The Other Side of the Mountain, by E.G. Valens

Reviewed by Maryann Mule', 13, Trenton, NJ

A different side of the mountain is climbed as skier Jill Kinmont works her way back to health from a haunting fall. In the last qualifying race for the olympic tryouts, Jill crashes to Earth at 40 miles per hour, which leaves her paralyzed for life. She is torn from the mental stress of finding out what her journey in life will be because her skiing talent has been taken away. Of course, all news reporters say that she would've made the olympic team...if only...she hadn't fallen...if only...

This book was based on the movie The Other Side of the Mountain. Because of this, I felt that the book did not go into much detail and only summarized the movie. Through Jill Kinmont's travels back to health, E. G. Valens does not show many internal fights and thoughts of her. In this way, the book is very ineffective.

I would recommend this book to the typical skier. It involves a lot of vocabulary relating to skiing. The book describes her runs with action. I found that during these scenes I held my breath because they were described so well.

"Maryann Mule' lives in Trenton, NJ. She is 13 years old and will be in eighth grade starting in September 1995. Maryann enjoys playing many sports including soccer, softball, baseball, volleyball, and swimming. Besides sports, she likes to read, sing, act, and play with animals."

Teacher: Pat Coats

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