Hope the summer is winding down nicely for you. Time to RAMP UP for the school year. We're right around the corner from the birth of my first born,
Say, "hello," Smalls!
which means I've been knitting and nesting and not reading too much.
My pregnant brain just can't handle it. What I can, handle, though, is adorably tiny objects like puppies and this cutest and smallest of baby pineapples:
I am thrilled bout this. If Smalls is a girl, her name will be Magdalene Thérèse.
I've never even read anything by Jane Austen, but I do enjoy movie versions of three of these books, so I think I'm in for a treat. Not sure when I'll read them, though. I still want to keep it light for right now.
So, I'm picking my way through some of my husband's childhood favorites. I thought I had read this one, at least the title was familiar to me, but once I got into it, the story was unfamiliar. I'm really glad he suggested it. It's a great survival story. And you know how I love survival stories.
Onward! I'm going to keep this review a little bit more monosyllabic than normal because, you know, I'm tired and pregnant, and even juvenile lit makes me exhausted. Ugh.
My Side of the Mountian by Jean Craighead George
177 Pages, Reading time: about 1 day
Back cover reads: "I am on my mountain in a tree home that people have passed without ever knowing that I am here."
Sam Gribley is tired of living in a crowded Ne York City apartment, so he runs away to the Catskill Mountain wilderness to forge a life of his own. With only a penknife, a ball of cord, an ax, $40, and some flint and steel, he must rely on his igenuity and on the resources of the land to survive. And survive he does. This is Sam's fascinating accoutn of his life in the wild and what he learns about the wilderness--and himself--in the process.
Initial Reaction: This is an awesome book! I'm really glad I read it. I might even like it more than hatchet. I really enjoy how George includes drawings, maps, and other helpful things so we can get a better experience of what Sam is going through. The only thing that I don't particularly like is that he "runs away." It's not really out of malice or (much) dissatisfaction with his home life, it's just that he wants a peaceful, simple life; and his parents actually let him go for it. I get that, and totally want it, too. We've thought more than once about going completely off the grid. And believe me, the irony is not lost on me as I sit here tack-tack-tacking away on my laptop.
Promote Virtue? Yes wow. Fortitude, Courage, Temperance, Prudence, parental obedience (at the end), and a lot of other ones.
Transcendentals? While Truth, Goodness, and Beauty are not the focus of this work, they definitely come through the grand cathedral of nature.
Overcome human condition? I'm not particularly sure how to answer this time around. We definitely see the struggle between man and nature, which is external, but Sam really has no internal struggles besides loneliness, and we don't really see that until near the end of the book. I think that this book does a great job of describing how simple it is to overcoming worldliness and consumerism. However, the novel does take place in a simpler time (during the 50s), when 16-year-olds were a bit more mature, responsible, and self-reliant than they are now. Hah.
Attitude toward Catholicism? NA
Paganry? Nope
Swearing? None
Violence? No.
Appropriate age? The protagonist is 15 or 16, I think but this would do well for any kid 10 years+, particularly boys. After all, what kid doesn't want to live in a tree house?
Writing Style: Thoughtful, engaging, simple, descriptive, intriguing.
Notable Quoteables: Didn't record any, but written well.
Great words: Nothing too difficult, but the vocabulary wasn't rudimentary, either.
Final Summation:
A great wilderness survival story for any kid. It would make a great read-aloud, and I can't wait to give it to my kids. One of my new faves. This one is most certainly
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