Frightful's Mountain

by Jean Craighead George Narrated by Jeff Woodman

Overview

Frightful, the peregrine falcon who first appeared in My Side of the Mountain, is back. Her amazing journey through life continues in the face of many rousing wildlife adventures. Will she survive the wilderness, even though she was raised by a human? When an old friend rescues her from captors, Frightful soars into the unfamiliar woodlands and searches for home. Before finding her mountain, she adopts a nest of motherless peregrine chicks. But construction crews, bird poachers, and even a bald eagle threaten her new family. Frightful needs help from Sam Gribley, the human who raised her. Kids and parents alike will be captivated by this action-packed continuation of Sam and Frightful's journey. Acclaimed author Jean Craighead George has won a Newbery Medal. With Jeff Woodman's splendid rendition, you feel the wind blow through your hair as Frightful glides above the hemlock trees.

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal

Gr 4-7-The star of this story is Frightful, the peregrine falcon featured in My Side of the Mountain (1988) and On the Far Side of the Mountain (1990, both Dutton). Her life now depends on breaking the imprinting bond she has formed with Sam Gribley and learning to live as a wild bird. Frightful's "human" and "bird" sides clash often at first-especially during the first winter when her pull to Sam overrides the migration instinct and she stays north, surviving only with human intervention. The following spring, she does mate and hatch her own chicks, but only with help from Sam, who keeps her calm during construction work on the bridge she has chosen as a nesting site. Finally, it becomes clear that nature will triumph. However, her bond to Sam will also remain. Readers of the previous books will recognize the characters and scenery, but it is Frightful who is the most fully realized character here. The humans serve more as backdrops and as a sometimes-preachy means of delivering various environmental messages. The writing is lyrical and the author's obvious love and respect for her subject comes through. Frightful's story is filled with excitement and adventure and young nature lovers should be enthralled by it. Fans of the earlier books will be the most likely audience, but it's certainly strong enough to be enjoyed on its own.-Arwen Marshall, New York Public Library Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

DEC/JAN 01 - AudioFile

Jean Craighead George returns her readers to the “one mountain among thousands” and the “one tree among millions” where Sam Gribley has been living with his peregrine falcon, Frightful. As Frightful is pulled between her instincts and the world she has come to know with Sam, George displays her expertise at creating a suspenseful story of the natural world while engagingly incorporating a wealth of information about falcons. Jeff Woodman is an unpretentious narrator who moves skillfully through a host of characters--including Sam, falcon poachers, crusading students, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife officers. He is masterful as Frightful, her mates, and the offspring of several broods. Hearing falcon calls brings the peregrines to life as characters in the drama in a way that seeing the calls on the printed page could never do. Listen to this story! A.R. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170671496
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	01/02/2015
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	497,792
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

Read an Excerpt

Frightful, the peregrine falcon, could not see. A falconer's hood covered her head and eyes. She remained quiet and calm, like all daytime birds in the dark. She could hear, however. She listened to the wind whistling through the pine needles. The wind-music conjured up images of a strange woods and unkown flowers. The sound was foreign. It was not the soft song of wind humming through the hemlock needles of home.

Frightful was a long way from her familiar forest. Suddenly an all-invading passion filled her. She must go. She must find one mountain among thousands, one hemlock tree among millions, and the one boy who called himself Sam Gribley. The one mountain was her territory, the one tree was Sam's house, the perch beside it, her place. And Sam Gribley was life.

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