by Jane Kelley
So it’s agreed. We say good-bye to Mrs. T. Dad puts Lucy’s backpack in the trunk. Then we drive to Vermont, where the summer can begin all over again.
It feels strange to be riding in a car, back to Vermont. Only I’m not really undoing all the miles I hiked. In my mind, I’m still hiking. I’ll always be hiking. No matter what else is going on in my life, no matter how much trash people dump on my Trail or how hard seventh grade is, I won’t let anything bother me. I’ll just keep remembering how my Loyal Dog and I hiked the Appalachian Trail. And survived!
Author’s Note
The Appalachian Trail really does pass through Vermont and Massachusetts as it stretches from Georgia to Maine. However, Megan’s journey and all the people she meets are fictional. To tell her story, I have invented many landmarks and left out others. But you can really climb Mount Greylock. If you make it to the top, you’ll see the stone tower and you’ll be able to buy a snack—unless the store has closed for the day!
jane kelley lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and daughter. She has enjoyed many summers in Vermont. This is her first book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2010 by Jane Kelley
Illustrations copyright © 2010 by Heather Palisi
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kelley, Jane A.
Nature Girl / by Jane Kelley. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: While spending the summer in Vermont, eleven-year-old Megan gets lost on the Appalachian Trail and she decides to hike to Massachusetts to visit her best friend.
eISBN: 978-0-375-89326-1
[1. Survival—Fiction. 2. Lost children—Fiction. 3. Self-confidence—Fiction.
4. Friendship—Fiction. 5. Best friends—Fiction. 6. Appalachian Trail—Fiction.
7. Vermont—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.28168Nd 2010
[Fic]—dc22
2009019078
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