**Plot Summary and Characters:**
– Sam Gribley, a 12-year-old, runs away to his great-grandfather’s abandoned farm in the Catskill Mountains.
– Sam learns survival skills from a book and locates the farm after meeting Bill in the woods.
– Frightful, a peregrine falcon, is raised by Sam for hunting.
– Sam forages for food, traps animals, and raises Frightful to be a hunting bird.
– Encounters with a poacher, a professor, and his family lead to Sam’s return home.
– Dad Gribley permits Sam to leave and is surprised by Sam’s independence.
– Bill teaches Sam survival skills like fishing and making a fire.
– Bando, an English professor lost in the woods, becomes a father figure to Sam.
**Setting and Themes:**
– The story is set in the Catskill Mountains and a fictional Gribley farm.
– Key locations include Sam’s treehouse, hollowed-out trunks, and a clay fireplace.
– The wilderness provides opportunities for foraging, hunting, and learning survival skills.
– The town of Delhi, New York, and its public library play significant roles in Sam’s journey.
– Themes of self-sufficiency, independence, survival, nature, courage, curiosity, and the balance between wilderness and human connection are explored.
– Importance of family, friendship, mentorship, and living in harmony with nature is highlighted.
– Sam’s journey reflects personal growth, resilience, and the complexities of human emotions.
**Critical Reception and Impact:**
– ‘My Side of the Mountain’ receives critical acclaim for its wilderness depiction and character development.
– Reviewers praise the unsentimental treatment of nature and animals in the book.
– The New York Times hails the novel as a delightful escape from civilization.
– The book wins several awards and continues to be praised in the 1990s and 2000s.
– Many people visit Delhi, New York, looking for the fictional Gribley farm.
– Translated into numerous foreign languages by 1998.
– Listed as one of the Teachers Top 100 Books for Children by the National Education Association.
– Ranked number 77 among all-time children’s novels by School Library Journal in 2012.
**Adaptations and Series:**
– Film adaptation directed by James B. Clark released in 1969, set in Toronto and the Notre Dame Mountains, produced by Paramount Pictures.
– Sequel published in 1990, followed by three more sequels, all published by Dutton Childrens Books.
– Omnibus edition of the three novels released in 2000.
– Pocket guide to the outdoors based on the original novel published in 2009, written and illustrated by various authors.
**Additional Information:**
– Notable figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Marc Morrone credit the book with inspiring their careers.
– Criticisms include the measured tone of the narrator.
– Various citations from publications like The Washington Post and The New York Times.
– Lists of notable books and authors inspired by ‘My Side of the Mountain’.