Journey Inward

By Jean Craighead George

The Journey Inward: 2 This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525241086
• ISBN13: 9780525241089
• Release Date: May 1982
• Publisher: E. P. Dutton
• Length: 244 Pages
• Weight: 1.07 lbs.
• Dimensions: 20.0" x 20.0" x 20.0"

Customer Reviews

The Autobiography of a True Legend in Children's Literature

JOURNEY INWARD is the 1982 autobiography of Jean Craighead George, author of around 100 books (almost all for children and young adults, and almost all related to science and nature), including the Newbery Medal winner, JULIE OF THE WOLVES, and the Newbery Honor winner, MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN. This book basically covers from the period of newly wed Jean writing her first book (published in 1948) until the time JOURNEY INWARD was published, with a few flashbacks to her childhood and earlier adulthood. The opening chapters describe Jean's early years with husband John, spending three years living in a tent in the woods near Ann Arbor, Michigan - the two of them conducted research on the surrounding forest wildlife for these years while John worked on his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan and Jean began writing the children's books she has become so famous for. Jean did the vast majority of the writing (though her name is second on the six books she "co-authored" with her husband), along with helping / pushing John to complete his doctoral thesis, being a housewife ("tentwife?"), and raising three children, causing an ever-widening rift to slowly grow between the two of them. Jean eventually began writing and publishing on her own, and as she eventually realized that the marriage could not be salvaged, she and John divorced and went their separate ways after 20 years of marriage. The book chronicles Jean's struggle to make a living, stay true to her artistic integrity in her writing, and raise three children in the turbulent era of the 1960's (none of these an easy feat for a single woman, especially in that time period). A recurring element of the book involves the ongoing contact with the famous family Jean was raised in - her older twin brothers became famous at a young age for bringing falconry to America, and later did the first grizzly studies in the world, pioneering the use of radio tracking collars and following grizzlies over many years. Jean's father was also a renowned naturalist who published several books, and was involved in setting land / water / wildlife policy in South Florida, including the Everglades. While her extended family does figure into the book, I found myself wanting to know more about them. But, alas - this is Jean's life story, not theirs. A large part of the book, toward the end, is devoted to Jean's research of, and writing of, JULIE OF THE WOLVES, which initially received a chilly reception from some critics as being quite "over-the-top" - "Oh, come on, a girl living with a pack of wolves?!?" But Jean's ever-meticulous research paid off in the end, as JULIE OF THE WOLVES was recognized for the masterpiece it is, and was named the 1973 Newbery Medal winner, the "best book for children" published the previous year (and later named one of the top ten children's books of the century). Jean tells her life story with a candid honesty, even when it means not painting herself in the most flattering light a

A story of self-discovery from a wonderful nature writer

Best-loved children's nature writer Jean Craighead George generously lends her most dedicated fans and admirers a look into her personal life in this dramatic autobiography. She covers her life from the shaky beginnings of co-writing with a dominant husband, to the proud winning of the Pulitzer Prize of children's books, the Newbery Medal. Struggling to achieve independence and recognition for her work, Ms. George does a good job of portraying her feelings toward her life as a parent, writer, and naturalist. Throughout her life Ms. George constantly compares herself with the animals she studies and writes about--from the song sparrow couples who befriend her and her husband, to the matriarchal nanny leaders of rocky mountain goats and the magnificent black alpha male wolf of a Mt. McKinley pack. In doing this she forms an increasingly powerful bond with the natural world and her words build more meaning throughout her long career. Ms. George covers the turbulent and problematic events leading up to, and following, her separation from an unsympathetic husband, the joys and troubles of raising three children, and the constant struggle to deal with her femininity in a time when men were often more highly regarded than women. When times are hard--when teenage drug dealers and little money threaten--Ms. George always finds strength in the natural world both inside and outside her home. Her pets, besides the usual dogs and cats, often included a menagerie of wild beasts--raccoons, bats, skunks, crows, owls, and frogs--providing humor and warmth both to Ms. George's life and to the book. Outdoors, Ms. George spent hours observing the characters in her books--the goats of GOING TO THE SUN, the gulls of GULL NUMBER 737. She dreamed of living off the land and surviving among nature like Sam Gribley in MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN. There is a long, fascinating lead up to Ms. George's greatest work, JULIE OF THE WOLVES, in which she journeys to the tundra of Arctic Alaska to observe and communicate with wolves and befriend the efficient Eskimo people. JOURNEY INWARD was published in 1982, and since then Ms. George has written dozens more marvelous children's books and continues to write in her home in Chappaqua, New York. This is a fascinating glimpse into the life of our finest children's nature writer, an author of over eighty books, and a spectacular person.