"My Side of the Mountain" and Andre Norton's "Daybreak 2250 A.D."

I read both when I was about 8 and spent the rest of that summer running the fields and woods with a Daisy BB gun, a WWI bayonet (It had to have been 2ft long) and scabbard I commandeered from my uncle's garage, a pocket knife (a genuine "Barlow"), a big blanket-covered round canteen and a pocket full of "farmer" matches.

I read this book in 3rd grade. The question is, did I read the book because I was interested in survival, or am I interested in survival because I read the book? If you can find it, it's a great read for pre-teens (or the pre-teen at heart!).

I can't Precisely Pin mine Right Down! But I would say they include the Following!, -

)All those Many and Great!, Informational and Inspiring Survival Stories!, -in Reader's Digest! Over the years! (And this entails Far More than just their regular Feature "Drama in Real Life"!

A few years ago they've finally come out with a Great Compilation in Book Form! Good and Great! But for every one that they *do* include, -Perhaps 10 to 100 had to be Left Out!

Only Solution is to have Collected them yourself over the years / Access to someone who has / Lucky if a Local Library has them / Go Cull the Flea Markets and Secondhand Stores!

)My Cub and Boy Scouts Experience, -where at least you got to Really Thinking of such Things! Over and Above what you'd normally do otherwise!

TO BE CONTINUED ON A LATER DATE! LIBRARY TIME NOW RUNNING SHORT! MY ONLY NET ACCESS. Briefly they'll involve TV / Radio / News Events / Some Direct Experience of Danger or Shortages / and My Long and Always being a Very Outdoorsy Person myself!

Hi Folks,

The book titles you all have listed bring back fond memories.
I also read Big Red, My Side of the Mountain, Robinson Crusoe and was involved in Scouting for many years as a Scout and Leader, I still occasionally refer back to my old manuals.

Other books I just thought of that I read were "Old Yeller" and "Where the Red Fern Grows" real tear jerks if you are a dog lover.

Interesting thread, funny how many of us lived a similar past.

Mike

Thanks for reminding me about Andre Norton! In my early teens I read everything by her I could find. She often incorporates the theme of the hero or heroine who is in tune with his or her environment opposed to the hi-tech bad guys who are oblivious to the "natural" world around them and are ultimately unable to cope with it when the hi-tech stuff fails. The "Time Trader" series is especially good.

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George.



Read it in elementary school and I still want to go live in a tree.

Livin' in a tree for awhile would be pretty fun.