On Snowden Mountain

Name: On Snowden Mountain
Brand: Brilliance Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Jeri Watts
ISBN: 9781978665576

Author: Jeri Watts

Narrator: Megan Tusing

Unabridged: 3 hr 49 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download (DRM Protected)

Publisher: Candlewick on Brilliance Audio

Published: 09/10/2019

Categories: Children's Fiction, Historical Stories, Children's Lifestyles, Children's Social Themes

Synopsis

Twelve-year-old Ellen learns the quiet strength of family when her mother’s deep depression prompts her to ask an estranged aunt for help.Ellen’s mother has struggled with depression before, but not like this. With her father away fighting in World War II and her mother unable to care for them, Ellen’s only option is to reach out to her cold, distant aunt Pearl. Soon enough, city-dwelling Ellen and her mother are shepherded off to the countryside to Aunt Pearl’s home, a neat little cabin at the base of Snowden Mountain. Adjusting to life in a small town is no easy thing: the school has one room, one of her classmates smells of skunks, and members of the community seem to whisper about Ellen’s family. But even as she worries that depression is a family curse to which she’ll inevitably succumb, Ellen slowly begins to carve out a space for herself and her mother on Snowden Mountain in this thoughtful, heartfelt middle-grade novel from Jeri Watts.

About Jeri Watts

Jeri Watts worked as a public school teacher for twenty-seven years. She has written numerous short stories and is the author of the novel Kizzy Ann Stamps. She received an Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award for her picture book A Piece of Home, illustrated by Hyewon Yum, which was also named a Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year. Jeri Watts lives in Lexington, Virginia.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Shelby M. on January 03, 2020

I received an advance review copy of this book from Candlewick Press through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. Trigger warnings: Depression, child abuse, domestic violence 3.5 stars My Video Review Likes: - Examination of mental health and illness - Growth of character - Representation of intergene......more

Goodreads review by Alex on February 13, 2020

It didn't take long once WWII began for 12-year-old Ellen Hollingsworth's father to join the army and go off to fight Hitler in Europe, leaving his daughter to care for their home and her catatonically depressed mother. Now, it's September 1942 and Ellen has run out of money, food, and the kindness......more

Goodreads review by Linda on September 30, 2019

Thanks to Candlewick Press for this poignant novel set during World War II handling some tough topics with ease for a middle grade audience. Ellen Hollingsworth's Aunt Pearl comes to the rescue when her father proudly signs up to go to war and leaves her and her mother to survive. Really, it's Ellen......more

Goodreads review by Olivia on November 26, 2019

See my full review here: [URL not allowed] ON SNOWDEN MOUNTAIN is a heavy historical middle grade read, which deals with depression, alcoholism, war, domestic abuse/violence, and child abuse as well as possibly dyslexia. Ellen's father left for war, leaving her mother to fall b......more

Goodreads review by Meredith on May 05, 2021

This is a beautiful story that follows a girl named Ellen and the changes she goes through during part of WWII. While her father is off fighting, she and her mother move to Snowden Mountain Virginia to live with her mother's sister, an aunt she barely knows. Ellen calls her to take them away because......more