How to Train Your Dad

Written by Gary Paulsen

A boy uses a puppy-training guide to change his dad's off-grid lifestyle, with unexpected results.

3.6/5 Goodreads · 1,026 ratings

186 pages· 32,169 words· Est. 3.5 hour read

$17.99Save 6%

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Bookroo's summary

Twelve-year-old Carl is tired of his dad's off-the-grid lifestyle, which includes dumpster diving and garage sale wardrobes. Concerned about his image at a new school, Carl finds a puppy-training pamphlet and decides to use it to 'retrain' his dad. This quirky experiment leads to unexpected chaos, challenging Carl's views on family and green living. Will Carl's plan backfire, or will it bring them closer together? Dive into this hilarious tale of family dynamics and self-discovery.

From the publisher

From the legendary author of Hatchet, a laugh-out-loud eco-friendly adventure about a boy, his free-thinking dad, and the puppy-training pamphlet that turns their summer upside down. Twelve-year-old Carl is fed up with his father’s single-minded pursuit of an off-the-grid existence. His dad may be brilliant, but dumpster-diving for food, scouring through trash for salvageable junk, and wearing clothes fully sourced from garage sales is getting old. Increasingly worried about what schoolmates and a certain girl at his new school might think of his circumstances–and encouraged by his off-kilter best friend–Carl adopts the principles set forth in a randomly discovered puppy-training pamphlet to “retrain” his dad’s mindset . . . a crackpot experiment that produces some very unintentional results. This is a fierce and funny novel about family, green-living, and untangling some of the ties that bind from middle-grade master Gary Paulsen.

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