Kneeknock Rise

Kneeknock Rise

Author & illustrator: Natalie Babbitt

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Award: Newbery honor

Grade Level: 3^rd to 5^th grade

Young Egan comes to visits his Aunt Gertrude and Uncle Anson town called Instep. The town is surrounded by mountains, but one mountain stands out called the Kneeknock Rise. The mountain is mysterious and makes a loud sound whenever there is a rain which leads to villagers thinking that there is a sort of monster which they call the “Megrimum” that live in the mountains. The villagers are afraid of the mountain and warn each other to never to venture towards the mountain. As Egan reaches his Uncle’s and Aunt’s place. He meets his cousin Ada who is straightforward and commands Egan to say hello to her cat, Sweetheart. The cat instead lunges at Egan to which he immediately begins to dislike the cat. When he enters the house, he sees an old dog Annabelle who is waiting for her owner Ott to come back. Egan immediately begins to be fond of Annabelle. He asks where his uncle Ott has gone to. His aunt tells him that Ott has been gone for few days which is unlike him and that she is worried that Megrimum might have taken him. The first time where Egan begins to understand the fascination behind the Megrimum. The same night, there is a loud thunder and rain. Egan gets up to find Annabelle cowering under the bed. With all the commotion, he hears a knock on the door. A strange creature like a person that is covered in mud. Aunt Gertrude sees the creature and faints screaming. She suspects that it is Megrimum. The next day everyone talks about the creature. Egan finds it fascinating that the villagers believe in this kind of things. Keeping that in mind, Egan visits a fair with Ada and Annabelle. While looking for a gift for his mother, Ada dares Egan to climb the mountain. Annoyed at first and mocks him calling him a ‘sissy’. To prove her wrong, he climbs up the mountain and Annabelle follows him too. Seeing that Egan is actually going up the mountain, Ada runs off to her father and tells him that Egan in climbing the mountain. Uncle Anson hurdles up the villagers and asks for help to find his nephew. While on the climb to the mountain, he loses Annabelle in thick fog. While trying to find Annabelle, he ends up meeting his uncle Ott. Ott takes him to the top of the mountain to show him that the mountain always  has a thick cloud surrounding the mountain because “it’s only a mineral spring.” Ott tells him that the creature was him. He was knocking the door to get Annabelle’s attention but instead, he saw Gertrude screaming her lungs out. When Egan asks him to come down the village, Ott tells him that the air on the mountain is actually helping with his breathing and that he does not want to go down to the village. He tells Egan that the villagers are too captivated by the story of the Megrimum and that telling them the truth about the mountain is not going to satisfy them. And it becomes just that. When Egan tries to tell his uncle, aunt, and Ada that Megrimum does not exist then no one believes him. Egan learns that sometimes it is better to leave some mystery than to know the truth to let the imagination of the other go wild. Egan leaves the village to unite with his mother taking the truth about the mountains with him.

Thoughts:

You know the saying ‘don’t judge the book by its cover.’ Well, I did. I thought for some reason that this book was going to be about a dog just because there was a cover featuring a dog. Well, Annabelle does play a significant role in this book, but it is not entirely about her. I love this book because it is short and simple. The story does not really take off till you are halfway through the book. The first half, Egan is trying to understand the mystery behind the disappearance of beloved Annabelle owner, Egan’s uncle, Ott. On the second part, it is revealed the reasons behind Ott disappearance and why he chose to stay on the mountain instead of coming down to the village. A fantastic book for 3^rd to 5^th graders as it has a mystery with a little bit of fantasy! This book is filled with beautiful vocabularies which will be good to teach students. Oh and also an illustration that will give a break for the eyes for reading the book non-stop!