On the Far Side of the Mountain (My Side of the Mountain #2) ★★★☆☆

 

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Title: On the Far Side of the Mountain
Series: My Side of the Mountain #2
Author: Jean George
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Middle Grade
Pages: 107
Words: 38.5K

Synopsis:

Sam Gribley continues to live on his mountain. His family moved back to civilization when Sam's dad realized that farming the mountain was simply untenable. However, his younger sister Alice decides to stay and make her own way.

A conservation officer confiscates Sam's bird Frightful, as she is on the endangered species list. At the same time Alice takes off to find her own place and takes a pig with her. Sam shadows her to make sure she is ok. Sam legs it all over New York and finds out his bird was taken by poachers to be sold to a Saudi Arabian sheik. Alice rescues Frightful, the law arrests the bad guys and Sam lets Frightful go into the wild.

My Thoughts:

This was not nearly as engaging as the first book. Part of that was that Sam was in a funk about Frightful being confiscated and instead of asking any adult about the laws or getting help, just decides everything on his own. And while he's in that funk he reads old journal entries which chronicle all the improvements he and Alice have made on the mountain. It felt very, ummm, like George was trying to recapture some of the feeling of the first book and failing.

I did enjoy the journey of Sam and his friend as they tracked Alice down. It was a new aspect of the story and felt fresh.

While My Side of the Mountain felt like it could be read by almost any age, this book definitely felt middle grade. This was a decent sequel that I'd recommend to kids but not to anyone else. There is a third book that I'm going to dive into but my expectations are going to be very low going in.

★★★☆☆

• My Side of the Mountain (Book 1)