Follows a young Swiss boy who has grown up in the mountains as he becomes the page to a boorish knight, travels to a castle, meets a lovely young noble girl and her fool/guardian, travels back to the mountains and defies the wicked nobles alongside his adoptive father, William Tell.
A nice-enough story, although a bit slow in parts. ( )

Julia Davis Adams, whose Vaino: A Boy Of New Finland was a Newbery Honor Book in 1930, was so honored a second time in a row with this 1931 Newbery Honor Book - one of eight titles chosen that year, along with Floating Island, Queer Person, and Spice and the Devil's Cave (amongst others) - which follows the story of a young Swiss boy in the early 14th century, who finds himself caught up in an adventure, first in Austria, and then back home in Switzerland. Afraid that he is a burden to the Tell family, who had taken him in after the death of his grandfather, Bruno decides to become a page to Sir Rupprecht von Lowenhohe, a foreign knight traveling through the Swiss mountains, and returns with him to Austria, to the castle of his liege lord, the Duke of Valberg. Here Bruno has many adventures and misadventures, often finding himself in trouble; and is befriended by Kyo the minstrel, and by the strong-willed but goodhearted Lady Zelina. When Zelina, barely thirteen, is betrothed to the brutal Sir Rupprecht, the three friends flee, making for the freedom of the Swiss mountains. Once there, however, they discover that the freedom of the mountains, and the hereditary rights of the Swiss, under the Holy Roman Emperor, are under threat from two bailiffs, imposed from without by the powerful Austrian Hapsburg monarchy. Bruno's adoptive father, William Tell, is soon in the thick of things, as is Bruno...

It took a lot of effort, and a few false starts to track this old Newbery title down! I had to request it twice - apparently it came in for me around Christmas, and I never picked it up, although I have no memory of getting a notification! - and the copy that did eventually come is falling apart. It was worth it however, as I found Mountains Are Free to be an immensely engaging read! I finished it in two sittings, on the same day, practically gulping it down in a little over two hours! The storyline was involving, the characters appealing, and the history quite interesting! I was familiar with the story of William Tell, of course, and his shooting of the apple off of his son's head (before his killing of the corrupt official, Gessler, who forced him to do such a thing), but Adams gives the folk legend a solid background in her novel, and one gets a sense of the perpetual struggle of the Swiss to maintain their freedoms, in the face of the powerful interests, from the Austrians to the Catholic church, that surrounded them. I find it interesting that both of Adams' Newbery titles feature the struggle of a people for independence, from outside colonialists/would-be colonialists. In any case, this was an engaging work of historical fiction, being both entertaining and informative (it also features lovely artwork by Theodore Nadejen), and is one I would not hesitate to recommend to contemporary readers. Well worth reprinting, I think! ( )