Trash Mountain

(Hardback)

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Description

The story of a flawed but ultimately courageous young squirrel alone in a changing world--by Jane Yolen.

Trash Mountain is a charming, yet powerful story that follows a young squirrel who finds himself alone in the world when his parents are suddenly killed. Jane Yolen has crafted a compelling array of characters, including young Nutley, wise Larie, unctuous, but loyal Naw, and the age-old battle between the grey squirrels and the reds will captivate young readers. Readers will also detect subtle themes concerning species diversity and evolution.

Reviews

"Beloved children's author Yolen offers a fable about accepting others in spite of their differences and respecting the natural environment. Imaginative and inquisitive Nutley is a tiny red squirrel. In an attempt to become more daring and worldly, he leaves the safety of his family's nest and sets out for Trash Mountain, the local landfill. Smelly, inhospitable, and lawless, the landfill is teeming with rats, gulls, and mean gray squirrels who dislike outsiders. Nutley must make unlikely alliances in order to navigate the dangers of Trash Mountain and overcome his enemies. After each chapter a 'this you should know' summary provides facts about the species mentioned in the book and about the effects of dumping some of the objects found on Trash Mountain. Simple but winsome black-and-white illustrations highlight the action, and appropriately portioned chapters make this book a perfect selection for the reader who is new to novels."Booklist

"Little Nutley, a happy and sensitive red squirrel, has a fine life high in a tree with his parents. They feed him seeds and try to teach him the wisdom he'll need to evade harm from the increasingly numerous gray squirrels who are taking over their piece of forest. Tragically, after Nutley leaves the tree on a brief foray, his parents die in a gray squirrel attack. Young Nutley is thrown into a life-or-death flight to Trash Mountain and its dangerous denizensrats and gulls. There he finds surprising allies.

This is a gripping story, right-sized for children but with all the authentic drama of any novel. The illustrations by Duluth artist Chris Monroewho certainly knows the heart of a squirrelwarm the book and pull it back from the dangerous edge of the didactic."Star Tribune

"Nutley, a young red squirrel, lives with his doting parents on a small English farm. He longs to explore the outside world: ask questions, explore, perhaps even be as Dangerous as the gray squirrels who have overrun the farm and pose a threat to the reds. Their threat is realized when grays attack and kill Nutley's parents. He is forced to seek refuge in the neighboring landfill where Larie, a seagull, and Naw, a rat, help Nutley realize he has more courage than he thinks and that kindness and friendship are more important than being Dangerous. Yolen's clear voice is a benevolent presence, strongly felt in 'This You Should Know' paragraphs which open each chapter. They offer scientific facts about red and gray squirrels along with whimsical speculations which encourage readers to look for meaning behind the facts. Middle grade readers will relate to Nutley's chafing against well-intentioned parental restrictions and his eagerness to discover the complexities of the world. The deceptively simple story, enhanced by rich vocabulary and elegant prose, encourages deeper thought: 'There is more meaning here if you would have it be so.' Larie and Naw are endearing supporting characters and Yolen has fun naming Naw's rat-children, from 'Nawshus' to 'Nawmal' and 'Nawty.' Rustic, finely detailed black-and-white illustrations by Monroe reinforce the novel's environmental subplot; endpapers map helps readers visualize Nutley's world. A quiet gem from a master storyteller." --School Library Journal

"When an inquisitive red squirrel named Nutley summons the nerve to offer the 'Paw of Friendship' to a group of nearby gray squirrels, they respond by tossing him off a cliff. Fearing for his life after the Grays subsequently kill his parents, Nutley escapes to a landfill, Trash Mountain, where he settles in among the rats and gulls. 'It was said that the very earth of Trash Mountain was sullied and malodorous, which is another way of saying it stank, ' writes Yolen (Stone Angel) in one of several context-bringing sections titled 'This You Should Know, ' which appear between chapters. A story of identity and survival develops into one of friendship, courage, and teamwork, culminating in a tense showdown between the Grays and the landfill residents. Yolen balances the story's more upsetting moments with humor (a good bit of it is delivered by Larie, a rude but loyal gull Nutley befriends), while Monroe's (Monkey with a Tool Belt) b&w illustrationsa mix of heavily inked scenes and wiry spot artcapture Nutley's affability and determination to survive."Publishers Weekly

"When young Nutley's parents are attacked and killed by the violent members of an invading 'inferior race' living nearby, Nutley must leave his babyhood home and learn to make it on his own. Nutley is a red squirrel, while the assailants are gray squirrels--brutish, feisty and larger than red squirrels. His escape leads him to refuge in the town dump, where he encounters rats and sea gulls and negotiates several brushes with death while hanging on to his innate kindness. Violence and death, and the threat of both, are constants in the form of aggressive gray squirrels, nighttime predators and the swift-moving People Carriers (which roll over and crunch a gray squirrel or two at one point). Nutley longs to be Dangerous, as he characterizes the gray squirrels, yet at nearly every turn, another quality is demanded of him--something that one of his new friends calls courage. Conversational, nature-oriented sections titled 'This you should know' address readers before each chapter. Monroe's black-and-white drawings help to make this small world familiar, while Yolen charmingly creates a believable interior life for Nutley, complete with squirrel appetites and the worries of a youngster just a bit unready for survival. Though there's a suggestion the story is meant as fable, Nutley's adventure stands alone as a satisfying animal fantasy." --Kirkus Reviews

Author Bio

Jane Yolen lives in Massachusetts and has written more than 300 books across all genres and age ranges. She has been called the Hans Christian Andersen of America and the Aesop of the twentieth century.
Devil's Arithmetic, and How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight She is also a poet, a teacher of writing and literature, and a reviewer of children's literature. She has been called the Hans Christian Andersen of America and the Aesop of the twentieth century. Jane Yolen's books and stories have won the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, two Christopher Medals, the World Fantasy Award, three Mythopoeic Fantasy Awards, the Golden Kite Award, the Jewish Book Award, the World Fantasy Association's Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Association of Jewish Libraries Award among many others.