On Call Back Mountain

Gorgeous. So concisely covers themes of beauty, wilderness, death, courage, and hope - brings home the idea that all that is united and intertwined.

I thought this book was weird. Eve Bunting can go either way and Barry Moser can as well.

Some parts of this book were charming and some felt a little off. But I’m 100% Team Pleasant Story and so that is likely coloring my review.

It’s a good example of living in nature and it touches on difficult subjects like fire and death.

It’s nice to have a book that is pro environment without being pro activist.

“On Call Back Mountain” is a touching book that reminds children that even when someone passes away their spirit can live on. The two boys have a friend named Bosco who comes to the mountain they live on every summer to live up in the fire tower. Every night the boys and Bosco shine a lantern across the distance to say goo night, but one night Bosco does not respond because he has passed away. However, that night the boys see a wolf, which is unique in itself because there has been no wolves there since the forest fires. The wolf has long legs like Bosco and howls to the moon like Bosco would. The boys realize that not even death could keep Bosco from returning to the mountains that he loved so much. The boys can find comfort show more knowing that their dear friend has come back to the place that he loves and treasures the most. show less

This is a realistic fiction placed in the mountains. It deals with the boys rejoicing in the life of the mountains and their family traditions, going through the grief of losing a close friend, and finding comfort in the legend of the lone wolf. A very colorful portrait of mountain life, and would also be a good text for discussing grief.

Moving story about two boys who live at the bottom of a mountain near the edge of the wilderness and their friendship with an older man who comes in the summers to watch out for forest fires from the lookout tower on the top of the mountain. The story itself is sweet and the message is one of the circle of life types of stories. The beginning might be a little unclear for some if they don't read the synapsis on the front inside cover. Could be used in upper elementary grades to touch on the subject of death as well as the environment.

Bosco the old fireman comes every summer to watch from his lookout tower for fire. This year Ben and family are excited to see Bosco for a breif moment before he takes to the mountain. Bosco ends up dying but the young boy takes his place. Bosco becomes a wolf.