Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains is a 2008 children's novel by Laurel Snyder.

Plot

Lucy lives in the land of Biwilderness, in a village called Thistle. She helps her family with the dairy farm and likes exploring the country side with her best friend. Lucy makes up songs that fit with the situation which gives her courage and raises her spirits. She learned how to make up songs from her mother. Her mother vanished when she was two years old. Lucy and her sister never say anything about their mother, because their father gets sad. When Whynston turns twelve, his father thinks that he should pratice being a prince which includes finding a princess. Whynston doesn't understand why he has to follow his father's rules, same with Lucy. When Whynston doesn't come to one of their berry picking parties, she is sad and decides to go on an adventure. She is going to climb the Scratchy Mountains so that she can find her mother.

Reception

A Kirkus Reviews review says, "This delightfully droll fairy tale features a feisty milkmaid named Lucy and her best friend, Prince Wynston. Wynston has been forced to swap berry-picking adventures with Lucy for lessons in the rules and rituals of courtship, as his father insists that he must find a proper princess to be his future Queen". The author of Finding the Light and The Black Pond, reviewed the book saying "Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains is a fun and charming story that will touch your heart".

References