Have you ever wondered what it would be like to hide out in the woods and live by your own rules? Both of the books reviewed this week feature characters who do just that. Each book fits into this month's theme of "Family and Society" (for our 2019 Reading Challenge) in different ways.
Brenda read a book in which a family spend a lot more time together than most, and Sharon read a book in which a boy leaves his family behind to go it alone. Both books are from the Curriculum Collection (where all the best books are). If you were thinking of lining up some books for the summer break, you'll find an interesting range in Curriculum - you should check it out.
Sharon Bryan read My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George.
Apparently, every boy should try running away from home at least once. That seems to be the general consensus when Sam Gribley set off at the ripe old age of 14 to travel up to the Catskills and live on the site of Great-Grandfather Gribley's failed farm (now a forest). There are many times when our young hero encounters some sort of genuine adult who takes one look at him and says "Well, good luck with that - I'll be waiting here for when you change your mind."
But he doesn't change his mind. Armed with plenty of book learning (he picked up a lot from reading books from the New York Public Library), Sam manages to pull together a heck of a lot of woodsmanship really quickly, and manages to not only survive but thrive in his forest - picking up a pet falcon and making friends with a weasel and a raccoon. He builds a home in a tree, makes clothes out of deerskin, works out how to hunt, fish and forage for non-poisonous vegetation... Quite frankly, he doesn't need his family or civilised society (just maybe a bit of human company occasionally).
I'm pretty sure this is every kid's dream at some point - to get out of a stifling home situation and find a place where you can prove your worth without having to answer to anyone. A chance to have some genuine agency: living off your wits and finding that your wits are up to the challenge. Although I do wonder if "kids these days" share that fantasy, or if the thought of being without power and WiFi is less appealing (probably more "terrifying").
It's a cracker of a book and I thoroughly recommend it, although it's a bit of a "Boys' Own Adventure". I do wonder how the story would play out differently if the protagonist was a 14 year old girl. Perhaps I'll find out in Julie of the Wolves?
Fiction, An author I haven't read before, 810 GEO Curriculum Collection
Brenda read a book in which a family spend a lot more time together than most, and Sharon read a book in which a boy leaves his family behind to go it alone. Both books are from the Curriculum Collection (where all the best books are). If you were thinking of lining up some books for the summer break, you'll find an interesting range in Curriculum - you should check it out.
Brenda Carter read Tuck
Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
Have you ever wanted to live forever? Would you want to live
forever… with your family? In Tuck
Everlasting, a family has unknowingly drunk from a spring that grants them
immortality. The family has split into two groups, reuniting every year for a
short time to drink again from the well and spend time together. It is during
one of these periods that Jesse, the younger son, meets 10-year old Winnie
Foster. On the verge of running away from home, Winnie finds the Tucks’ gypsy
lifestyle idyllic, however Winnie is not the only one to discover the Tucks’
secret.
The novel packs intrigue, suspense and romance into a small
package, woven together with beautiful lyrical descriptions of the natural
landscape. Babbitt explores the pros and cons of living forever through the
different opinions of the Tuck family members, but it is Winnie who must
finally choose whether to embrace immortality in order to have a future with
Jesse.
Tuck Everlasting could
be the perfect weekend or end of semester read. It might even help you see your
own family in a new light!
Fiction, An author I
haven’t read before, 810 BAB Curriculum Collection
Sharon Bryan read My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George.
But he doesn't change his mind. Armed with plenty of book learning (he picked up a lot from reading books from the New York Public Library), Sam manages to pull together a heck of a lot of woodsmanship really quickly, and manages to not only survive but thrive in his forest - picking up a pet falcon and making friends with a weasel and a raccoon. He builds a home in a tree, makes clothes out of deerskin, works out how to hunt, fish and forage for non-poisonous vegetation... Quite frankly, he doesn't need his family or civilised society (just maybe a bit of human company occasionally).
I'm pretty sure this is every kid's dream at some point - to get out of a stifling home situation and find a place where you can prove your worth without having to answer to anyone. A chance to have some genuine agency: living off your wits and finding that your wits are up to the challenge. Although I do wonder if "kids these days" share that fantasy, or if the thought of being without power and WiFi is less appealing (probably more "terrifying").
It's a cracker of a book and I thoroughly recommend it, although it's a bit of a "Boys' Own Adventure". I do wonder how the story would play out differently if the protagonist was a 14 year old girl. Perhaps I'll find out in Julie of the Wolves?
Fiction, An author I haven't read before, 810 GEO Curriculum Collection
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