The Transall Saga

• Genre: Fiction; Young Adult fantasy/science-fiction (dystopian)
• Originally Published: 1998
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 630L; Grades 7-10
• Structure/Length: 3 parts; 56 chapters; epilogue; approx. 256 pages; approx. 6 hours on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: 13-year-old Mark Harrison plans to meet his parents after hiking independently across the Magruder Missile Range, but instead, he is suddenly transported to what he believes is an alien world with various dangers.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Violence; enslavement; race and bigotry mentioned as reasons for discord and conflict; war, including nuclear war; epidemics; apocalyptic events

Gary Paulsen, Author

• Bio: 1939-2021; born in Minnesota; struggled in school as a child, but grew to love reading; on the path to becoming a successful writer, worked in hunting and trapping and took up dogsled racing; after serving in the US Army, became a corporate aerospace field engineer; became a writer of adult fiction, nonfiction, and plays, but most well-known for his young adult stories of nature, survival, and coming of age; awarded Newbery Medal Honor citations for Dogsong (1985), Hatchet (1986), and The Winter Room (1989)
• Other Works: The River (1991); Winterdance (1994); Brian’s Winter (1996); Woods Runner (2010)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• Survivalist Courage and Intuition
• Creating a Safe Home in an Adversarial Setting
• Discovering Friends and Foes