My Side of the Mountain is a unique book in its formatting and themes, but it is also a classic example of a coming-of-age story. Sam Gribley is a teenager who is tired of his cramped life in New York City and is fearful of an open future ahead of him so he decides to run away from home. He chooses to go to a piece of family land in the Catskill mountains and begins his new life here.
Jean Craighead George wrote My Side of the Mountain to reflect her childhood wishes of living off the land and escaping society, thoughts that continue to permeate the heads of modern teenagers as much as they did during her childhood in the 1930s. Sam is a representation of every person who has ever wished they could leave their stressful lives behind, if only temporarily.
At the end of the novel, Sam is taken back to New York by his family; while it is incredibly hard for him to leave the life he has built for himself behind, he understands that it is what is best for him. In that moment both Sam and George acknowledge the necessity of living with other people and being a part of human society. While Sam may be leaving his childhood dream behind, he is also growing into a man who is ready for life outside of the woods.
