My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

 My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George is a book about a 12 year old boy named Tom who is unhappy living in New York City with his large family in a tiny apartment and decides to go to his grandfathers farm, upstate, in the Catskill mountains. There he learns to live off the land bravely surviving  all that Mother Nature throws his way through his wits and sheer luck.
      When he arrived at the farm he discovered it was long ago destroyed except for the foundation. He has to make a home for himself in a hollowed out tree. Initially he learned his survival skills from books he read at the library, but after arriving he realizes that his survival skills are noticeably lacking. He meets various people out in the woods and in the town nearby who help him along his journey to be self sufficient. Even living out in the woods he still goes to the library in town to read books about the things he needs to learn to survive. He befriends many forest animals and even trains a Peregrine Falcon. He observes the forest animals and takes some cues from them about finding food , and what may be poisonous.  He makes himself clothes from deer hides and insulates his tree to fortify it for the winter. In the end Sam realizes that although he really likes his life in the woods he is very lonely and craves human interaction. His father decides to build a new house and move the family to the farm so Sam will have to learn to balance his need for his family and his independence.
     I really liked this book. When I re-read it now as an adult I could not believe that his father let him go into the woods alone. Although his father believed he would return home after a few days. I am struck by how brave Sam is. I do not believe that many 12 year old children I know do this and I know that I could never have done this. (Although I remember thinking after reading this that I wanted to live in the Forrest, but only for a minute)