Alexander was a young boy about 10 who longed for nothing more than to see and talk with his mother. Dad was stand-offish, probably still hurting himself but really didn’t pay much attention to Alex. Alex was a klutz, knobby-kneed English school-boy who was alone a lot.

Going to stay with his grandmother while Dad went off on another archeological expedition was a highlight! Until Alexander realizes that he is off on another sort of adventure. That of finding himself. He finds that his father was a daydreamer once, even drew kiddish maps of places to explore. After serious consideration, Alexander leaves grandmother a note and goes off on his own. But not for long.

In a true expedition fashion, one needs more than oneself to get along. Alexander meets many creatures on his journey, some good, some not. They assist or hinder as the case may be but Alexander pushes on no matter the issue to be faced. Yes, he is afraid and yes, he is hungry but he has a goal in sight and will not deviate from it.

A great story for camping! A great read-to-the youngun’s story! To be honest, I’m not sure this comes under the YA heading as I feel it might be too easy for that age group but every child needs to learn to get along and Alexander does so in wonderful fashion!