My Side of the Mountain

So I am going to move some of my Goodreads reviews here in order to fatten her up.  I will also try to stay on top of adding new material too, but since I have but one lone review, I think it is time to add some more.

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George was a Newbery Honor book for that year and is a pretty interesting tale.  The following review is a response to some silly people who take books for children as literal suggestions of what children should do.  Which is ridiculous, since that isn't the point.  Imagination.  Traveling and not moving an inch, seeing the world without spending a penny.  Those are the points.  Sometimes I worry about reviewers who don't seem to have an ounce of imagination or creativity in them.  How do they survive in the world?  So, the conversational tone is addressing their criticism of the book's survival story.

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People, this book was written in the late 50s, and things were a bit different back then. Trying to place it in the now does not work. Yes, there are many unbelievable parts, but it is a children's fiction book, not a survival guide.  This charming story brings me back to my youth and reading other George books.  Escaping the hustle and bustle of everyday life is something many of us imagine for a time. I know I did, judging from journals from when I was young. Thinking it is bad or stupid because of its implausibilities means you have lost your imagination and probably have no idea what some kids think about. perhaps it should not be forced on kids to read in school, but classics that won awards are always fair game. If you don't like them, write a new story that will get awards. And if you can't, then don't complain. The  Newbery (et al.) selection committee is awesome and well qualified and does an awesome job finding the top books out of hundreds or thousands published a year.

Sorry for the rant. This book is lovely and accessible to many.  Keep when it was written in context, and you should enjoy the day to day life of surviving on a mountain.