MMGM- Light Comes to Shadow Mountain

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Buzzeo, Toni. Light Comes to Shadow Mountain

July 11, 2023 by Holiday House

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Cora lives with her family in southeastern Kentucky in 1937 in the mountain town of Spruce Lick. Her father is working with the Civilian Conservation Corps, and her pregnant mother has her hands full with Cora and her toddler twin brothers as well as her work as an herbalist. Their small community is close knit and has everything they need, but Cora is excited to learn that electricity may be coming to her area. Her father even takes a new job with the Southeast Counties Rural Electrical Cooperative Corporation, organizing supplies and equipment to install this network. Her mother, who has suffered the loss of her parents as well as Cora's older sister to the flu, thinks that electricity will disrupt their quiet way of life, and is against it. Cora and her best friend, Cielly (whose parents both died in a house fire, and who now lives with a great aunt), want all of the benefits of electricity, and are especially excited to bring it to their school. Unfortunately, there have to be a certain number of subscribers to have the lines put in place, and it is expensive. The school would have to have the initial $5 to join, and would then have to pay $3 a month for service, which is money that the school doesn't have. Cora and Cielly organize a pie sale, asking neighbors to donate pies, and selling them to raise funds. After a poor start, this does bring in the needed funds, but their teacher tells them the board still won't agree. Cora's cousin Glenna has just moved in with the family from Michigan, and there are some hitches in the girls' relationship, but they do try to get along. Cora is vaguely aware that Glenna has been abused, and has sought shelter in Spruce Lick. When one of the twins is badly burned in an outdoor fire, he must spend weeks in the hospital fighting an infection, and the money is used for that. Glenna is very helpful when Cora tries to sell embroidered handkerchiefs to replace the money for the school. Cora's mother goes into labor prematurely, and the baby arrives in need of help. Will Cora be able to get the baby to the hospital for needed intervention, and will the hospital's use of electricity convince her mother of the importance of this new technology?

Strengths: There's so much to love in this book, and I have had more students asking for historical fiction lately. The Great Depression is quickly slipping away from collective memory, and I am glad that this book does such a great job of showing readers what life was like during this time. At the beginning, there is a brief mention that even in October, Cora is still going barefoot instead of wearing "expensive shoes"! Cora likes her small town, but wants to experience life outside of it. I loved the feeling of community, with the women (who probably have very little) willing to donate pies to help out the school. The fact that Cora's sister died of the flu and Cielly's parents are also gone is sadly common for this time period. There is some interesting information about the role of herbalists in mountain communities, and there are some helpful notes about several topics at the end of the book. The cover by David Dean is fantastic!
Weaknesses: This is all a ME problem: I was so utterly captivated by the premise of this (Rural electrification! When my mother would have been just three!) that I had hoped there would be a bit more about the process, thinking we would see Cora's home as they got lights and maybe an electric range or washer. This took a little different direction, with the drama surrounding the birth of Cora's sister. Students will probably prefer that, and the episode made a very strong case for the usefulness of electricity, but after thinking about it all day (I kid you not!) I had hoped to see Cora marveling over an electric toaster. I'm always grateful for modern conveniences like indoor plumbing, but my students have no concept of a world without electricity, and I wanted to be able to hand them a book that showed them that sort of wonder.
What I really think: Definitely purchasing, and I would love to see another Depression era book from Ms. Buzzeo, especially as we approach the 100th anniversary of the stock market crash of 1929. There are also few books set in Appalachia (Watts' On Snowden Mountain is set during WWII.), and since Columbus is not far from that area, I would love to see more on that are in middle grade literature.