My Side of the Mountain

Adventure

First published: 1959
Print length: 177 pagesPuffin Books, 1991

Newbery Medal for Newbery Honor, 1960

Description

Twelve-year-old Sam Gribley leaves his family’s crowded New York City apartment to seek independence in the Catskill Mountains. Although he studies wilderness survival beforehand, he initially discovers that his skills are insufficient. A woodsman teaches him to make fire, and a librarian helps him locate his family’s abandoned property. With the farm’s house gone, Sam survives by gathering plants and trapping animals while preparing for winter. He studies falconry, takes a peregrine chick, and names her Frightful. Bando, a lost English professor, stays with him briefly and offers practical help. The narrative opens during a blizzard, with Sam sheltering in a treehouse alongside his falcon and a weasel.

Reading profile

About this profile

Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).

Writing: How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas: How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure: How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge: Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity: Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.

Writing style

Descriptive · Direct

Pace

Moderate

Tone

Atmospheric · Earnest · Hopeful

Structure

Nonlinear

Focus

Character · Plot · World

Emotional intensity

3 / 5

Reading complexity

1–5 · higher means more demanding

Writing: 2 / 5
Ideas: 2 / 5
Structure: 2 / 5
Background knowledge: 1 / 5

Themes

Coming of ageCommunityFreedomNature and environmentSurvivalTransformation

About Jean Craighead George

Jean Craighead George was an American nature writer whose career encompassed more than one hundred books for children and young adults, along with an autobiography and guides to wild foods. A former Washington Post reporter and member of the White House press corps, she brought a journalist’s clarity to fiction grounded in close observation of landscapes, animals, and practical skills. Her best-known novels place young people in environments they must learn to read: Sam Gribley builds an independent life in the Catskills in the Newbery Honor book My Side of the Mountain, while Miyax studies the behavior of an Arctic wolf pack to survive in the Newbery Medal-winning Julie of the Wolves. George’s direct, descriptive storytelling treats knowledge of the natural world as both a discipline and a form of relationship. Her range extends from the animal-centered Frightful’s Mountain to There’s an Owl in the Shower, where conservation protections collide with a logging family’s livelihood. Across these works, environmental questions emerge through concrete choices rather than abstract instruction.

Book details

For the print edition listed above.

Publisher: Puffin Books
Language: English
ISBN: 9780140348101

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