In this rousing coming-of-age story set on the American frontier, one ornery twelve-year-old has a lot to learn if he's to survive his new life as a mountain man. Having run away after hitting Pa in a bout of rage, Jesse decides to fend for himself. Too much uncontrollable anger and inexplicable emotion since Ma went away have taken their toll. All he wants now is to be left alone. At first, every day on the mountain is a struggle. Beset by hunger and cold, fear and loneliness, Jesse stubbornly and defiantly refuses to concede defeat. Gradually, he learns to hunt, to skin and cure animal pelts, to build a cabin … all skills necessary to life in the wilderness. He takes on a mad mountaineer and even helps kill a bear. In so doing, Jesse slowly gains confidence and insight beyond his years. "I was watching me turn myself into a mountain man." An action-packed adventure proves a provocative voyage of self-discovery as one young boy observes the best and worst in nature, people, and himself.