Author | Gary Paulsen |
---|---|
Cover artist | Jennifer Jackman (photograph © Stockbyte/Getty) |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Subject | U.S. history, rifles |
Genre | historical fiction |
Publisher | Bantam Doubleday |
Publication date | 1995 |
Pages | 112 |
ISBN | 0-440-21920-5 |
The Rifle is a 1995 novel by American writer Gary Paulsen. [1] The novel is a work of historical fiction, written for a young adult audience. The story focuses on the history of a rifle crafted prior to the American Revolution, and on the lives of its various owners until the present day. Although Paulsen romanticizes the creation and the uniqueness of the rifle, the novel provides a sober reminder of the importance of handling guns responsibly. [2]
The novel begins prior to the American Revolution. A gunsmith named Cornish McManus, inspired by a piece of maple stock, crafts a rifle which turns out to be exceedingly accurate. Later, McManus is forced to sell the rifle, which comes into the ownership of a soldier in the Revolution named John Byam. After Byam's death, the rifle passes to a woman named Sarah, who stores it in an attic, where it is forgotten. The rifle passes through several owners, being lost, rediscovered, and sold as an antique. It ultimately comes to rest on the mantle of a mechanic named Harv Kline. Unbeknownst to its owner, the rifle is loaded, and the gunpowder is inadvertently ignited by a stray spark. The rifle discharges, killing the 14-year-old son of a neighbor. [1]
Kirkus Reviews described the novel as being "as shattering as the awful events it depicts", while holding appeal for readers on both sides of the gun control debate. [3]
The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while continuing to teach firearm safety and competency. The organization also publishes several magazines and sponsors competitive marksmanship events. According to the NRA, it had nearly 5 million members as of December 2018, though that figure has not been independently confirmed.
Gun politics is defined in the United States by two primary opposing ideologies concerning the private ownership of firearms. Those who advocate for gun control support increasingly restrictive regulation of gun ownership; those who advocate for gun rights oppose increased restriction, or support the liberalization of gun ownership. These groups typically disagree on the interpretation of the text, history and tradition of the laws and judicial opinions concerning gun ownership in the United States and the meaning of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. American gun politics involves these groups' further disagreement concerning the role of firearms in public safety, the studied effects of ownership of firearms on public health and safety, and the role of guns in national and state crime.
The Wine-Dark Sea is the sixteenth historical novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series by British author Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1993. The story is set during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812.
Savage Arms is an American gunmaker based in Westfield, Massachusetts, with operations in Canada. Savage makes a variety of rimfire and centerfire rifles, as well as Stevens single-shot rifles and shotguns. The company is best known for the Model 99 lever-action rifle, no longer in production, and the .300 Savage. Savage was a subsidiary of Vista Outdoor until 2019 when it was spun off.
Patriot Games is a thriller novel, written by Tom Clancy and published in July 1987. Without Remorse, released six years later, is an indirect prequel, and it is chronologically the first book featuring Jack Ryan, the main character in most of Clancy's novels. The novel focuses on Ryan being the target of Irish terrorist group Ulster Liberation Army for thwarting their kidnapping attempt on the Prince and Princess of Wales in London. It debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list. A film adaptation, starring Harrison Ford as Ryan, premiered on June 5, 1992.
Gary James Paulsen was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction, best known for coming-of-age stories about the wilderness. He was the author of more than 200 books and wrote more than 200 magazine articles and short stories, and several plays, all primarily for teenagers. He won the Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 1997 for his lifetime contribution in writing for teens.
Hatchet is a 1986 Newbery Honor-winning young-adult wilderness survival novel written by American writer Gary Paulsen. It is the first novel of five in the Hatchet series. Other novels in the series include The River (1991), Brian's Winter (1996), Brian's Return (1999) and Brian's Hunt (2003).
Dahlgren guns were muzzle-loading naval artillery designed by Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren USN, mostly used in the period of the American Civil War. Dahlgren's design philosophy evolved from an accidental explosion in 1849 of a 32 lb (14.5 kg) gun being tested for accuracy, killing a gunner. He believed a safer, more powerful naval cannon could be designed using more scientific design criteria. Dahlgren guns were designed with a smooth curved shape, equalizing strain and concentrating more weight of metal in the gun breech where the greatest pressure of expanding propellant gases needed to be met to keep the gun from bursting. Because of their rounded contours, Dahlgren guns were nicknamed "soda bottles", a shape which became their most identifiable characteristic.
The .30 Kiraly-Cristóbal Carbine, also known as the San Cristóbal or Cristóbal Automatic Rifle was manufactured by the Dominican Republic’s Armería San Cristóbal Weapon Factory.
Brian's Hunt is a 2003 young adult novel by Gary Paulsen. It is the fifth and final book in the award-winning Hatchet series, which deals with Brian Robeson, a boy who learns wilderness survival when he is stranded after a plane wreck.
A rifle is a firearm with a stock and a barrel that has a spiral groove or grooves ("rifling") cut into its interior.
The Tent is a parable by Gary Paulsen that was published in 1995. It centers on the story of a boy named Steven and his father, who create a plan to relieve their poverty by offering preaching and church services from a mobile tent throughout the Bible Timeline.
How Angel Peterson Got His Name is a nonfiction, young adult memoir written by Gary Paulsen, outlining the experiences of Paulsen and his friends during the mid-1950s.
Canyons is a novel written by Gary Paulsen. It involves two boys - one lives in modern times (Brennan) while the other is an Indian boy living nearly two hundred years ago.
The Car is a 1993 novel by Gary Paulsen.
The Ferguson rifle was one of the first breech-loading rifles to be put into service by the British military. It fired a standard British carbine ball of .615" calibre and was used by the British Army in the American Revolutionary War at the Battle of Brandywine in 1777, and possibly at the Siege of Charleston in 1780.
Along the Navajo Trail is a 1945 American Western film directed by Frank McDonald and starring Roy Rogers, Gabby Hayes and Dale Evans. The film's story was based on a William Colt MacDonald novel. The film marked the debut of the Cuban actress Estelita Rodriguez, who Republic Pictures then began to build up into a star. Its title song is Along the Navajo Trail, an instrumental version of which appears with the opening credits, with a brief vocal version during the last twenty seconds of the film. The first few bars of the song are used as background music in several chase scenes.
Assault weapons legislation in the United States refers to bills and laws that define and restrict or make illegal the manufacture, transfer, and possession of assault weapons. How these firearms are defined and regulated varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction; generally, this constitutes a list of specific firearms and combinations of features on semiautomatic firearms.
The Institute is a 2019 American science fiction-horror thriller novel by Stephen King, published by Scribner. The book follows twelve-year-old genius Luke Ellis. When his parents are murdered, he is kidnapped by intruders and awakens in the Institute, a facility that houses other abducted children who have telepathy or telekinesis.
Karen M. McManus is an American author of young adult fiction. She is most known for her first novel, One of Us Is Lying, which spent more than five years on the New York Times bestseller list. It received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. One of Us Is Lying was optioned as a pilot by NBC and the television adaption premiered on Peacock in October 2021. Its sequel, One of Us Is Next, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. For Two Can Keep a Secret, which was McManus’ first standalone novel outside of the One of Us Is Lying trilogy, Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred review and named it one of the best books of 2019.