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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSThirteen-year-old Sam Gribley has had enough of his family's cramped New York City apartment, shared with his parents and eight siblings, so he runs away to the Catskill Mountains to live on land his great-grandfather once owned. Armed with only a penknife, a ball of string, an axe, and forty dollars, Sam sets out to prove he can survive entirely off the wilderness. He has no shelter, no fire, and almost no food when he arrives, but he is stubborn and resourceful, and the mountain slowly begins to give up its secrets to him.
Free Battle of the Books questions for My Side of the Mountain
SPOILERSEvery one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about My Side of the Mountain. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.
Where in the book they come from
- Early in the book
In what book does a boy climb a sheer cliff and get bitten on the shoulder by a mother bird?
✓ Answer
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
Sam scales a cliff face to reach a falcon nest, where he finds three fuzzy whitish-grey nestlings with wide-open mouths. The mother falcon strikes his shoulder hard enough to hurt, then circles back for another dive at 50 to 60 miles an hour. Sam grabs the biggest nestling, tucks it in his sweater, and scrambles down.
- First half
In what book does a weasel chase a group of hikers off a boulder by running at their feet?
✓ Answer
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
A man and woman named Harold and Grace sit down on the Baron Weasel's boulder to have lunch, but the Baron runs all over the rock and charges at their feet. They panic and flee the forest, calling him mad. Sam hides in his tree and has to cover his mouth to keep from laughing.
- First half
In what book do a boy and a college teacher make blueberry jam and store it in homemade clay pots?
✓ Answer
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
Bando goes to town for five pounds of sugar and spends two days making blueberry jam. He shapes clay jars and lids from streambank clay, bakes them in a homemade clay oven, and fills three of them with jam. Sam and Bando eat the jam on hard acorn pancakes.
- Second half
In what book does a red fox sit in the moonlight and appear to be smiling?
✓ Answer
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
After Sam herds the raccoons out and laces his door shut, he turns and sees the red fox sitting in the moonlight with his ears erect, seemingly grinning at all the chaos. Sam shouts "Stop laughing!" and the fox vanishes like a magician's handkerchief.
- Second half
In what book does a father lift his son off the ground by his coat pockets after a snowy reunion?
✓ Answer
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
When Sam's dad arrives on Christmas, the two have a joyful rough-and-tumble greeting in the snow. Dad tackles Sam, thumps his chest, rubs snow in his face, then lifts him by the pockets of his deerskin coat so they're eye to eye.
- Near the end
In what book does a boy find two owl eggs lying warm in a snow-rimmed tree cavity?
✓ Answer
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
Sam climbs a broken maple and discovers two great horned owl eggs sitting in the cold, snow-rimmed cavity. They are warm to his touch, and the sight of eggs in the snow fills him with wonder. He hurries away so the female can return to them.
