Booktalks Quick and Simple

Booktalk #1

Have you ever wanted to run away from home? Katadhin (Dani for short) decides after her brother’s death from muscular dystrophy and her parents’ divorce that it’s time for her to hit the trail—and not just any trail—the Appalachian Trail , a 2,163-mile trail from Georgia to Maine . On this intense journey, Dani grows to understand herself and comes to terms with her parents’ divorce. Unlike many outdoor stories, Halfway to the Sky explores a girl’s survival story, and Bradley also sensitively deals with the fragile relationship between a mother and daughter.

Prepared by: Michelle H. Martin for The South Carolina Children's Book Award nominees 2005

Booktalk #2

Twelve year old Katahdin, whose nickname is Dani, has grown up hearing tales of the Appalachian Trail from her parents. It’s where they met, fell in love and were married. It played such an essential element in their lives, that they named Katahdin for the mountain where the AT ends in Maine and their son, Springer, for the mountain where the AT starts in Georgia. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond their control, Dani’s family is transformed from a happy, loving family into something else. Dani’s mother no longer seems to have much interest in her daughter. So, Dani starts to save her money and eventually buys herself the necessary equipment to hike the Appalachian Trail. She sets off on her own to find her answers to the questions that her life has presented to her. Can a 12 year girl hike the 2,167 mile AT alone and “hike her own hike” as the AT’s motto proclaims?
This descriptions of the AT in this story were so vivid, that I have promised myself to actually go to Amicalola State Park, Georgia next summer and hike at least the first few miles of the Trail. (Francoise Fussell, fhfussell@yahoo.com, Student, University of South Carolina, School of Library and Information Science)