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Savage Mountain
a novel
John Smelcer
“Smelcer clearly knows
his way around Alaskan mountains.”
—David
Roberts, author of
The Mountain of My Fear, etc.
In the summer of 1980, brothers
Sebastian and James Savage decide to climb one of the
highest mountains in Alaska
to prove themselves to their father, a tough and unloving
man who has always belittled them. The brothers, always at
odds, develop different ways of coping with this rejection,
but each years to finally have his respect. Inspired by true
events, this story is not about father-son reconciliation.
Some relationships can never be mended. Instead, it’s a
touching story of two brothers who test their limits and
realize, finally, that their worth is not dictated by their
father, and that no matter how different they might be, the
strongest bond of all is brotherhood.
School
Library Journal:
Brothers James and Sebastian react differently to their
oppressive father's abuse. Sebastian tries to be the perfect
son, achieving in school and personal life, while James is a
rebel always getting in trouble. Neither approach works. So
they decide to spend their summer climbing a mountain and
prove they are "real men" to their Vietnam-vet,
football-playing father. While they are not able to change
their relationship with their dad, they are able to get to
the summit and grow as people and brothers. Set in the
interior of
Alaska,
this novel balances family dynamics, brother-bonding, and
high-stakes adventure. … The main characters are well
developed and readers get good insights into their
personalities and inner thoughts. The mountaineering and
Alaskan drama is realistic but also exotic, suspenseful, and
exciting…. Extreme adventure sequences and the strong
brotherly relationship make this a solid general purchase
Review from
Appalachia:
This novel for young adult readers
concerns the adventure of two brothers who escape the
tyranny of a broken father to climb a snow-capped peak in
Alaska. In this coming of age tale
the boys on the cusp of adulthood have to cross a river,
encounter a bear, scale a glacier, survive a mountain
snowstorm and avalanche — all before they attempt the 8,000
foot crag whose scaling seems to offer the solution to all
their problems. Smelcer clearly knows the vivid and
captivating Alaskan landscape well, as well as the
suddenness of action — a bear's unexpected appearance, a
storm's rapid entrance, a stream's swift rise into a roaring
river after the storm. Nature remains a raw, pure, powerful
force, just like family quarrels, siblings, and silences.
Smelcer likewise knows the art of hiding and disclosing
action; adult readers will take pleasure in the
stripped-down exploits that reveal the bare bones of a good
action tale. But this also makes a valuable tale for younger
readers because Smelcer tells the truth about adventure: the
world's challenges turn out to be gateways to inner
challenges. When the boys return home, not much has changed
with their lives, with their father. The physical world
remains the same. But the boys' inner landscapes have
altered. They have inevitably moved along their own personal
tracks toward adulthood.
Ragazine
Reviewed by
Steve Barfield
Some men know that they are always competing with one
another no matter the circumstance. Sometimes it happens
between father and sons. Seeking admiration from a distant
father, two young teenage brothers go into the perilous
wilderness throwing themselves upon a brutal and even
impossible mountain. Risk is in everything and the tension
propels the reader through this heart-stopping tale. … You
will feel the chill of an arctic wind blowing through his
story.… Smelcer crafts a breathtaking Alaskan
adventure story of struggle and
determined will as the boys run out of everything except
pure grit.
About the Author
 John
Smelcer is the poetry editor of
Rosebud
magazine and the author of more than forty books, including
adult and young adult fiction, poetry and nonfiction. He is
an Alaskan Native of the Ahtna tribe and is now the last
tribal member who reads and writes in Ahtna. John holds
degrees in anthropology and archaeology, linguistics,
literature, and education. He also holds a PhD in English
and creative writing from
Binghamton
University,
and formerly chaired the Alaska Native Studies program at
the
University
of Alaska
Anchorage.
His first novel, The Trap, was an American Library
Association BBYA Top Ten Pick, a VOYA Top Shelf Selection,
and a New York Public Library Notable Book. The Great
Death was short-listed for the 2011 William Allen White
Award, and nominated for the National Book Award, the
BookTrust Prize (England),
and the American Library Association’s Award for American
Indian YA Literature. His Alaska Native mythology books
include The Raven and the Totem (introduced by Joseph
Campbell). His short stories, poems, essays, and interviews
have appeared in hundreds of magazines, and he is the winner
of the 2004 Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award and of the 2004
Western Writers of America Award for Poetry for his
collection Without Reservation, which was nominated
for a Pulitzer. John divides his time between a cabin in
Talkeetna, the climbing capitol of
Alaska,
and
Kirksville
Mo.,
where he is a visiting scholar in the Department of
Communications Studies, and is creating a new Native
American Studies program, at
Truman
State
University.
Savage
Mountain
• John Smelcer
174 pages •
ISBN: 978-1-935248-65-1
Trade paperback, $12.00
Young Adult
August 2015
Published by Leapfrog Press LLC •
www.leapfrogpress.com
Distributed to the trade
by Consortium Book Sales & Distribution
www.cbsd.com
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August 2015
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