Sunday Book Review

I had to tutor all afternoon today so consequently, I’m too tired to delve into a lengthy review of a psychological text. So I decided to suggest instead my all-time favorite book:


My Side of the Mountain
By Jean Craighead George
Published by Puffin in 2001 (first published in 1959)
Awards: Newberry Honor Book, ALA Notable Book, Hans Christian Andersen Award Honor Book

Note: my 1970's version had a much cooler cover...


This book tells the story of a young boy who runs away to upstate New York’s Catskill Mountains. Once he arrives he sets up house in a hollowed-out tree and learns to survive off the land. In the process he befriends a falcon and a weasel and braves a blizzard, hunters, lonliness, and even the press. Using only his wits and his knowledge of the outdoors (he occasionally sneaks down to a local library) he manages to live independently for almost a year.

I should probably admit that I was a complete sucker for this book. I grew up in the middle of a state forest in New England. Here’s a satellite picture of my “neighborhood.” (I love Google maps)


Did I mention that I used to lead confidence-building seminars?
On a high ropes course in the middle of a hemlock forest?
At a sleep away camp for kids 8-15 years old?

Yeah. So I’m a bit biased. Read the book anyway.

Postscript:
Right after I decided to write about this book, I sat down to read the New York Times Magazine. In it, I found an article that seemed somehow related. It reviews a new book “The Blessing of a Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children,” by Los Angeles clinical psychologist, Wendy Mogel. In her book, Mogel argues that parents’ overprotective tendencies can rob their children of the self-confidence and independence they need later in life. She uses parables and examples from the Torah and Jewish law to make her point.

The article references another good new book, “What Price, Privilege?” by Madeline Levine, a psychologist in Marin, CA. Just this summer, I read an interesting review of this book in the San Francisco Chronicle Sunday Magazine. Levine believes that an overinvolved parenting style has created a generation of kids with an impaired sense of self.

I'm not saying that kids have to run away from home to gain this independence, but for me, it frequently seemed like a good idea. Some (ok, almost ALL) of my happy memories from childhood involved climbing exploring vast stretches of wilderness. Because my family life was so… unlivable, I retreated into the woods on a daily basis. To this day, when I’m in the woods, I’m happy. For me, it’s the equivalent of home.