I read a lot of reviews of this book because it occurred to me that I don't have a good sense of reading through an eleven or twelve-year old's eyes. My goddaughter was assigned this book for school, so I read it (as are her parents). I sat with it for awhile and looked back through it, trying to parse the pet peeves from the genuine criticisms.

There's a lot about it I don't like. The 12-year old protagonist Toby was not, in my opinion, at all memorable. When I think back to books I read at that age, even if I disliked them, the characters stuck with me (e.g. Holden Caulfield, Piggy, etc--and I REALLY disliked Lord of the Flies). Again, I recognize that having spent over four decades on the planet may bias me, but it wasn't until the last 15 pages or so that I started to like this character. I understand that he's on a journey and I do want to say that I respect that the "journey" does turn out to be far deeper and metaphorical than a 12 year old hiking the Appalachian Trail. And the human characters he meets often give the story some more heft, but there is an imbalance and weak sense of rhythm in terms of how and when these characters appear.

And yes, about that. How many 12 year olds undertake hiking the AT--by themselves? Is that something we really want 12 year olds thinking they should do to go find themselves? This isn't a situation where he's lost (at least physically), or some sort of adventure where he got marooned on a desert island and has to save himself. He makes a conscious decision to do this horribly dangerous thing, and evidently hiking with his friend Lukas and his dad a few times equips Toby to be fairly adept at solo hiking, for miles at a time, in all conditions--enough to feel confident hitchhiking. Again, I'm sure there are very adventurous 12 year olds out there, but the moral of this particular story doesn't necessarily dissuade readers from undertaking a similar journey.

This book barely passes the Bechdel test either--and while that normally isn't a huge issue for me, I think for a book that is assigned reading, it falls really short. There are only a few women characters: the "offscreen" Gran, Abbey with her "beautiful face", the spunky Sadie (who I wish had been a prominent character throughout), and the motherly Marsha. With the exception of Sadie, the interesting characters are all male (Denver, "Wingin' It", Washboard--even the dog) -- or presumably so. While race is not frequently mentioned (if at all -- I wasn't reading for it), let's just say The Bluest Eye this book is not. Again, for an assigned read, I would have hoped to have more obvious amplification of diversity. I don't believe we are yet at the place where we can take it for granted, particularly when it is part of living discourse for young folks.

In the first part of the book the product placement was to the point of distraction. I do realize this may be targeted to the age group and their budding consumerism, and while I, too, am a fan of Darn Tough socks, I'm just not sure what these particular details (REI, Subarus, etc) added to the narrative except to reinforce branding and consumerist culture.

What I did like was the specifics about the Appalachian Trail. Children who live outside of hiking culture might struggle with some of the references or lose interest. I liked the map at the end, but would have loved to see it integrated---perhaps tracing Toby's path as he moves through the trail in each chapter. Particularly for those readers who are not familiar with the AT, little details like that would have lent a lot to the book, making the ending all the more powerful. Like I said, I did like the end, and I hope that discussions and class sessions help young people see their personal Katahdins. ( )

Appealing book about a boy who decides to set out on his own to accomplish the last item on his summer list: to hike the Appalachian trail from his home in Vermont to Mt. Katahdin in Maine, roughly 400 miles. The problem is that he had planned to do this hike with his best friend, but he's doing it alone. You don't learn why his friend isn't with him until about 2/3 of the way into the book.

Any kid who loves to hike, camp, or do just about anything in the woods, will enjoy this book. I've read books about hiking the trail, and this seems pretty close to what it would be like. Everything that can possibly go wrong does. Running low on food. Getting caught in freezing rain. Getting blisters. Running into wild animals. These things are sure to happen and they happen to Toby. He also meets people on the trail who temporarily become his hiking companion and save him from some desperate situations. The book describes the shelters along the trail. Some are just a roof and others are full fledged facilities with food and bunks. Toby has to make constant decisions, such as whether he should try to make it to the next shelter or stop and make camp before dark. These are all plausible scenarios for anyone hiking the trail.

Toby makes many, and I mean many, foolish mistakes. Number one is that he's only twelve, hiking alone, and he hasn't told anyone what he's doing. Basically, any of his foolish mistakes could have resulted in his death and him not being found for a very long time. Number two is that he loses things easily. In a matter of seconds he loses both his water filter and map by dropping them in a river. Number three is that he has a lousy sense of direction, which indicates a boy that has no business in the woods by himself. Number four is that the one time he tries to hitch hike, a crazy guy stops and chases after him. Number five is that after one bad experience with hitch hiking, he does it again. Luckily he isn't kidnapped.

One big piece of the story is the relationship that develops between Toby and a starving dog he finds alone on the trail. He ends up sharing the little food he has (another foolish mistake) with the dog and they travel on for the remainder of the hike until an unrealistic separation happens. I can't hide my complete annoyance with this plot point. Unfortunately, I find that children's authors throw in unrealistic stuff all the time. He's a hundred miles or more from where he found the dog and yet by complete coincidence, he crosses paths with the dog's owner outside a grocery store. This guy is mean and abusive and owns a shotgun. He demands the dog back. In my mind it's too cutesy and unrealistic, and therefore a flaw in the plot.

All that said, it's still a good book and true adventure fans will enjoy it. ( )