My Side of the Lawn

This morning while my children were destroying the house, I read Lawn Boy by Gary Paulson. My excuse was that I often need to pre-read books for my young but academically advanced son, and since it is Spring Break, he wants to read alot. So in a way it was good parenting.
Here is the thing that threw me off about this book initially. I knew that I recognized the author's name from something, but where? Looking inside the cover I found that he is the guy who wrote Hatchet and related books, which I have never read but look intimidating to me. I guess they look like 'My Side of the Mountain' sort of wilderness, live off the land, adolescent boy becoming own adult identity kind of thing that I just don't care for. But for the funky cover, I would have put this book back on the shelf once I figured out the author.
But I would have missed out- because this was not at all serious stressful stuff. So this book with the excellent cover art is about a 12 year old boy who spends his summer mowing lawns. I am going to let my son read it, and I think it will give him some ideas about the lemonade stand he runs sometimes- maybe he will start selling franchises or something. I was a little worried about how some of the characters would be revealed- but everyone is generally honest and good natured, and the only exception is not a surprise. Also thumbs up for the theme of adults wanting to involve the parents in the child's activities, challenges and successes. It is one of those things missing in many books today- there is just an absence of parents, or resources and the child is stuck- (think Harry Potter, it is all down to him). But this guy is a likeable sensitive guy who accomplishes a lot on his own and still manages to realize he is not alone.
Maybe I will even check out what else this guy has written, it seems it is not all intimidating.