Dancing Carl by Gary Paulsen

Dancing Carl. by Gary Paulsen. Bradbury Press, 1983. 105 pages.

Plot: The story is set in a small Minnesota town in 1958. Marsh and Willy are friends who are both twelve years old.  Life is simple, unstressful, has plenty of fun and most of the story is centered on the town’s well-used ice rink.  The outdoor rink is open for both hockey and free skating and there is a warming house where people go to put on their skates and it is attended by Carl.  Carl has a reputation around town of being a drunk (he does drink) and that he has psychological problems incurred in World War II. He doesn’t speak much and he first catches the boys attention when they see him after the ice rink has closed, out on the ice without skates, moving in what appears to be very awkward movements with arms flailing.  At first they are unsettled by this strange behavior.  They start to see other things about Carl that can be interpreted as strong and kind. He enforces rules and runs off bullies just by looking at them.  He is extremely helpful with skates and jackets for the kids at the rink.  He is mysterious, hard to categorize and in some way pathetic. The boys discover that Carl’s “dance” on the ice is a reenactment of a plane crash that only he survived in the war. A new lady begins skating at the rink and Carl seems to begin a transformation out of sadness in much the same way he seemed transformed when He dances on the ice. All the time the boys are secretly pulling for Carl to be better.

Review/Personal thoughts:  I will always have a soft spot in my heart for humans triumphing over their hardships and I was pulling for Carl right along with Willy and Marsh.  Tolerance and acceptance, a new way of looking at people, war, loss and love are themes Paulsen explores in Dancing Carl.  My hope is that tweens will embrace the lives of Willy and Marsh and come to see Carl for the positive human being that he is.

Genre: Fiction

Reading Level: 7.1 Interest level: Ages 11 to 14.

Awards: Best Books for Young Adults, 1983; American Library Association YALSA