My Side of the Mountain

by Jean Craighead George

Overview

A NEWBERY HONOR BOOK• OVER 4 MILLION COPIES SOLD• The defining childhood classic about a boy finding his own way in the wilderness—a nostalgic book for readers young and old who have ever wanted to run away from home.

“Should appeal to all rugged individualists who dream of escape to the forest.”—The New York Times Book Review

“An extraordinary book… It will be read year after year.”—The Horn Book

Twelve-year-old Sam Gribley is terribly unhappy living in his family’s crowded New York City apartment. One day—armed with just a penknife, a ball of red cord, forty dollars, some flint and steel, and the clothes on his back—he decides to run away to his grandfather’s abandoned farm in the Catskill Mountains, to live in the woods all by himself. There, Sam must rely on his own ingenuity and the resources of the great outdoors to survive, as he discovers a side of himself he never knew existed.

Teeming with hope, adventure, and a deep search for identity, My Side of the Mountain is a timeless classic for readers of all ages who have ever wondered what it would be like to live off the land.

American Library Association Notable Book• Hans Christian Andersen Award Honor Book• Lewis Carroll Shelf Award

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780141312422
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	05/21/2001
Series:	My Side of the Mountain Trilogy Series
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	7.56(w) x 11.04(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	810L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

"I write for children. Children are still in love with the wonders of nature, and I am too. So I tell them stories about a boy and a falcon, a girl and an elegant wolf pack, about owls, weasels, foxes, prairie dogs, the alpine tundra, the tropical rain forest. And when the telling is done, I hope they will want to protect all the beautiful creatures and places."

Jean Craighead George (1919–2012) was the author of more than 100 beloved books for young people, including the Newbery Award–winning Julie of the Wolves , the Newbery Honor–winning My Side of the Mountain, On the Far Side of the Mountain, and Frightful's Mountain .  She was a lifetime naturalist and a household name. Her website can be found at www.jeancraigheadgeorge.com.

Editorial Reviews

Everyone, at some time, has wanted to run away to a place where life is natural and a person can find himself. In this saga a boy escapes from city madness and becomes a woodland survivor with the help of a falcon. His adventure is absorbing, touching, informative and completely credible. Woodman’s grasp of teenage expressiveness conveys the intensity of a young person struggling to deal with the world around him. Even the boy’s final, reluctant acceptance of human invasiveness captures the right note of a boy growing into a man. Woodman has turned a Newbery Honor book into a wonderful listening experience. S.B.S. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine

JUNE 95 - AudioFile

How wonderful that this 1959 classic is now an audiobook. Narrator Michael Crouch introduces 17-year-old New York City resident Sam Gribley as he relocates to the Catskill Mountains with only a pocketknife, a rope, $40, and a fire starter. Crouch deftly embraces the speech patterns and vocabulary of the day, and warmly describes the atmospheric setting. Since Sam is usually alone, there’s little dialogue, but his thoughts and endearing conversations with the wildlife he meets sound genuine. Listeners will particularly enjoy sharing time with Frightful, the young peregrine falcon Sam adopts, and trains to retrieve food. It’s inspiring to hear how Sam adapts to nature and uses it to clothe, warm, and feed himself and his menagerie. Vivid descriptions of the seasons, storms, and animals offer a constant “you are there” feel. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2018 - AudioFile

How wonderful that this 1959 classic is now an audiobook. Narrator Michael Crouch introduces 17-year-old New York City resident Sam Gribley as he relocates to the Catskill Mountains with only a pocketknife, a rope, $40, and a fire starter. Crouch deftly embraces the speech patterns and vocabulary of the day, and warmly describes the atmospheric setting. Since Sam is usually alone, there’s little dialogue, but his thoughts and endearing conversations with the wildlife he meets sound genuine. Listeners will particularly enjoy sharing time with Frightful, the young peregrine falcon Sam adopts, and trains to retrieve food. It’s inspiring to hear how Sam adapts to nature and uses it to clothe, warm, and feed himself and his menagerie. Vivid descriptions of the seasons, storms, and animals offer a constant “you are there” feel. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2018 - AudioFile