with much success and by the end of the summer, he has accumulated more money than he could have ever imagined.
 * Summary**

This story is a well-written tale of a young adolescent boy who heads out on a very exciting, yet educational journey through his summer break. Like most adolescents, the boy has plenty of curiosity and is eager to learn new things. I think a young adolescent reading this book will be quickly drawn into the story with much enthusiasm to continue reading, especially since it is written from the perspective of the boy. The fact that the story is a fantasy about making lots of money is also certainly appealing for a young boy. There are many action-filled moments when there is some risk-taking and danger involved. These are all features that adolescents will enjoy in this novel. Paulsen builds up this boy as a respectful young man who is trusting of the adults he encounters. This book is full of relevant, real life lessons for young adolescents.
 * Critique**


 * Interdisciplinary Connections**

Math – the novel is abundant with math calculations.
 * Math teachers could have students identify the math and explain it in their own words and show the calculations
 * Math can be integrated with the ideas presented in the other content areas below

Science –
 * students could study the mechanics of a lawn mower – how does it move? How does it cut grass?
 * Students could grow grasses of different varieties and make observations about speed of growth factoring in the effects of sun and rain – Math could be integrated here by having students devise a plan for a lawn cutting schedule by factoring in growth rates of grass, size of lawns, speed of lawn mower, etc

Social Studies – the novel covers many concepts for economics
 * Students could study the stock market and learn about changing stock values
 * Students could learn about capitalism and what it takes to make a business successful

Language Arts
 * Every chapter title in the book uses economics and capitalism terminology - students could be asked to research and report on these concepts

Art
 * Students could be asked to draw pictures to illustrate moments in the book that were exciting or appealing to them