My Side of the Mountain

Title: “My Side of the Mountain”

Author: Jean Craighead George                                                               

Genre: Adventure                                                                          

Publisher: Penguin Group           

Copyright Date: 1991

Pages in Book:

Reading Level: 4-6

Summary: A young boy named Sam Gribly decides to run away to his grandfather’s farm on Catskills Mountain, to prove that the Gribly family is TO a land family and not a sea family. After hitching rides from various people, Sam reaches his destination. Once there, he catches fish, goes to the library to find the place where his grandfather’s land is, and helps an old lady pick strawberries. He goes in search of his grandfather’s land, and finds bits and pieces left of the foundation. He builds himself a home out of a hollowed out tree trunk. He goes in search of a falcon, taking a baby chick. They grow attached, and he begins to train Fearless (the falcon). He overcomes several obstacles, and at the end of the story Sam and his family are reunited together on their grandfather’s land.

Reaction: I thought it was a good book, but it was rather hard for me to get into. It wasn’t until about ¼ of the way in the book that my attention was captured and I was able to follow along rather well.

Recommendation: I would do as the author recommended and say that children from the grades of fourth to sixth grade would be able to enjoy this book more than others. They are in that experimental age, and most of them like to go out into the nature and explore new things.

Potential Problems/Conflicts: Like I said before, the main problem that I had with the book was that it was rather hard to get into. That and I’d be scared of giving it to a child that would have already had thoughts of running away. I feel like this book makes it sound like its acceptable to run away from home and that there won’t be any consequences.