Chapter 17 MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN

Sam Gribley: Sam is the main character in My Side of the

Mountain. He is a twelve-year-old boy who seeks a different kind

of life than the one he and his family live in New York City. He

loves nature and wants to live in the wilderness, away from other

people and material possessions. He leaves his family, intending

to make a home among the trees, the birds, and the animals that

populate the mountain. It is clear that he is a good researcher;

he has a tremendous knowledge of the land. To survive, he refers

again and again to information he has read in books. In addition

to knowing which plants and vegetables are edible and which

ones can be put to other uses, Sam has a natural ability to

understand wildlife.

Sam's independent spirit thrives on adventure. He trains a

falcon, makes a home inside a tree trunk, and cooks delicious

meals of fish, animal meat, and wild plants.

Sam's connection to the animals around him grows as he gets to

know their individual personalities. This is especially evident in

his first encounter with The Baron. "I shall never forget the fear

and wonder that I felt at the bravery of that weasel. He stood his

ground and berated me. I could see by the flashing of his eyes

and the curl of his lip that he was furious at me for trapping him.

He couldn't talk, but I knew what he meant." In this encounter,

Sam describes The Baron with the same words we would

normally use for humans. Sam's keen grasp of animal behavior

helps him understand what his animal friends want, even though

they can't speak with words.Courageous and confident, Sam almost always knows he will be

successful. Even when he doubts himself, or becomes frightened,

he never panics. He sets about solving problems efficiently and

with ingenuity. When he needs to tan the hide of a deer, he finds

inspiration in an old tree stump: "It had showered the day before,

and as Frightful and I passed an old stump, I noticed it had

collected the rain. 'A stump, an oak stump, would be perfect.'. . .

So I felled an oak . . . burned a hole in it, carried water to it, and

put my deerskin in it."

The thoughtful way in which Sam looks around as he wanders

through the woods gives him a thorough knowledge of his

surroundings. Sam's cleverness at using the natural materials

he finds helps him live better and more comfortably.

Over the course of the novel, though, Sam changes. At the

beginning, he desires complete solitude. Slowly, Sam allows some

people back into his life. Where once he would hide from anyone

who happened by his tree house, later he becomes much more

interested in interaction with other people. He seems to long for

human companionship. When he realizes this, Sam begins to

combine his old life into his new one. He questions himself

constantly. Why does he go into town? Does he want to talk to

a human being? Why doesn't he run from Matt Spell? Does he

want to be found? Has he had enough of the wilderness? Sam

has accomplished a great deal. Having ventured out on his own

and established a very special relationship with nature, he begins

to share his new world with the people he cares about.

In the end, Sam finds peace in his decision not to run from all

the attention his new life has attracted. He is happy to teach hissiblings how to live off the land. Though Sam is torn about his

father's plan to erect a real house in the woods, and he is

concerned about sharing his space once again, he is also content

to be surrounded by a family that cares enough to change the

way they live just for him.

Frightful: Frightful is a peregrine falcon that plays an important

role in the story. Sam thinks of her as a good friend and

confidante. From the start, Sam acknowledges that Frightful is a

huntress with an independent spirit, so he trains her carefully. He

does not allow her to eat her own kills. If she did, Frightful might

realize she doesn't need Sam and he would lose her to the wild.

Frightful is a fast learner. The bond that develops between the

falcon and her owner is one of the most touching outcomes of

this novel. When he first begins to sense the falcon responding

to him, Sam writes: "I looked into her steely eyes that morning

and thought I saw a gentle recognition. She puffed up her

feathers as she sat on my hand. I call this a 'feather word.' It

means she is content." Later, Frightful communicates with Sam

when she senses potential food nearby and when she senses

danger. Frightful is expressive and loyal. It is her skill as a

hunter that keeps Sam well fed, but it is her companionship

that keeps Sam from feeling too lonely or frightened.

Bando: After a case of mistaken identity, Sam learns that

his first human visitor is a professor who has gotten lost on

the mountain, not a bandit on the run from the police. Bando is

a relaxed, adventurous man who likes Sam immediately.

Bando calls Sam "Thoreau," which is a reference to thenineteenth-century writer. The real Thoreau left his town life

to make a solitary home for himself on Walden Pond in

Massachusetts and live entirely off the land—just like Sam!

Bando admires Sam for creating a wonderful home in nature. He

cares very much about Sam and is proud of his accomplishments.

Bando does not return Sam to his family in New York. On his

visits, Bando subtly makes sure that Sam is eating well, taking

good care of himself, and is content. He becomes a good friend

to Sam.

Mr. Gribley: Sam's father works hard to support a family of

eleven, and from what Sam tells the reader, we know that his

father takes time to talk to his children and encourage their

interests. It is he who allows Sam to leave home to live on Gribley

Farm. Of course, he does this thinking Sam will return the very

next day. However, when Sam doesn't return, his father doesn't

come after him right away. He has faith that Sam will be all right

and is confident in his son's abilities and in his determination

to survive.

At Christmas, when Mr. Gribley visits Sam, he has come out of

both concern and curiosity. He knows that Sam is living as he

said he would, because he has read the newspaper reports of the

"wild boy" on the mountain. Once he sees what Sam has created,

he is bursting with pride. Braving the hazardous winter also

reveals the older man's adventurous spirit. Mr. Gribley extends

his visit with Sam, partly because he has missed his son, but

also because he wants a taste of the world Sam lives in now. He

is so impressed with his son that he does not want Sam to haveto return to the life he had before. He knows that this life is the

one that makes Sam happy. When Mr. Gribley is about to leave

after his Christmas visit, he tells Sam: "I've decided to leave by

another route. Somebody might backtrack me and find you. And

that would be too bad. . . .You've done very well, Sam." He takes

a different route off the mountain in order to protect Sam from

reporters who might expose him and return him to his old life.

Mr. Gribley's actions show the enormous amount of respect and

faith he has in his son.

In the end, Mr. Gribley leads the entire Gribley family to Sam's

mountain home. This move shows that Sam's parents and

siblings are both loyal and adventurous—traits Sam shares

and displays throughout the book.reading interests, an opportunity to encourage good writing in

this field."

Each year, the librarians on the committee award one Newbery

Medal. In addition, they also recognize other books that are

worthy of attention. These books are called "honor books." The

Newbery Medal and the Newbery Honors are the best known and

most discussed children's-book awards in this country.

In addition to her Newbery Honor, Jean Craighead George has

received other awards for her books. In 1991, she was the first

winner of the School Library Media Section of the New York

Library Association's Knickerbocker Award for Juvenile

Literature. This award was presented to her for the "consistent

superior quality" of her literary works.

In 1969, My Side of the Mountain won a George G. Stone Center

for Children's Books Merit Award. This is given annually by a

committee of teachers, librarians, and children's literature

specialists for books "that have the capacity to arouse in children

an awareness of the complexity and beauty of the expanding

universe."

If all the good reviews and awards weren't enough, My Side of

the Mountain is also a favorite among teachers. Sam's adventure

in the Catskill Mountains is at the top of many schools'

recommended-reading lists.

What is perhaps most remarkable about My Side of the Mountain

is its long life. Published in 1959, this book was read widelyMy Side of the Mountain is a hit with both kids and adults.

Initially, the publisher had worried that readers would be

alarmed that Sam's parents let him go off alone into the woods,

but this received very little criticism. A few book reviewers said

that the story was far-fetched, but everyone acknowledged that

the story's themes and characters were marvelous. Jean

Craighead George has said that her only criticism from readers

was that they were disappointed that Sam's family joins him in

the end!

Book reviewers, parents, teachers, and students agree that My

Side of the Mountain encourages kids to think independently, to

apply their knowledge, to pay attention to their environment, and

to get comfortable with nature. As it was written in the New York

Times Book Review, Jean Craighead George "provokes readers to

a reassessment of their place in the natural world."

Besides receiving excellent book reviews, My Side of the Mountain

has also won many awards. The most prestigious honor it has

received was its selection as a Newbery Honor Book in 1960.

The John Newbery Medal, introduced in 1921, was the first

children's book award in the world. Its goal is "to encourage

original creative work in the field of books for children . . . [t]o give

those librarians, who make it their life work to serve children'swhen it first hit bookstores. It is impressive that today's kids are

just as fascinated by Sam's adventure as readers were some

forty-five years ago. Sam's timeless tale is sure to entertain

budding naturalists and adventure seekers for generations to

come. A reviewer from The Horn Book called My Side of the

Mountain "An extraordinary book. . . . It will be read year after

year."When she wants to write, Jean Craighead George begins

by taking a journal into nature and taking notes about

what she sees and how she feels. She wants to make sure she

accurately remembers all the details so that when she writes a

story, it is real and true. She even takes the time to sketch some

of what she sees. George comes to know the settings so well that

she is able to guide her characters in and out of believable

situations in which they must use their survival instinct and

skills. Her love of nature makes this easy: "Some books are

harder to write than others, but the books I write from love and

experience go easily. I can't wait to get up in the morning and

write. At 5 A.M. I'm off to the shower, the teapot, and mycomputer. It is quiet at that time of day, I have energy and I can

write to my heart's content."

Jean Craighead George decided to become a writer when she was

in the third grade. She and her brothers had spent weekends

camping and observing nature with their parents. After coming

home from such family outings in the wilderness, George would

write about her experiences. She has said that, at first, she only

wrote poems because she was "unable to sit still very long."

Later, in junior high school, her writing grew into longer poems

and then short stories. In college she wrote essays and, after

graduating, she wrote articles as a journalist. "Finally, at the age

of twenty-four," she says, "I took on the novel. I have been writing

novels for young people ever since."

George is fascinated by animals, their habitats, and their

interactions with people. Her experiences with nature directly

influence all of the writing she does. In fact, she says that she

has spent time in every location she writes about, and that

all her characters are based on herself or on friends, family

members, or animals she has known. "I have discovered I cannot

dream up [animal] characters as incredible as the ones I meet

in the wilderness," she says. George says that she's always

thinking, always looking out for new ideas, always taking notes

in her head. "Ideas are everywhere," she says. "Your shoes must

have been many places with tales to tell. The rain coming down

the windowpane is a tale to tell—and on and on."