I read this at a very young age, perhaps even a bit younger than the boy protagonist. It affected me profoundly, so much so that I still remember parts of the true story 60 years later.

Number of pages: 98, including pictures

Genre: Non-fiction Biography

Series: N/A

Age recommendation: the target age is 10-12, but I think older people can enjoy it as well

Summary: Donn, his dad and brothers went hiking one day, but Donn went ahead of them with the guide. Later, he wanted to go back to find them, but got lost and was wandering around the woods on the mountain for nine days before finding his way back to civilization.

My thoughts: It was a really interesting book. I really enjoyed seeing how Donn was able to trust and rely on God throughout this whole ordeal.
This event happened in 1939, and the book was first written in 1978. For that reason, I am a little bit more forgiving on the use of “half-breed” “redskins” and “Indians” in this book (albeit only once or twice). I’m not trying to say that these are appropriate terms, and personally I wish they had been edited to more accurate terms, especially since the version I read was revised and reprinted in 2013. I don’t think the racist language was intentionally used to hurt people, but it is still racist and shouldn’t be used.
The other thing I didn’t like was that he used “Christmas” repeatedly as an exclamation of surprise/disgust. Firstly, it was used so much that it was starting to get on my nerves. More importantly though, I felt like he used it the way some people might take the Lord’s name in vain, and it does have “Christ” in it, so I was not impressed with that.
Overall, it was interesting and super short if you’re looking for a quick and easy read.

My personal rating: 3.5/5 stars

Link to blog: https://karinaschristianreads.wordpre...

Enjoyed this story and its message

I can’t help but admire this young man and appreciated his Ernest faith. I recommend this book to people of all ages since it speaks to a what it best in our humanity. I felt that it is well written and honest. for me it deserves five stars!

I though this was a great book because it is a true story and Don is trying to survive on little food while finding his way back down the mountain. Don is very brave because he goes down the hardest trail all by himself. He is very brave and tough, i liked this book.

Paradoxically, it made me want to go explore the woods.

My sister was with a mom-friend, who said this was a good book. My sister knows I love survival and adventure stories, recommends it to me, I order it immediately on Amazon. For some reason, my sister forgot to mention this is a YA book, 82 pages long, written for ages 8-12 year olds, written in the 30's. Well, a classic is a classic, and a book recommended is still a book to read ---it is a sweet story of survival, faith, endurance, Scouting and man in nature, as well as man vs. nature. Those mountains in Maine are as cold and lonely then as now as then, and the story of his manhunt is fascinating. I guess this is taught in schools still. Interesting photos, and afterword about the writer, whose life was changed after his incident on the mountain, and how Donn spoke at schools and answered every letter he receiveed from young readers. If you have a child, or an interest, this is a good, timeless story, written in the old-fashioned dialect of the time.

Personal Response- I thought the biography, Lost on a Mountain in Maine, was very good. Donn Fendler, the author, did a great job on the details in this book. It showed how hard his adventure was and how tough it had been. It taught me that I need to be prepared to survive in the wild. I love the outdoors and this book had details about survival in the outdoors. The author survived in the wilderness at the age of 12 years old with nothing to eat or drink for nine days.

Plot- Donn was a 12 year old boy who was lost in the wilderness for nine days without any supplies. Donn was sick of waiting for his family on a hiking trip. He decided to find his own way back to the camp, but he ran into dense fog. This made him go off the trail and fall down a large slope cutting and scraping his body. He knew no one could hear or see him. Donn was very close to dying many times. He lost his pants and jacket when he saw a bear and fell into a creek. Donn was walking around in his underwear for eight out of the nine days he was lost. Luckily, for him he found a blanket in a old abandon cabin. However, he did not have enough energy to even carry the blanket that he found. He later saw a sack hanging from a tree and used that as a blanket. Donn found a cabin that was occupied by a man. The man brought him inside until his family was contacted.

Characterization-The main character in the book was Donn. Donn was a real person who actually went through this event, fighting for his life in the Mountains in Maine. He was a kid who never gave up even when times were almost unbearable. He was a fighting young boy who prayed to be saved everyday for hours.

Setting- This book took place in Maine on Mount Katahdin in 1939. When this story took place there was no technology like is available today, so when Donn got lost he had no way to call for help. The weather was rough with snow storms and freezing temperatures. Donn experienced some of the worst weather that a person could live through. Donn's way of describing events was well detailed. Donn talked about the dangers of the terrain and dangerous mountains. He survived and wrote this interesting book.

Theme- Never losing hope is a theme in this book. Donn described how he prayed for hours a day to be rescued. Prayer helped him to never gave up hope until he was saved.

Recommendation- I recommend this book to males over the age of 10. Boys might like it more because it talked about woods and survival. Also, the main character was a boy so males might relate to him better. It was a true story that made me stop and think that this could really happen. Anyone younger than 10 would not understand the survival techniques the author described. I gave this book a five out of five rating.

Overview: Donn Fendler was hiking on a mountain in Maine with his father, brother, and a few friends from his Boy Scouts troop. After making it to the top, Donn decided to run back and meet up with his Dad and brother. Unfortunately, the cloud cover had confused him. How long will it take to get him home.

Dislikes: Really the only problem was how hurt the poor child got in his adventure.

Likes: Mr. Fendler has a lot of faith. He also had the gumption to keep moving, even when he was running on empty.

Conclusion: This is a good memoir to read in order to remind yourself of the ingenuity and durability of the human spirit, as well as the strength that faith can bring to those in need. Enjoy the story.

Personal Response
The book Lost on a Mountain in Maine by Donn Fendler was a great book. I actually enjoyed this book because it was easy to read, short, and told a great story. The length of the story was great. The story was still good and wasn’t choppy.

Plot
The plot of the story was about a family of four men. The men wanted to climb the biggest mountain in Maine. They all got together and were ready to climb Mount Katahdin. When they started to climb the mountain it began to sleet and got really windy. It was getting hard to see, but it didn’t slow them down. Before they knew it, they started to drift apart from each other. The main character Donn kept walking the trails of the mountain. It later began to warm up and stopped sleeting. It was warm enough to live in. Donn was on his own for a couple of days now. He was worrying about his family, but he kept his journey going. Donn was continuing the trip and living off the land. Towards the end of the book, Donn found his family and told them about his expedition.

Characterization
The main character was Donn Fendler. He was twelve years old and born in 1939.
Henry and Ryan were Donn’s brothers who decided to climb the mountain. They were both older than Donn. Henry, Ryan, and their dad stuck together when Donn got lost. The book didn’t really focus on Henry and Ryan, but I felt like their relationship grew stronger because they lost their brother for a little bit. Then it talked about when they found each other.

Settings
The setting of the story happened on Mount Katahdin. The mountain was 5,268 ft above sea level making it one of the tallest mountains on the east coast. They were planning a trip to climb this 5,268 ft Mount Katahdin. The story took place in 1940, so they didn’t have much for electronics to contact people when they get lost.

Thematic Connection
The theme of this book is a little bit about how to survive on a mountain when people don’t have the resources they do at home to survive. Donn had to learn to survive on the land of the mountain. Donn did that very well in this book because he survived and made it home safely.

Recommend
I would recommend this book to men of the ages 12-18. I would recommend it to them because men around this age are usually adventurous and they would be able to relate. The book was easy enough for a 12 year old to read, but it was interesting enough for an 18 year old to enjoy.

Fascinating

When author don fenler was only 12 years old he became Lost in A mountain in Maine. He was on top of a mountain In the fog When he told 1 or 2 of his friends that he wanted to go back to the other hikers. After leaving he took the wrong trail and was lost for 7 days. This story is about his survival in these mountains.

He had been given survival information which helped him tremendously. He was told to always follow the river downstream. This he did.

It was amazing how many flies and mosquitoes attacked him. Nothing like being eaten alive. Then his tennis shoes began ripping apart And His FEET We're getting cut. The most memorable part of the story for me was when he walked into a cabin that was deserted He grabbed a blanket off of the bed And what followed was really funny.

A friend of mine allowed me to borrow this book, signed by the author in 1998, explaining it is the best description he has read of the challenges of the Maine woods, making a twelve-year-old Boy Scout’s harrowing experience and survival astonishing.

In the summer of 1939, Donn Fendler, his father and brother were hiking Mt. Katahdin in Maine, carefully provisioned with gear and guides. When the fog rolled in, Donn decided to rejoin his Dad down the mountain a short way; the fog made everything eerie so he was anxious to be with his Dad. Unfortunately, the fog disoriented Donn, and he quickly got lost. For nine days he wandered in the woods, eating berries, drinking water when he could find it, sleeping rough, fending off flies and mosquitoes, coming face to face with deer and bears.

His feet cut by stones, crawling over rocks, scrabbling over the rough terrain, Donn’s story reflects his courage but also reminds the reader he was a twelve-year-old boy, making sure he said his prayers every day, worried about his parents. I could not imagine his parents’ anguish, believing against all odds in his survival as the days went on. This was 1939: blood hounds and volunteers searching without today’s sonar instruments or cell phones or dehydrated food or protective clothing. By the ninth day, I was exhausted by the punishing elements.

Told to a family friend, Joseph B. Egan, the story is authentic. You can hear Donn’s young voice in the details, and Egan points out from time to time details that demonstrate how precarious Donn’s success was. When I finished, I read all I could online about Donn Fendler who honored his Boy Scout training throughout his life and enjoyed sharing his adventures with school children in Maine. I think young children would love to read his story even today.

Had to read this book again, such a great memoir. Donn will always be in the memories of Maine people. What a tremendous experience he survived and what a great life he went on to live.