Customer Reviews

Lost on a Mountain in Maine

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a fourth grade teacher, my class reads this book every year as part of a survival unit. One year, the students wrote letters to Donn Fendler asking questions and praising his bravery. To my surprise and pleasure, he sent back an 18 page letter addressing every child by name and individually answering their questions. It is a book and an experience they will never forget. Talk about bringing a book to life!!!

Honestly, I first read this book when I was 12 years old -- 36 years ago -- and the imagery, narration, emotions, and explanatory footnotes are still with me. I hike and backpack a lot, and thanks to Donn Fendler, do so with the utmost respect for Mother Nature. Kid's book? Ha! This is fabulous reading for anyone who spends time in the woods.

Mt. Katahdin, at 5268 feet, is the northern terminus of the Appalachian trail and the tallest mountain in Maine. Though it's a much-climbed mountain at the center of the popular Baxter State Park, its wildness and danger should never be underestimated.

In 1939, twelve-year-old Donn Fendler was climbing Katahdin with a party including his father and brother. Reaching the summit with a friend ahead of the main party, he was cold and bored and decided to go back to meet his father. He lost the trail in fog, and spent a grueling nine days in rugged terrain on the north side of Katahdin before finding his way out to a hunting and fishing camp. The press was full of the search for young Donn and his rescue was celebrated with headlines, a parade, and a chance to meet the President of the United States.

Donn credited his Boy Scout training and his faith in God with bringing him through the ordeal. His shoes and then his feet were cut to shreds on the rough stone outcroppings; he was tormented by insects, frightened by a bear, tumbled in an icy river. His "dungarees" were impossible to walk in, once wet, and he lost them. He suffered from cold, hunger, loneliness and hallucinations. Toward the end of his ordeal Donn followed telephone wires and a stream, knowing that both would eventually lead him to what civilization there was in the great woods of Maine. Though he lost 16 pounds and was severely cut and bitten, he made a full recovery.

The boy's story, as told to James Egan, was published later in 1939 and has been a beloved family and school classic in Maine since that time. Fendler himself still visits schools and libraries to tell his story. Generations of Maine children have learned a lesson of courage, faith and will from Lost! on a Mountain in Maine. This audio presentation is engagingly read by another twelve-year-old, Amon Purinton. I recommend this story for family listening or reading.

Linda Bulger, 2008

I liked the book. It was full of adventure and suspense. You never wanted to put it down. It is a true story.
Donn Fedler got lost in a mountain in Maine at the age of twelve. He starts back down the trail to go back to meet his father at the plateau and takes the wrong trail by accident because it was so foggy. At night he slept in hallow trees or on patches of moss. On his third day he looses his pants and meets a deer. On the fourth day he sees a bear and finds a blanket in an abandon cabin. Throughout the next two days he sees another bear and hears screech owls. Will Donn ever get home?
The type of reader who would like this book is someone who likes adventure stories. Anyone who has read the book Hatchet and liked it would like this book too.

When I was a kid, our school librarian would read this book every year to the second grade class. I remember my classmates and I being spellbound by this story. Every child can identify with being lost and afraid even if they've never been in as dangerous a situation as being alone on a mountain top.

I also learned some valuable survival lessons even at that young age. Last year I was hiking with some friends. They wanted to take a shortcut through the woods, but I insisted on staying on the trail. A lesson I learned from this book!

It's a little misleading to have this billed as for "Ages 9 to 12": it's worth reading by people of any age. I'd heard the book recommended by several people that I'd hiked with in Maine, and it lived up to the recommendations, and more so. A simple story, but surprisingly moving. Read it if you plan to climb Katahdin (or climb anywhere above treeline, in the Whites, for example): beware, this could happen to you! My only reservation, at the risk of sounding like an grump, is that the writing style leaves a bit to be desired: I thought I'd scream if the author used the word "fellow" once more! Did kids really talk like this in 1939?

Although I grew up in Maine and had heard of this book as a child, somehow I managed to not read it until recently. I literally could not put it down until I finished it. Donn's survival in the face of incredible hardship is a story that is extremely harrowing and intense. It shows how the body and mind react when pushed to the very edge of death. I defy anyone not to be moved by the ending!

By Keegan, a sixth grader in Maine

LOST ON A MOUNTAIN IN MAINE is one of the best books i have ever read. The begining of the book is clear of how every thing started. The mittle of the book told the problems on the mountain. This book has the zing that grasps you into reading more. Some parts of the book are dull but it fires back up and hooks you into reading more.

and now @# years later, I still love it! For any lover of the outdoors and for those of us that like to have "Survivor" weekends, it is a fun, quick read that encourages the question, "what would you do?".

I think this book was good, but not edge of your seat kind of good. If I were to give this book a rating on a scale of one to ten, I would give it an g. I mean, sure it was a true story, but if it weren't true, it would probably be more exciting. The story basically tells about a boy who was lost for nine days. The story tells it from his point of view and what really happened during those nine days. For example, he had to survive some close encounters with deadly animals and a few incidents in the rushing rapids of a stream. I don't want to give too much away but I will tell you that what this boy went through is amazing. This book would for someone who likes true amazing stories about people that push themselves to their limit both physically and mentally. That's just what this book is about, a boy who pushes himself to his furthest possible limits.