Really crazy stunts in this one. I often thought of Jack Gantos' [b:The Trouble in Me|23310664|The Trouble in Me|Jack Gantos|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1426512839s/23310664.jpg|42864790] while I was reading it because that one's full of unbelievably dangerous shenanigans, too.

We read this for my children's book club and the kids loved just rehashing all the insanity. We talked about why people do crazy stuff. ( )

The book is about a 13 year old boy named Carl and he did a lot of crazy things. One of the crazy things he did was to try to break the speed record on skis; he had to go seventy-four miles an hour to break the record. There were no hills that would allow him to get to this speed, so he decided to use a car. Another crazy stunt was peeing on an electric fence and getting electrocuted and ended up doing a backflip. This is biography is humorous retelling of these crazy stunts that lead to Carl never being called Carl, agin but instead Angel.
Classroom:
This would be a fun read aloud, as it is a very funny book. Depending on age, might have to have a discussion as to how dangerous these stunts really were and that possibility of injury.

Booktalk: Before I tell you about this book, I must warn you: Do not try this stuff at home. In fact, there will be a lot of things that you're going to read about that sound exciting, that might even be fun. But don't be fooled: the crazy stunts you're going to read about could get you seriously hurt or even killed. So what are these crazy stunts? Well it all starts when 12-year-old Gary reads an article called "Fools Who Shoot the Falls" which tells about several men who tried to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Though almost all of them died...it sounded like a pretty cool idea! (Read from last para of p. viii "and so I found" through the end of page ix, "and I would gain fame only as the first boy stupid enough to drown in a barrele.") Miraculously, the barrel is caught up in the current and lifted to the edge of the dam, dropped off the edge to fall the 12 feet below where it hits a river below where it hits a sharp rock, breaks into pieces, and leaves our hero stunned and with a bloody nose, but still alive. Think that's the end of the crazy stunts? Of course not! But if you ever come across an empty refrigerator box and three full-force M-80 firecrackers...just leave them alone.

Audiobook as narrated by Patrick Lawlor is even funnier than reading it!

Great guy books, lots of crazy stunts. Pair this with Harris and Me by Paulsen for a fictional account of some crazy stunts, or with King of the Mild Frontier by Crutcher for another ya author's crazy childhood. ( )

Great guy books, lots of crazy stunts. Pair this with Harris and Me by Paulsen for a fictional account of some crazy stunts, or with King of the Mild Frontier by Crutcher for another ya author's crazy childhood. ( )

Great guy books, lots of crazy stunts. Pair this with Harris and Me by Paulsen for a fictional account of some crazy stunts, or with King of the Mild Frontier by Crutcher for another ya author's crazy childhood. ( )

Extremely funny - I laughed out loud several times and read several sections to friends and family. Not something I would have been likely to pick up if it weren't for class. I've been told this is great for junior high read-alouds and I can see why this would work so well for that. ( )

This has to be my favorite children's book! It is laugh out loud funny. Gary Paulsen is the best. I always recommend this book to boys who don't know what to read. ( )

Paulsen, Gary. 2011. How Angel Peterson Got His Name: And other outrageous tales about extreme sports. Read by Patrick Lawlor. Brilliance Audio.
(2 hours, 10 minutes)

By its cover art, this appears to be a juvenile chapter book. It's not. It's Young Adult nonfiction. Read on ...

Think of all the America's Funniest Videos shows that you've seen featuring crazy stunts performed by teenage boys. Imagine similarly crazy stunts performed in the wilds of 1950s and 1960s Minnesota (Bungee jumping anyone? All you need is a barn roof, a pulley and a truck tube!) Now imagine those stunts in the printed or spoken word. And finally, imagine them with a long and humorous "set-up" by the funny and talented Gary Paulsen. Now you've got the gist of How Angel Peterson Got His Name.

First published in 2003, released this year in audiobook, How Angel Peterson Got His Name is a young adult book and a memoir of sorts. I say "of sorts," because in it, Paulsen shares stories of his boyhood (and a wild and reckless boyhood it was!), but in each of the hilarious anecdotes, Paulsen is not the star player, but a member of the supporting cast. He is the one waxing the skis for the skiing speed record attempt (Who needs a hill when you've got a V-8 engine to assist?). He is the one hoisting the WWII surplus parachute into the air for what could arguably have been the first hang-gliding attempt. He is the one who is not(?) peeking under the canvas flap to see the circus "hoochie coochie" women.

Award-winning narrator, Patrick Lawlor, does a superb reading of How Angel Peterson Got His Name. Despite being many years younger than Paulsen, listening to Lawlor is like sitting at the foot of a beloved uncle (dads don't tell these kinds of stories) while he spins yarns about the past.

At 72 years young, Gary Paulsen has seen many changes in his life. Listeners may find a few tidbits from the book to be shocking, such as the accidental electrocution of many a curious cat, when televisions, with their super-charged vacuum tubes were first introduced. Or young boys using "live pucks" for hockey practice. (Paulsen mentions cats or chickens) While the past sometimes seems more glamorous or exciting, these are the smaller things that remind us that progress is good. However, some things never seem to change. I am reminded of the old adage, "boys will be boys." May it ever be so.
www.shelf-employed.blogspot.com ( )

Good for kids through about 5th or 6th grade. Best for boys. ( )

I thought that it was really funny how they accidentally put wax on the skis thinking that they would go faster and then they realized that the wax was going to slow the skis down. I was also trying to figure out why he always had his thumb up. even after he broke the record adn then he got really cold. This book also makes me LOL. ( )

This book is a humorous autobiographical account of the escapades of thirteen year old Paulsen and his friends--- a great book of short stories for reluctant readers. The setting for these nonfiction short stories is northwestern Minnesota before television, video games, cell phones and internet---a time when money was short, but imaginations were tall. One story is about Paulsen securing himself in a pickle barrel to “shoot the falls”---a twelve foot drop that almost killed him. Another story is about Paulsen’s cousin and years later Paulsen’s own son which involves them urinating on an electric fence. Paulsen’s son had not heard the story when he tried the “experiment” himself. When Paulsen asked his son if he had peed on the electric fence, his son was surprised and asked, “How did you know?” Paulsen replied, “It’s apparently genetic.” The funniest story is also the title of the book which describes Angel Peterson’s misadventure trying to break a world speed record on snow skis behind a car going eighty miles per hour! ( )

Who knew Gary Paulsen was funny? I've only read Hatchet before this book... ( )

"How Angel Peterson Got His Name" is a series of five short stories about author Gary Paulsen’s life as a thirteen-year-old boy growing up in small-town Minnesota in the early 1950’s. With nothing better to do, he and his friends Alan, Orvis, Angel and Wayne take up “stunting:” breaking the speed record on skis, attempting to jump cars on their bicycles, using an inner tube to bungee-jump from a barn loft and going over a waterfall in a pickle barrel.
The slightly-misleading mention of “extreme sports” on the cover will probably attract young readers, but the humor and fast pace of the stories will keep them hooked. Although girls may also enjoy this book, its _target audience is 'tween and teen boys who have probably tried similar stunts “just to see what would happen.”
This book would be most enjoyed by kids ages 11-14, but some older teens would probably like it, too. I can also see this being a great book for fathers and sons to read together. ( )

Author Gary Paulsen relates tales from his youth in a small town in northwestern Minnesota in the late 1940s and early 1950s, such as skiing behind a souped-up car and imitating daredevil Evel Knievel. ( )

As a young boy I once touched an electric fence on a dare. That may be stupid, but what was stupider was touching it again. Like me, Gary Paulsen has lots of stories that only boys who did stupid things would understand. I laughed and understood because I would have done or encouraged the same behavior when I was younger. ( )

I use this book in my classroom. It's a great read-aloud. Author Gary Paulsen tells about his adventures as a young teen. There are enough crazy stunts and wild adventures to keep everyone interested. ( )

Renowned children’s/YA author Paulsen offers a series of vignettes from his teenage years, all with the theme “Stupid things bored teenage boys do.”

I thought this book was fun and funny, a quick read, and the stories are surprisingly not too dated. The weakest point was the last chapter, which ends with Paulsen giving a quick list of “other stupid things we did”, some of which sound comparatively less exciting, and he kind of sounds like a rambly 12-year-old, “and then we... and then we...” Mostly well-written though. ( )

(6.9)