A quick read of a true story as told snot a 12 year old boy getting lost on a mountain in Maine in 1939. I heard about this book from a BSA Scouting America newsletter and came highly recommended. I have read a number of books like this, including a favorite “Lost In The Wild” by Carey Griffith, where the mental state, as challenged as it is, keeps the lost person focused enough not to “walk off into space”. Young Donn survived on berries and was fortunate enough to have water available. He survived the truly tortuous hordes of mosquitoes and flies and got quite physically banged up but not enough to stop his incredible movement. Some modern lessons perhaps, dungarees/ blue jeans (cotton is rotten) is not good hiking clothing, using bug repellent, a hat, backpack with first aid kit, compass/gps, a map, a way to start a campfire, and super important signaling device like a whistle would help. The buddy system as promoted by scouting would have been a good argument for Donn to not run off by himself as well. I will be paying the book on to a couple of young scouts to get their reaction too.

I thought this book was a pretty good book but there where some parts that I didn't get. Like when he was going through the creek to get past the rocks but why didn't he jus walk the bank and not lose his shoes. The book also seems like the power lines were out in the middle of nowhere, because they never gave hint that said, Ok it's by the road. The way the author wrote it was good and was also making me want to keep reading. I was a little mad at the end because when I saw the map he basically made a half circle. So if he just went a different route he wouldn't have been out there for nine days. What was my favorite part is when one of the bears is walking to him and doesn't see or smell him because he was down wind. Over all the book was good, there was some spots that I didn't quite get as much as others but it was a good book.

Spoilers.
Took place in the 1930s, there are many better books of adventure/hiking/outdoors. This is a great story of how bad decisions can lead to bad situations. Dumb book.

Here are a few examples of that:
Went hiking with a guides child
Knows he gets cold easy, got cold when it was 35 degrees
As a 12 year old decided to head back on his own thru fog against warnings
Gave the child his sweatshirt even though he was cold
Got lost in fog
Found a trail, but didn’t follow it because the trail was said to be hard
Instead of following found trail does a 90 degree tactic off of the trail?
Rips and loses shoes
Multiple mentions of being in the scouts. Learned nothing from the scouts except to tell himself to “keep his head and he’ll be okay”
Has a subsequent hallucination of white robed adults hypnotizing his friend
Looses his pants
Carries large rock with him for days
Finds pants but loses them again

Aside from the poor decisions the author uses and beats to death the same three phrases throughout the book with one on nearly every page of the 98 page book.
Referring to himself as “a fellow”, surprise written as “boy!”, and any swear word replaced with “Christmas”??

If you have an hour and want to get annoyed here’s a book. Two stars for the survival and tenacity of the kid.

3.25-3.5 ⭐️

This was a fun/interesting listen with my daughter. True story about a boy lost on a Mountain and his journey back. God is good.

I recently finished reading aloud Hatchet to two of my library classes, so this book caught my attention when I came across it incorrectly shelved in the fiction section of my library. I was interested to see how this real-life story would compare to Hatchet, which feels very real. I found quite a lot of similarities:

* Donn lived on berries and was eaten up by mosquitoes, blackflies, and other flying insects.

* Donn also came across a bear eating berries who didn't disturb him.

* Donn heard a plane that he never saw and couldn't signal, which made him very upset.

* Donn tried to make a fire with sparks using supplies he found in an old cabin, but he gave up after trying unsuccessfully for just a little bit. Brian persisted until he succeeded.

I didn't enjoy the beginning of this. It felt like it began very abruptly, just as Donn leaves his friend and gets lost. I would have liked a bit more lead-in to the story. The footnotes given by Joseph Egan helped a lot in rounding out the story, but I would have preferred having them worked into the text somehow.

While reading, I kept wondering about what was happening with Donn's family as they searched for him. I enjoyed reading the afterword, where this information was given in pretty nice detail.

Overall, I found this to be a very interesting real-life story of a boy surviving on his own in the wilderness. It wasn't nearly as well-written as Hatchet, but then not too many books are.

Audio. A short but moving nonfiction account of a 12 year old boy getting lost in 1939 after hiking up Mount Katahdin in Maine. Its “happy ending” had me tearing up. Some decades ago, I myself hiked up Mt.Katahdin, so my own vivid memories added plenty of experiential detail; scrambling on all fours over rocky inclines was required. Going down the mountain trail was harder with muscles more tired and, in my case, with daylight fading.

When the boy thought of his “mommy” that word was a reminder of how young the boy was.

The book left me wishing for much more background about the boy Donn Fendler and his family/community and life —before and after the events.

A cautionary yet heartwarming tale… of a young boy’s thinking and coping in ways that feel “ historical” yet believably real.

Nice real event based survival story. Donn reminds me a lot of the boy from Hatchet by Gary Paulsen.

This was FANTASTIC!!! I was rooting for poor Don to survive every step of the way!

I’m giving this book 5 stars because it’s truly an amazing story. I live in Maine and I love hiking. Mt. Katahdin is not an easy mountain to climb for most as well as it being the very end of the Appalachian trail that stretches from Maine to Georgia. This boy was so young. 3 reasons to read this book ! One… taking note of his survival skills for own knowledge if ever in this similar predicament! Two… because it’s a good lesson for children and adults.. And Three, it is very eye opening to hear it through his POV.

Of course the narration is from a boys memory so it is a tad childlike. I found nothing but great things from this book. I really did enjoy this quick read. I hike many trails over this great state and I am very glad that I read this. I would love to Hike Katahdin and surrounding areas one day. I have been close but not quite there ! I love stories from Maine.

Three and a half stars.

A fascinating true story of a 12 year old boy that got lost in the Maine woods on a mountain for nine days in 1939. The writing was very straight forward, basically just the facts, no fancy prose or insights here. There are black and white pictures, but nothing is labeled. I think any child interested in survival stories would love this. As an adult, this was a very quick, interesting read.

Lost On A Mountain In Maine is the story of Donn Fendler’s (written by Joseph Egan) emergency survival situation atop one of the tallest peaks on the Appalachian; Mt. Katahdin. Donn and his family are visiting Maine on a trip that takes a turn for the worse when a storm rolls in and separates Donn from his family. Being a boy scout, Donn is able to have a slight advantage compared to other boys his age.

I admire Donn most notably for his composure in this situation but also being able to make clear and smart plans to get back to civilization. “People want to know why I didn't stay where I was. Someone was sure to find me, they say” (Fendler 28). Donn is a smart person and this excerpt shows his knowledge of the woods and how he had to get moving off the mountain in order to get recused. Most people would sit duck and die in the storm from lack of the experience that Donn has.

Joseph Egan was able to narrate the book in a way that gives the reader a connection to Donn and follow his journey. My favorite part of the book is how Donn can narrate the story to make it sound so inviting and scenic when in reality it was a hard and challenging struggle for the New York boy.

Lost On A Mountain In Maine is a good grab for anyone looking for a heartwarming story that can also teach you a few elements of survival.

The memoir book I read was Lost in The Mountain in Maine by Donn Fendler. I recommend this book because the book was about how Donn traveled his obstacles in the mountains. When 12 years old, Donn Fendler got tired of waiting for his dad and his brothers to join on the hike to the Main highest peak, but he didn't know the route so he decided to find his way back to the camp by himself. In the Mountain, Donn doesn't know that there was going to be a fast-moving fog that covered his path. Which is making his path really difficult to find his way back to camp. When Donn was walking it leaves him alone and Donn is scared to make a wrong turn that can make him lost at any second. Donn wanders aimlessly for about 2 weeks in the Mountain wilderness Doon eventually falls into a cautious freeze that makes Donn fall asleep. A search party came looking for Donn; they eventually found him and returned to him that he was nearly close to death. Donn was returning home. I rate this book a 9 out of 10 because he didn't have that many obstacles to run away from but overall the good is great to read.t