Sam, the main character in the book, My Side of the Mountain, leaves New York to live in the wilderness for a whole year. He does not have any practical, hands-on knowledge of how to survive at all. All of the information he has, he gleaned from reading library books. However, he has taught himself well as he is able to use that stored up knowledge in order to build himself a shelter, understand how to track animals, how to tame animals, and how to live off of the land.
