My Side of the Mountain

My Side of the Mountain

• Genre: Fiction; middle grade adventure/survival
• Originally Published: 1959
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 810L; grades 5-8
• Structure/Length: 22 chapters; approximately 192 pages; approximately 4 hours and 36 minutes on audio
• Protagonist/Central Conflict: The story centers on Sam Gribley, a 12-year-old boy who leaves his family's cramped New York City apartment to live on his great-grandfather's abandoned farm in the Catskill Mountains. The plot primarily follows his self-reliant journey and survival in the wilderness as he learns to live off the land and befriends a peregrine falcon named Frightful.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Themes of isolation and survival in the wilderness; the portrayal of hunting and trapping; some dangers and challenges in the wild

Jean Craighead George, Author

• Bio: Born 1919; died 2012; prominent American author of young adult literature; extensive work centered on themes of nature and wilderness; often used her own experiences and observations in her books; contributed over 100 popular books to the field of children's literature; awarded the Newbery Medal for Julie of the Wolves
• Other Works: Julie of the Wolves (1972); On the Far Side of the Mountain (1990); Frightful's Mountain (1999)
• Awards: Lewis Carroll Shelf Award (1960); International Reading Association Children's Book Award (1961); Newbery Honor Book (1961)

CENTRAL THEMES

• The Desire for Independence
• Solitude Versus Society
• Survival and Connecting With Nature

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Develop an understanding of the social and geographical contexts of survival that incite Sam’s conflict.
• Analyze paired texts and other brief resources to make connections via the text’s themes of Independence, Solitude, and Survival.
• Plan, design, and construct visual media in the form of a field guide that conveys survival tactics based on novel details.
• Analyze and evaluate the plot and character details to draw conclusions in structured essay responses regarding nature, knowledge, and other topics.