My Side of the Mountain
by Jean Craighead George
Sam Gribley leaves his home in New York City to live
on his great-grandfather’s land in the Catskill Mountains.
He leaves New York in May with only a pen knife, a ball
of cord, an ax, flint and steel, and forty dollars. No one
believes that he will stay in the wilderness. When he
arrives in the mountains, he finds his great-grandfather’s
land and makes a home in an old hemlock tree. He
learns about his environment by observing the animals,
doing research in the library, and by undergoing the
processes of trial and error. He traps and forages for
food, makes his own clothes, and hunts with a pet falcon.
When winter comes, he lives on the food that he stored
during the summer months. During the year, he meets
people lost in the woods who later return to visit him.
Through his experiences in the Catskill Mountains, Sam
becomes a self-sufficient, resourceful survivor living in
the wild.