Reddit reviews My Side of the Mountain (Puffin Modern Classics)

Hatchet meets My Side of the Mountain

In terms of YA lit, here are some popular titles:

Hatchet, and its companion books about a boy stranded in the Canadian wilderness.

My Side of the Mountain, about a boy who runs off to live in a tree.

The same two books remind me of The Wild Orphan where a kid raises an orphaned skunk and cougar, but I don't remember it well enough to say if it was actually survival.

I was introduced to this amazing bird at a young age when I read My Side of the Mountain. Wonderful book.

My Side of the Mountain https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0142401110/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485221815&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=my+side+of+the+mountain&dpPl=1&dpID=41GI0OcvOZL&ref=plSrch

Except for the bit where it's a middle grade novel, Newbery and everything.

Seeing as My Side of the Mountain and Island of the Blue Dolphins got their requisite mentions, I'm surprised there's no discussion of Brian's Winter, the alternate ending/sequel where he has to survive the season.

Listing these titles is also making me realize exactly how many Worthy MG Books presented around grade 4-6 focus on wilderness survival. Coinciding with Voyage of the Mimi* survival episodes in class, for that matter.

Also, the Boxcar Children are brats? D:

My Side Of The Mountain
http://www.amazon.com/Side-Mountain-Puffin-Modern-Classics/dp/0142401110

Cormier, Spinelli, Hinton, Bellairs, all awesome. I'll add Paul Zindel's The Pigman, though it's hard to remember how old I was when I read this stuff.
I think of these guys, only Bellairs is really for someone aged 10-11, all the other authors deal with subjects that may be more appropriate for someone a couple years older, but again, hard to remember what one's state of mind is at that age.
Hatchet and Jean Craighead George's My Side of the Mountain should be good for 10-11, as well.

When I was about five, my mom's brother got married about 7 hours away in the Catskills of upstate New York. I was supposed to be a ring bearer so I had to go.

Mom couldn't read in the car, so she read My Side of the Mountain onto cassette. (It was perfect because it's about the Catskills).

My cousin and I were perfectly quiet the whole time, and when we got there and there was some of the book left Dad insisted we stay in the car and finish listening.

Oh my goodness... This is my kind of contest! Even before I ever had kids of my own, reading has always been the number one priority with any children I worked with (I was a nanny).

As soon as I found out I was having a baby, I was all about the books. My baby shower was a book baby shower, asking for books instead of cards so I could start his library.

His birth announcement pictures were all about the books. His nursery is book themed (with a touch of woodland animals). Since day one, we have been reading to him and letting him read to himself. Charlie LOVES BOOKS!

Of course, all of those pictures are from when he was not able to go grab a book by himself. Now he is 16.5 months and will gladly sit and read by himself at any time of day. Even when he's supposed to get in the bath...

As you might expect, his wishlist is full of books I want to read him.

Here is a video of him last week. I was spying on him with his baby cam, and just loved his little reading process. He did this for about twenty minutes, getting books off the shelf, reading them on his chair, then putting them back. :)

I guess what I'm trying to convey is that if we won this contest, the books would be well used and well loved.

As for the other part of the contest- what books would I recommend? That is a very loaded question...

I guess, on the 3 year old end, I would recommend The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. It was actually adapted from an Oscar winning short film. It's a book about books, and the journey they can take you on throughout you life. The art is captivating, and the story is magnificent.

Moving on to the older child, I would have to recommend My Side of the Mountain. It's a classic book about coming of age and independence. I find this is a good book to gift a 8-9-10 year old reader, as it is one that will really immerse them in an adventure they want to relate to.

Since my final book would also have been "Le Petit Prince" (LOVE the French version too!), I will defer to The Giver. It seems like such a gimme, but it really is a book that every child should read.

I know books are available for free at the library, but, like you said, there is something different about owning your own. I understand if I am precluded from this contest on the grounds that we already have "enough books", but in my world, there are never enough books. Also I really wanted an excuse to share all his cute baby book wall pictures!

Thank you for this fabulous contest!

TL/DR: I'd love to enter my son Charlie in this contest. We love books! :)

Edit: format

I second the Tamora Pierce suggestion. Also definitely Gregor the Overlander! Suzanne Collin's lesser known series (she wrote Hunger Games). I recently finished reading (it's a 5-book series) and it was FANTASTIC. Just amazing. It's a YA series. The House of the Scorpion is also great, might be for your stronger readers. Eragon series is fun, and Dealing with Dragons is still one of my all-time favorite dragon books/series. Bruce Coville is a great author, and his work might be a little young but it's good to have a mix. I absolutely loved everything of his I have read, but especially Aliens Ate My Homework and the rest of that series. Most of these will appeal to the young men, hopefully.



When I was a young lady, I read pretty much anything, but I know a lot of boys like books with a boy main character. I really was a bit horse crazy, so here's some you might look into for your young ladies. The Saddle Club is a very long series about 3 girls and their horse-y adventures. It was really fun and it's great to find longer series because, if they like the first one, there's a lot to enjoy. (Oh a thought - you could always get the first one in a series, then just tell them to get the rest from the library or something, if there's budget concerns) I also liked the Thoroughbred Series and the wonderful Marguerite Henry horse books, especially the famous Misty of Chincoteague but really any of her books is a good read. My all time favorite horse series was and still is The Black Stallion by Walter Farley. Oh, how I loved that book.


There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom was fantastic the first time I read it, and I also like the "Wayside School" books which are both by Louis Sachar. Judy Blume is fun as is Beverly Cleary. Redwall gets a lot of kids into reading, you also might consider some high-level comics/graphic novels to reach a different audience. The Hobbit Graphic Novel has great illustration and I loved reading it so much when I found it one day in a store.


I found history pretty boring so avoided those books but I did enjoy The King's Swift Rider about Robert the Bruce and Scotland, might be the only vaguely historical book I remember reading around those ages. I tried to avoid mystery books more or less, but I loved Encyclopedia Brown (even though according to Amazon it's for younger ages). I enjoyed Harriet the Spy she was a pretty cool girl role-model at the time. My Side of the Mountain was absolutely fantastic and such a great adventure, though I enjoy everything Jean Craigshead George writes. I feel like Julie of the Wolves is pretty standard reading material, maybe not anymore, but what a great story. Oh my gosh, I just about forgot The Indian in the Cupboard, that was such a good story. Anything Roald Dahl is wonderful as is Jane Yolen, I especially recommend the Pit Dragon trilogy. The Golden Compass, So You Want to be A Wizard, Animorphs, Goosebumps, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Kiki Strike, Dinotopia, Song of the Gargoyle and The City of Ember.


I am sure that is way more than you need, but my mind started racing. It was hard to stop once I started -- thank you for that enjoyable tour through my past. Lots of great memories of time spent reading. Hope you find some of this helpful, at least.

My side of the mountain was a favorite of mine.

I also loved the Encyclopedia Brown books too.

I'm looking forward to my better paying, stable job in 2015!! Fewer by-the-hour projects, and I'm picking up an actual salary. My god. Salary.

Can I request two smaller items? My son's birthday is coming up in two weeks and I'd like to get him My Side of the Mountain and Hatchet which totals at $12 with Prime shipping.

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. I read this book over and over. It made me want to go to the woods and live deliberately.

Even as a man I envy the balls on this kid


http://www.amazon.com/Side-Mountain-Puffin-Modern-Classics/dp/0142401110/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397356907&sr=8-1&keywords=My+side+of+the+mountain