Who is the character Bando in My Side of the Mountain?

Bando is the first human friend that Sam makes on the mountain. 

One day Sam hears police sirens on the road leading up to the mountain then finds a man at his tree (Sam's hollowed tree). Though Sam believes that the man is a criminal fleeing the police, he approaches him. 

After a time, Sam learns that Bando is not a bandit at all, but rather a college professor who got lost on a hike.

Staying with Sam for a while, Bando and Sam share a good time together making music and eating from Sam's supply of food. 

Bando later returns to visit Sam on several occasions and becomes Sam's primary link to the world outside the mountain. A caring and intelligent man, Bando enjoys Sam's company and does not try to persuade Sam to go back home. 

Sam learns from Bando that newspapers have picked up on Sam's story and word is spreading about a boy living wild in the woods.

Who is the main character in My Side of the Mountain?

Jean Craighead George's book My Side of the Mountain is a well-known children's novel about courage, friendship, and becoming independent. This book was first published in 1959.

The main character in this novel is a fourteen-year-old boy named Sam Gribley. Sam is from a large family, having eight brothers and sisters. Sam and his family live in New York City in a busy apartment. While living in New York, Sam studies at the New York Public Library in an attempt to learn survival skills which will come in handy when he runs away to his great-grandfather's farm in order to get some time away from his family.

Sam proves himself to be self-sufficient and is able to live off the land by foraging and trapping animals. He builds a home in the middle of a tree and uses fire to help himself build canoes.

Sam also makes friends with the animals while he is living on his own. He traps and keeps a falcon named Frightful, a weasel named The Baron, and a raccoon named Jesse Coon James. He also makes several human friends. Sam meets an old man nicknamed Bando, a teen named Matt, and another man named Aaron.

Sam argues with his family about living on his own but eventually earns the right to be by himself when he turns eighteen.

Sam Gribley is the main character.  Sam lives in the woods for an entire year, fending for himself.  Almost as much a "central" character as Sam are the wild animals with whom he interacts.  You can find out more about "My Side of the Mountain" by visiting the link below. 

Who are the three main characters in My Side of the Mountain?

Picking three main characters for this book is an interesting challenge. On one hand, I think you could adequately defend the main characters being Sam Gribley, Frightful, Jesse Coon James, and Baron Weasel. The narrative does give each of those animals a fair amount of story time, and readers do get attached to their unique "personalities"; however, I don't like including animals in the list of main characters for this book. My Side of the Mountain isn't a fantasy book with talking animals. The story is about Sam, his survival, and how he uses the tools around him to better survive. In many ways, I see Frightful as equivalent to Brian's hatchet from the book Hatchet. Readers would never think of that particular tool as a character; therefore, I prefer to answer with only human characters for this question. Besides Sam, I think readers would have to include the English teacher Bando. Bando spends ten days with Sam in the summer, and he returns for a visit at Christmas. Bando becomes a father figure for Sam in some ways, and I think he could very much be called a main character. For the third main character, I would recommend choosing between Tom Sidler and Miss Turner. Both of the characters could be called Sam's friends, and they help him out from time to time.

Identify the protagonist of "My Side of the Mountain."

The main character, or protagonist, of the story "My Side of the Mountain" is Sam Gribley.  When the book begins, Sam is in his early teens.  He comes from a family of 11, so he values alone time a lot.  That is probably one reason why he wants to go off on his big adventure in the wilderness.  His parents must either trust him a lot, or just want one fewer kid to deal with for awhile, because they are more than okay with Sam taking off for the mountains alone.  His dad says that every boy should have one such adventure in his life.  Whatever the reason, Sam goes out to live on his own.  He is a very resourceful young man as well as determined.  I mentioned that he values his alone time and independence, but that doesn't mean he is anti social.  He does make friends while he is staying in the woods, and Sam even has one guy live with him for a week or so.