On the far Side of the Mountain

Locations
Call Number: Y Fiction / George, Jean , Kids Book / Fiction / Action & Adventure / George, Jean Craighead
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown Kids Books 4-week checkout	Y Fiction / George, Jean	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Pittsfield Kids Books 4-week checkout	Kids Book / Fiction / Action & Adventure / George, Jean Craighead	4-week checkout	Due 04-20-2024

Sam's peaceful existence in his wilderness home is disrupted when his sister runs away and his pet falcon is confiscated by a conservation officer.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

School Library Journal Review
Publishers Weekly Review
Summary / Annotation
Table of Contents
Fiction Profile
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Run Away submitted by Smiles on August 23, 2011, 2:54pm Sam's little sister runs away, Frightful is taken away, can life be worse? Sam has to find his sister before she gets into trouble.

Frightful confiscated! submitted by unknown on April 15, 2012, 9:33am My Side of the Mountain won the Newberry Honor Book Award. My Side of the Mountain is about a boy called Sam Gribley and his peregrine falcon called Frightful. They live on the Catskill Mountains. Sam’s dad says that every boy should try running away. Sam’s dad had run away to a boat to Singapore but when a whistle for departure blew, Sam’s dad returned back home and was in bed before anybody knew he was gone. Sam is a city boy who runs to the woods because he does not like the city. It is a classic story of wilderness survival (it says so on the cover of the book). Sam goes to the woods and stays there for the rest of his life. Frightful is small bird that has sharp talons (toes) with black and white feathers. Sam takes her out of a nest because her parents left her and starts raising her when she is two weeks old. Sam tries to survive in the woods. He makes himself jackets out of dried deerskin and gets food with Frightful. He uses her to hunt. He lives in a hemlock tree, a really big old tree.

Like My Side of the Mountain, the sequel On the Far Side of the Mountain starts with a storm. It starts on a June morning two years later. Sam is thirteen years old. In My Side of the Mountain Sam had only built a bed and a fireplace. In On the Far Side of the Mountain he has a stool and a kitchen. His family came to visit him but everyone except his lively younger sister Alice departed. When Sam says that he wants to make a water mill, Alice stands with her hands on her hips not budging. He realizes that “this young lady is not planning to cry and go home tonight.” Alice can be gorgeous company but – she can also be Alice.

Sam asks if she wants to help him make it. But she says that she wants a house. With Sam’s help Alice builds herself a really good tree house. When Alice says that she wants a weather vane on the roof of her tree house Sam thinks to himself “This kid is definitely not going home soon.”

Alice is a very independent girl. She is good at fishing. Sam keeps a journal and writes about Frightful getting confiscated. This book is also about a man called Leon Longbridge, the conservation officer. He puts Frightful in the bird section of the university. He can make arrests if necessary. He can arrest people if they have birds that are endangered. Leon Longbridge does not arrest Sam because Sam did not know that he needed to have a license. Sam feels really sad and lonely because Frightful is not with him. Sam und Alice try to get her back but they can’t. There are some men other than Leon Longbridge who also arranged for Frightful to be taken away. But they had no right to do so. They were not professional falconers and they did not know much about falcons. Sam’s friend Bando calls the police and they arrest them.

Sam finds Alice sitting in a tree and she tells him that she found Frightful, cut her jesses and set her free. At the end of the novel, Sam gets Frightful back.

What I like about the book is that it is about nature. I love nature. I don’t know about you but I like books about nature because most of them tell you how to survive in nature. I like the description about the tree house because I have a tree house and I love playing in it. The book is old-fashioned and Sam uses very unusual phrases. For example, he says about Alice “This young lady.” Sam says that Frightful is a “gorgeous creature.”

In the middle of the book I felt sorry for Sam because Frightful got taken away. That was sad because she is such a beautiful peregrine falcon. Sam loves her so much and reading these books by Jean Craighead George I found my love and kindness for birds and animals and other things in nature. I think kids should get the chance to learn about nature and play outside in nature and wild because birds, plants, and animals are so wonderful. I love seeing birds at my feeder and holding them. This is a beautiful sign of nature.

I think the book is trying to tell you that in real life in the woods there are many ways to survive but you have to know the woods well. For example, you need to know about mushrooms or ticks, poison ivy, and other things. Otherwise, you are fine. You might want to take some supplies if you go hiking or something. For example a torch, a penknife, a pair of clothes, a few dollars, and a notebook or journal. Really, I think that as long as you know the woods very well you would be well off on your own. I JUST LOVE NATURE!

Sefa Agnew