Language: G (0 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: PG (birth of a baby, not graphic); Violence: PG (implication and evidence of domestic abuse)
BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
11yo Cora Mae Tipton lives in a small cabin in Kentucky. It's 1937 and she has some great dreams - she wants to do well in school, well enough to get a scholarship to a High School, and someday work as a journalist. But for right now, she would love for her home to be one of the first on the mountain to receive electricity. Electric Lights! Just imagine, Cora could read and study after dark! But her mother, the mountain's herbalist won't hear of it - too much change, the introduction of electricity into their homes will ruin everything.
Beautifully written and so engaging! I loved Cora and her best friend Cielly, they were the perfect schemers and planners. Cora's twin brothers were realistic 4 year olds, and even Cora's cousin from the city was well developed. Buzzeo's descriptions of the girls pressing baby clothes with the stove-heated irons, the danger of the soap making, and the one room school house were fantastic. I love nostalgia, especially the Great Depression, unfortunately, it's a hard sell to my middle school students. The Tipton family is white, descended from Scottish immigrants.
Lisa Librarian
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