Available:*
Library | Material Type | Item Barcode | Shelf Number | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Avon-Washington Township Public Library | Teen Fiction Book Hardback | 120791001989306 | T KEL | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Eleven-year-old Megan is stuck in the wilds of Vermont for the summer with no TV, no Internet, no cell phone, and worst of all, no best friend. So when Megan gets lost on the Appalachian Trail with only her little dog, Arp, for company, she decides she might as well hike all the way to Massachusetts where her best friend, Lucy, is spending her summer. Life on the trail isn't easy, and Megan faces everything from wild animals and raging rivers to tofu jerky and life without bathrooms. Most of all, though, Megan gets to know herself--both who she's been in the past and who she wants to be in the future--and the journey goes from a spur-of-the-moment lark to a quest to prove herself to Lucy, her family, and the world!
"First-time novelist Jane Kelley uses the light touch of humor to let in the sunlight. Bravo!"--Sid Fleischman, Newbery Award-winning author
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Megan's parents have dragged her to Vermont for the summer, hoping she will embrace nature and art, but the bratty 11-year-old is furious to be trapped in the country. "You don't know how I'm suffering. Nobody does. Nobody cares," Megan tells her friend Lucy, who couldn't come-because her mother has Hodgkin's lymphoma. When Megan gets lost on a hike, she becomes inspired to hike the Appalachian Trail to where Lucy is staying. Along the way she confronts her own insecurities, which take the form of a "yucky voice" in her head, and discovers her inner strength, as well as compassion for Lucy. Readers may be put off by Megan's histrionics, but debut author Kelley mostly plays them for laughs (further amplified in scribbly cartoons), as when Megan nabs the family's emergency cell phone to call Lucy ("I almost cried when I saw its shiny surface. You won't believe this, but practically everything else in Vermont is made of cloth or pottery or wood"). Megan's emotional growth is mostly satisfying as she conquers both the mountain and her own weaknesses. Ages 8-12. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Eleven-year-old Megan (self-proclaimed city slicker) storms off from her family's Vermont summer home and gets lost on the Appalachian Trail with her fluffball dog. Tired of being a quitter, she decides to hike to Massachusetts to visit her best friend. Initially, Megan's bratty attitude is off-putting, but her woodland journey transforms her into a likable character and a true "Nature Girl." (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Twelve-year-old Megan, of New York City, is a thoroughly urban girl, whose artsy parents have decided to move the family to Vermont for the summer. Three hours of sketching every morning, no TV, no cell phone, no best friend Lucy to keep her company: Megan is bored stiff. She is also upset because Lucy's mother has cancer, and Megan has no idea how to support her friend through this crisis. When Megan's big sister takes her for a hike, Megan loses sight of her and decides to hoof it to nearby Massachusetts to drop in on Lucy and apologize. In her backpack is a copy of My Side of the Mountain, a few peanut-butter sandwiches, a journal, and some tofu strips. At her side is the tiny family dog, Arp, named for the artist. Megan's narrative is funny, fresh, and charming, illustrated with the occasional stick-figure drawing. Calling to mind Marissa Moss' Amelia series, Megan's physical journey leads to greater self-knowledge and appreciation of others. Popular-culture references will date this title, but right now, it's right on target.--Carton, Debbie Copyright 2010 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-Megan, 12, finds herself plucked out of the hustle and bustle of New York City and dropped into the heart of Vermont. Her parents insist that she explore her artistic side and commune with nature rather than relying on electronic gadgets for entertainment. When they send her on a day hike with her sister and her sister's boyfriend, Megan has an argument with Ginia and decides to hike the Appalachian Trail, by herself, to Mount Greylock, where she plans to make amends with her best friend, Lucy. Her quest proves more difficult than she imagined as she encounters a bear, rain, makeshift shelters, bullies, hunger, thirst, and fear at night, but she overcomes all of them. As she and her dog cover the 30 miles, she analyzes her relationships, especially the tattered one with Lucy, whose mother has Hodgkin's disease. Megan has little knowledge of wilderness survival, but her tenacity carries readers through to the end. She has never been a doer, and she is rarely motivated by anything, but spending time alone, she realizes that she has been very selfish and begins to change her mind about how she lives her life. Her voice is believable and honest, and her journey is both a physical and emotional success. Kelley's debut novel is a modern-day adventure story that turns its back on the cell phone and portable GPS and gets to the heart of real survival.-Delia Carruthers, Roxbury Public Library, Succasunna, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Should readers care enough about the Appalachian Trail experiences of an extremely whiny girl to stick with this effort? Rising seventh grader Megan has had a hard year, as her best friend, Lucy, has barely coped with her own mother's bout with Hodgkin's disease. Megan has responded to this challenge as she does to most: She's felt very sorry for herself. Being forced to spend the summer in rural Vermont is just one more crushing disappointment for this shallow New York City girl. After getting lost, she stumbles upon the Appalachian Trail and decides to hike to Mount Greylock in Massachusetts to meet up with Lucy, plodding on and often hiding after she realizes that a major search effort to find her has been launched. Enduring hardship and some funny, challenging wilderness experiences, she reevaluates her relationships with her family and Lucy and gradually accepts some responsibility for her own actions, but the change seems superficial and not completely believable. A greater issue: Can readers put up with her long enough to care what happens? Maybe. (Fiction. 9-13) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.