Book Report

 Wilderness Journey

1. The main theme in the book Wilderness Journey is if you persevere, you can reach your goal. In the book, the mother of James and John leaves them in Philadelphia to go to Pittsburgh and find a homestead. After a long time no letter comes from their mother so James and John decide to go find her. They strive to find her and are able to save her silver spoons which she gave them to pay a fare to Pittsburgh if they had to. When they finally get to Pittsburgh, they discover that she went north, and they agree to go north and find her even though the journey would be dangerous. 

2. I think the most important character in the book is Mr. Tom, a circuit rider. Mr. Tom brought "James Graham"(p.9) and "John"(p.10) from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh in western Pennsylvania so they could meet their mother. They didn't even have to pay him money as long as they "helped along the way"(p.66). James's mother had gone to Pittsburgh earlier to look for a homestead. When they got to Pittsburgh and couldn't find their mother, Mr. Tom helped James and John by "asking the tavern keeper about their mother"(p.119), and "George Adams, the postmaster"(p.122). He also went to "the courthouse"(p.123) to "find where Malcolm PcPherson's claim is located"(p.123) which was where Mary Graham was staying. When they finally discovered that Mary Graham was not in Pittsburgh and that she was in "the Shanago Valley"(p.133) up north, Mr. Tom brought them there and too their great joy they found their mother. Mr. Tom then performed a wedding ceremony when Mary got remarried to John Patterson. 

3. The most memorable part of the story is the end where James, John, and Mr. Tom reach the Shanago Valley and discover their mother is going to get remarried to the uncle of the who they traveled to Pittsburgh with.

          ""Married!" exclaimed James, his mouth falling open. "Then-then you are the woman John Patterson is going to marry!""(p.174).

4. I liked the book Wilderness Journey quite a lot. It was sad when James' father died, but for the rest of the book mostly only good and exciting things happened. The adventures they had during their travels were quite exciting, but they could have lasted longer. One exciting thing that happened was when a "terrible fire raced down the wooded bluff toward the creek"(p.104) and they had to get the wagon in the river and wade it out. One thing that made the book even more interesting is that it was all true except for the small adventures during the journey, which had to be made up because it happened so long ago.

          I don't think the book was a hard book to read or understand. There were not many big or different words, and there were not to many things to keep track of.

5. I decided to read the book Wilderness Journey because it wasn't to long or too short, and it seemed very interesting. I also thought it interesting because it happened a long time ago so I would get a better view of things historically.  I chose it also because it was a true story. 

6. I think the book was written well, and lots of imagination was used so the story would go together and be interesting. I think it could have been better if the author had made it more descriptive in some places, especially the exciting parts.

          It would be a good book for some people, but I don't think teenagers would enjoy it very much because It isn't exciting enough. They probably would enjoy a Hardy Boys book more.