Frightful's Mountain

Mountain #3

by Jean Craighead George

Sam Gribley's adventures in My Side of the Mountain captured my boyhood imagination, turning me into a lifelong falconer, and helped inspire my career as an environmental lawyer. Every Sam Gribley fan will be enthralled by these, his latest adventures, Frightful's Mountain was worth the wait.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens, Animals, Adventure, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction

Hardcover

First published September 1, 1999

About the author

Jean Craighead George wrote over eighty popular books for young adults, including the Newbery Medal-winning Julie of the Wolves and the Newbery Honor book My Side of the Mountain. Most of her books deal with topics related to the environment and the natural world. While she mostly wrote children's fiction, she also wrote at least two guides to cooking with wild foods, and an autobiography, Journey Inward.

The mother of three children, (Twig C. George, Craig, and T. Luke George) Jean George was a grandmother who joyfully read to her grandchildren since the time they were born. Over the years Jean George kept one hundred and seventy-three pets, not including dogs and cats, in her home in Chappaqua, New York. "Most of these wild animals depart in autumn when the sun changes their behaviour and they feel the urge to migrate or go off alone. While they are with us, however, they become characters in my books, articles, and stories."

Reviews

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me awhile longer to get into this one, because no people show up in it until about 60 pages in. Until then, it's told from the point of view of the animals. The style is very reminiscent of The Underneath. This book has an unusually strong political agenda for children's lit, but I didn't mind so much, being a nature lover myself. Especially interesting in this book are the foreword by Bobby Kennedy Jr. and the afterword by the author. The afterword explains the background of the story. The best thing about this book is how well it illustrates the dilemma of Sam wanting so much to keep his falcon but knowing that in addition to legal issues, he confronts ethical and nature issues. It's great for a kid to learn that often the right thing to do isn't the easy thing to do or what we want for ourselves. The book accomplishes this in a very subtle way. You're not browbeat with it, nor do you run into any moral-of-the-story type sentences. It's not the point of the book, but you can't miss it either.

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my least favorite book in the trilogy, because it mainly focuses on the peregrine falcon, Frightful, and Sam is barely in the story at all. If you are interested in falconry at all, you would LOVE this book! Very informative and dramatic, as Frightful learns to survive in the wild, struggles to find a mate and raise her own chicks, and finds her way back to Sam as a wild bird.

The things I loved about the first two books aren't in this book though. I loved Sam's survival story, how he built his house, found his food, and built his furniture and made his own clothes. I like the ingenious ideas, like solving a puzzle and coming up with interesting and unique answers to the problem of surviving on your own in the wild.
But NONE of that is in this book! So I was disappointed that it wasn't like the first books.

The whole focus is Frightful and her life as a peregrine falcon in the wild. She migrates, fights off poachers, nearly starves in the winter, learns how to mate and raise chicks, and has some great adventures around the Catskill mountains. I just don't really care that much about birds.

Wonderful writing, of course, and I still enjoyed reading it. Just not my favorite.

[Sandy Sonnenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really great trilogy, though this last book had more of an obvious conservationist agenda. Still, very worthwhile reading. 3.5

[Alana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one ventures much more into the political realm of nature conservation, but through the eyes of the falcon herself. It tells the story of a falcon of an endangered species who has imprinted on a human, but trying to live as a wild bird. It has information about how peregrine falcons nest, about the dangers to them from our modern world, their migration patterns, how they care for their young. All this in a children's story designed to educate, inform, and inspire.
3/5

[Ryane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It is written from the falcon's perspective for the most part. The only issue I have with this book is that there are a few mentions of cellular phones and because the first book was written in 1959 the timeline doesn't always add up. There would have to be at least a 30 year jump and that wouldn't work! Fortunately, there isn't that much mention of the cell phones and you can mostly put it out of your mind!

I really, really like how the author speaks about DDT and other pesticides. It is an ugly truth and people need to know that what they use can affect many other things! There are just so many things in this book meant to educate people on things that happen to animals and our environment. This book highlights them in an entertaining way!

So, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. Because of the factual information it would be interesting to read with children and have a discussion. Just remember that this is the third book in the trilogy. You really should read the first two books first. There are many references to the first two books in it. Plus, in order to understand the relationship between Sam and Frightful you'd need to read the first two books.

Enjoy!

[Irene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very different from the first two because most of the story is told from the perspective of Frightful and sometimes Mole, the dog. There are also a bunch of people POV and it felt like too many. It leans a lot more heavily into animal conservation, birds of prey in particular, and there are several sections encouraging children to write to the local authorities. It feels like the kind of book an adult would give as a birthday present to their 8-year-old nephew, if you know what I mean. The first two are a lot more like something the kid might actually want to read.

I enjoyed it because I learned about the behaviour of peregrine falcons and how interaction with people can change it, especially when it comes to raising chicks and affecting migration patterns and how they feed themselves, but it's definitely the weakest one in the trilogy.

[Nancy Ovchinnikov · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first two books of this series, but this one just didn’t have the engaging appeal of the others. It dragged and dragged on and on. The first book is a classic, the second is a decent follow up, but this one probably shouldn’t have been written or would have been better cut down tremendously. Disappointing end to the trilogy.

[Kimbolimbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whoops, I skipped book #2, didn't realize this was a trilogy. I loved book #1, it's one of my favorite books EVER. Book #3, I liked this one, and found it really interesting. BUT I didn't love it. Mostly I found it interesting because it reads like a recruiting book to create kid activists...which isn't necessarily a bad thing but I do like to shy away from indoctrinating impressionable kids until they are old enough to do some real critical thinking. I also found the info about peregrine falcon biology interesting too, even if the book was over-the-top anthropomorphized.

[CindySR · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third in a series and I recommend reading them in order to get the whole story.
It's very educational concerning a peregrine falcon raised in captivity trying to live in the world as a free bird. She has to learn to be a mother and how to migrate, etc. The book is fiction but the falcon experts in the story are real and gave their ok to be featured. I liked the story but if you haven't read part 2, the parts with humans gets confusing.

[Lisa Brewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a lovely book! As a kid, I was a huge fan of My Side of the Mountain. Unfortunately, I can't recall if I read The Other Side of the Mountain, but I'll bet I did. :) Coming to this book late in life, with an unusual and interesting foreward by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., was quite something.

I packed this book with three others for a Caribbean cruise. It's the only one I finished. Good cruise, great book!

Frankly, I fell in love with Frightful and Sam, Alice, and the one mountain and the one tree in all the world all over again. I read most of it while outdoors in breezy sunshine. Some folks might find it heavy on the natural science and a bit of a slog, but, it's really a young adult book and very easy.

Very easy to get lost in, completely, and long to live in a tree.

Read this book. :)

[Ben Richmond · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came across this book sitting outside, while I was walking my dog. I had read "My Side of the Mountain" over and over as a kid, and "The Other Side of the Mountain" a couple of times, and as an animal-loving kid I was just enthralled with this boy who lived in harmony with nature, with neighboring weasels and raccoons and of course his beloved pet falcon (that he took from the nest and raised). So I figured "free book, why not?"

Reading this book as an adult is obviously a different experience, but I really enjoyed it. It's a very environmentally oriented book, but one that mentions powerlines and DDT but not climate change as a threat to peregrine falcons (also, bridge maintenance). It casts Sam, the main character of the first book and prominent in the second, as more mature and forced to decide between the falcon he tamed and letting her be free. It mostly takes a birds-eye view of the world, which is kind of fun, especially because the author has to balance the harshness of nature with the fact that it's a kid's book (Screamer, one of Frightful's eyases crosses the wires on a transformer box and that's it for him, and another's eggs won't hatch because of DDT poisoning picked up in South America).

But for how grounded and physical this book's world is, there's this reoccurring poetry of Frightful looking for the one mountain among hundreds, the one tree among millions and Sam.

[C Lyon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first book was perfect. The second book was meh, the third book was AWFUL. Almost a one star but it still has some charm. The story was pushing an agenda like no other. Like Silent Spring on steroids. The author wrote this for the sole purpose of SAVE THE BIRDS. I DO NOT like books that do this. It feels so self gratifying.The child protest parade was barf. The kids writing letters to the government was cringe. Overall just makes me want to go hunt falcons more than save them. Why do I sympathize most with the mf bridge worker who is just trying to do his damn job.

[Mitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible book. I couldn’t put it down, I think it’s the best one out of the trilogy and it’s one heck of a good trilogy of books.

As a lifelong lover of birds and someone who grew up appreciating birds of prey, this is such an insanely well written story. From the perspective of a falcon, man I just couldn’t get enough of it.

I’m in the middle of reading a book called Flight Paths which tells the story of bringing back Peregrines from near extinction and it was very cool to hear some of the names and methods mentioned in this book. Truly an incredibly put together story.

[Heather Brush · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished up the series. Of the three, the first was my favorite. While I enjoyed Frightful's perspective, I preferred Sam's. A lot of interesting facts were disbursed throughout the book, but it wasn't the same adventure I'd come to look forward to. George is always a wonderful talent, but this one felt more of ecological campaigning (wonderful in itself, but not what I was looking for) than the other two in the series.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the most part I really enjoyed Frightful's story and the natural history presented along the way.
There were only a few times I felt like "Frightful's Mountain" was a book written to teach me about raptors, all the dangers they face, and the importance of protecting them.

I could have done without the kids' passionate letters about birds "rights" and their emotional appeals to protect them, though.

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this read. For me it was a different genre, and I loved the conservation focus. The story-telling was captivating moving me quickly from page to page and the education on peregrine falcons was somewhat subtle but interwoven throughout the whole story. I am recommending this to my boys, older and younger.. we should all hear Frightful’s story and learn.

[DaughterOfPoseidon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just want to make this clear to everyone: the falcons don’t talk in this book. So what I loved about it...was that she made it so realistic that you don’t need dialogue to explain what is going on. I loved the adventure, Frightful, and her chicks.

[Brooke Ringler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a great wrap up to the trilogy!! It was interesting how Frightful and Sam’s story was intertwined, and I felt myself torn with wanting Frightful to stay with Sam and with wanting Frightful to be free.

[Joe · Rating 1 out of 5]

sucked the worst out of the three.

[Aaron.W · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book but felt that it took a while to get the story moving and for it to end, but when it did end it ended kind of at a cliffhanger when Frightful's kid called for a mate.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

AAAAWWWW!!! I love this book. I read it in fifth grade for a book report! I want to read it again!
<3 <3 <3

[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book of the three. I could continue with a fourth!

[Rachel Brower · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story to end a great series. I enjoyed all three of these books, and more how they were told from different perspectives at different times. I'd absolutely recommend this book to younger readers and older readers. Everyone can enjoy a great story like this.

[John Walton Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best of the three "My Side of the Mountain" books, in my opinion. It reads almost like a story-form ecology lesson!

[Meredithhb · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars from both audiobook listeners :). Jean Craighead George was such a positive force for conservation, and also birds are amazing

[Sarah Eagle · Rating 5 out of 5]

After rereading My Side of the Mountain at 24 when at first I had read it at 10, I can still say I love this book. Armed with both sequels, I happily dove into The Far Side of the Mountain.
What a giant, fat, disappointment.
I tentatively moved on to Frightful's Mountain, and it is everything I wanted it to be. It's a return to the original writing style of My Side, though now it is from Frightful's perspective rather than Sam's. It's a text rich with information about the wilderness, about the culture and lifestyle of the peregrine falcon species, and it revisited all of the old characters without feeling stale or that it was repeating itself. In fact, you can just skip the second book entirely (which I suggest, since it lacked style, good character writing, and its pacing suffered) and go straight from My Side to this one. Where My Side succeeded in relaying a tale about a boy, Sam, trying to find himself and his place in Nature, this book is about Frightful discovering for herself what HER place in Nature is. She has a push-pull relationship with her instincts and for Sam's company, and all of the trials she faces revisits the entire series while carving something new and exciting. Finishing this masterpiece was like having the last bite of a sumptuous dessert that puts you at the end of comfortably full.
10/10. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed My Side of the Mountain.

[Shaunda Penny · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this final book of the trilogy we follow Frightful, the peregrine falcon, as opposed to the human characters. In some ways, this was lovely, but there were long sections of the book that read like poorly written environmentalist brochures, not beautiful literature. If the author’s hope was to bring attention to the plight of raptors, she would have done so better by writing a beautiful novel in which tragedy strikes the birds of prey. Perhaps a “for more information” section at the end of the novel, but mixing in the letter writing campaigns, marches, etc. detracts from the natural setting and breaks the emotional tug of the novel.
I am reminded of this Tom Robbins quote, and a similar one by Madeleine L’Engle: “When we accept bad art because it is good politics, we kill the swan to feed the chickens.”

[Willow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished the Mountain series today for our literature read-aloud. N ended up liking this book even more than G and I did; she enthusiastically enjoyed all 3 books (as well as the 2 companion picture books).

I like this slightly less than the previous two but still retain my 4-star rating. It's good when you're in the mood for wilderness survival/bird/conservation stories.

[Peter Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. This book was interesting because I saw the life and thoughts of a falcon. How if you raise a falcon it will imprint on you and will think as you as their mother. Throughout this story Frightful goes through many different homes and experiences as a wild/tame falcon. I really enjoyed this book.

[Morgan Creighton · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is made for people with a particular taste and it is just not my taste. To me it was boring and just drone on and on. I had to read this for school and was graded on it constantly and when I had to find the details and the main plot of the story I didn't have much because it doesn't have a good main plot. This is my opinion but you might have a different one.