Gom on Windy Mountain

by Grace Chetwin

Book Overview

Gom, the son of a poor woodcutter and his wife, grows up with his father after his mother leaves home and his siblings go to stay with townsfolk and discovers he has unusual abilities which bring him trouble, yet lead him to envision a different sort of life for himself.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0440205433
• ISBN13: 9780440205432
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf Library
• Length: 206 Pages
• Weight: 0.27 lbs.
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

Gom Book I: Magic for "Different" Children

Bet you didn't know this is the first in a series of nine books, Legends of Ulm. Enough here to enchant a young reader over many a long winter, or reward young pupils with a magical reading hour at day's end. Recently I've read or reread - and loved - them all (hard copies are available again from the author's website, feralpressinc.com). This first book is especially fine, as the opening of a world of magic. It will enthrall children growing up round pegs in square holes, birds in the land of the earthbound, strangers in their own world. Like many of us "foundlings," Gom loves his uncomprehending father, yet because he is inherently different in his feelings and capacities, cannot connect with his family or the folk in his town. He dreams of his mysterious, missing mother, and hungry for friends, learns to understand small creatures, instead of people. And finds out the hard way how wrong he can be about the way the human world wags. He begins to develop his gifts, and then to learn something of the truth of his origins, which in fairytale speak, of course, means his own place in life. He dreams of setting out to look for his magician mother, believing that finding her will land him in a world in which he too can fit. The many gifted children to whom I read or gave this book not only loved it, and quoted from it at apt moments over the years, but were encouraged by it to believe in themselves, to acknowledge and learn from their mistakes, and to search for ways of reaching the magic in their own spirits.

My first Books

I only read Riddle and the Rune, the Crystal Stairs and i was sure there was at least one more. These books were great, I have the riddle and the rune but would love for these books to be re-released so i could buy them for my neice to enjoy

"What do mean, 'What kind of weird name is "Gom"?'"

Don't skip a book because of a strange name! This book and it's two sequels, 'The Riddle and the Rune', and 'The Crystal Stair' were true diamonds found in a srange library in a new school, that identified with a kid looking for his purpose in life in 1992. Being some of the most memorable books I was lucky enough to trip over, my only regret was not pestering my parents to find and buy these books. My hope is that someone comes to their senses and re-publishes these diamonds, or failing that, that some other lost kid trips over them in their school library.

A Realisitic Fantasy

This book was an escape for me as a child, and I wish I could find it again.

It was a wonderful fantasy book for the youngsters

I read this back in elementary school and just loved it. Now I'm trying to find a copy of it somewhere, but its out of print. Hopefully one day again it will come back.