A boy’s frightening night hike through a bog

I read Christopher Wayland’s book, Crossing The Meadow, in an afternoon, partly because it’s short, but also because it’s an intriguing story. I think both kids and adults will enjoy it.

A young boy, about to start 5th grade, is bullied by two other boys who force him one night to walk the long way through the bog at the back of the boy’s house, without a light. The boy is convinced he’s going to die. And his walk is rather harrowing.

There’s more to the story, including the death of the boy’s beloved dog, and a father who is not around much.

I don’t want to give away the ending, but I can tell you I liked the way Chris worked into the story a young girl who was very familiar with the bog.

Having spent a lot of time in bogs, including a large one on my woodlot, I found the boy’s hike to be very fa         miliar, although I never walked through my bog at night. Turns out that can be frightening!

 

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.