LawnBoy

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

The nameless narrator that is Lawn Boy is on a mission to make money to buy a new bike inner tube. His grandmother gave him a riding mower for his birthday and thus begins his new business. When he becomes acquainted with a local stockbroker, Arnold, he learns how to make his business GROW! Arnold and Lawn Boy begin investing the money and readers are taken on an economic journey.
 * Summary:**


 * Grade Level:** 4-7
 * Reading Level:** 4.3

If only my econ class could have been simplified so! This is a great introduction for students to begin learning about what happens in the stock market and how the economy works. I would read this with my students before heading out to Young AmeriTowne or even to older kids learning about the economy. It could also be a great read for a math class playing the Denver Post's "Stock Market Game."
 * Curriculum Connections:**

Tucked deep within a lesson in economics is an actual young adult story, or so Paulsen would have readers believe in this story of a young boy who receives a riding lawn mower from his grandmother for his twelfth birthday. Before long, the nameless narrator is befriended by a neighborly stocks expert, who invests his money in coffins. From there, it is all good as the narrator's money doubles, triples, quadruples to the point where he owns his own fighter, named Joey Pow. There is not very much to the story beyond that. As the money accumulates, so do the problems, such as dealing with an extortionist named Rock, but at under one hundred pages, this book is a trifling at best. It would have been more interesting and realistic to read about a kid struggling to keep his lawn business afloat all summer, with hilarious results, but that is not the story Paulsen is telling. Nor does he make much effort to go anywhere most readers are anxious to follow. A typical chapter heading is "Economic Expansion Combined with Portfolio Diversification." A fun mental image is to picture this book as a how-to bible in the hands of some diehard young entrepreneur, but in reality the only ones who are going to be eager for the book are economics teachers salivating over the chance to meet their students halfway.--Matthew Weaver.
 * Voice of Youth Advocate Review 2008: (from Mackin)**