I am thrilled to be hosting a spot
on the LIGHT COMES TO SHADOW MOUNTAIN by Toni Buzzeo Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out
my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!
About The Book:
Title: LIGHT COMES TO SHADOW MOUNTAIN
Author: Toni Buzzeo
Pub. Date: July 11, 2023
Publisher: Holiday
House
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Pages: 272
Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/LIGHT-COMES-TO-SHADOW-MOUNTAIN
Cora Mae Tipton is determined to
light up her Appalachian community in this historical fiction novel from an
award-winning author and former librarian.
It’s 1937 and the government is pushing to bring electricity to the mountains
of southeastern Kentucky. It’s all Cora can think of; radios with news from
around the world, machines that keep food cold, lightbulbs by which to read at
night! Cora figures she can help spread the word by starting a school newspaper
and convincing her neighbors to support the Rural Electrification Act.
But resistance to change isn’t easy to overcome, especially when it starts at
home. Cora’s mother is a fierce opponent of electrification. She argues that
protecting the landscape of the holler—the trees, the streams, the land that
provides for their way of life—is their responsibility. But Cora just can’t let
go of wanting more.
Lyrical, literary, and deeply heartfelt, this debut novel from an award-winning
author-librarian speaks to family, friendship, and loss through the spirited
perspective of a girl eager for an electrified existence, but most of all, the
light of her mother’s love and acceptance.
Back matter includes an Author’s Note; further information on the Rural
Electrification Act, the herbs and plants of Appalachia, the Pack Horse Library
Project, and more; and a “Quick Questions” historical trivia section for
readers.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Light Comes to Shadow Mountain
By Toni Buzzeo
Excerpt for Rockstar Book Tours
Excerpt from Light Comes to Shadow Mountain / Text copyright © 2023 by Toni Buzzeo. Reproduced with permission from Holiday House Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.
ONE
In the News
When Miss Bentley rings the Friday dismissal bell, Ceilly and I slide out of the wooden desk we share and push past the eighth graders rising in the back row. We scramble for the coat hooks next to the door and hurry into the fading daylight.
“Do you have it?” Ceilly demands.
I pat my pocket. “It’s like to burn a hole in here!”
I take off up the path after Ceilly. Behind us, kids large and small scatter in all directions—down, up, and off to either side—from our one-room schoolhouse perched midway up on Shadow Mountain.
As often as I can slip away for a speck of time alone, I follow this path far past all of the houses, to its very end. There, from the peak of Shadow Mountain, I catch glimpses of our homes nestled below. Each one is much like the others, from oak shingled roofs and weathered barns to stone springhouses and charred smokehouses, and always, sprawling gardens competing for sun among the towering trees. Beyond them, I can only just make out the mouth of the holler and the little town of Spruce Lick, with the general store, the boarding house, the building-supplies and feed store, the Presbyterian church, and the empty bank building, closed five years ago now, Pap says.
When I gaze straight out, I see more peaks stretching as far as forever, filling me full of love for these mountains.
Or, depending on the day and Mommy’s mood, with a secret long- ing for what might lie beyond them.
At the moment, I’m having a hard time fixing my gaze on Ceilly. She might as well have been born a cottontail as a girl, so as much as I try to stay close on her heels, I lose all sight of her when she swerves off the path. But I’ve known her, and this path, for as long as I’ve known anyone, excepting my family. That’s why, well before the fork, I veer off into the woods, past the sweet-smelling witch hazel, and head to the beechnut tree where I’m certain she’ll be waiting.
A startled chipmunk skitters away at my footfall, its cheek pouches bulging with early autumn nuts. I hurry through fallen leaves in my bare feet, the first of October still too early for costly shoes. I’m careful to avoid the prickly burs on my way to the beechnut that’s been our tree, mine and Ceilly’s, since the day we scratched our names in the trunk when we were only five years old. We’ve traced the letters with our fingertips countless times in the six years since—a tribute to our friendship. I don’t hardly remember why we chose this particular tree in a forest of them, but it’s been special to us ever since.
About Toni Buzzeo:
Toni Buzzeo is a New York Times bestselling children’s author.
She has published twenty-nine picture books for kids as well as eleven books
for teachers and librarians. A former librarian and college and high school
writing teacher, Toni and her books have won many awards, including a Caldecott
Honor for One Cool Friend, illustrated by David Small. Endlessly
enthusiastic, Toni draws on her career experiences as an elementary school
librarian in crafting her books and speaking with audiences of children in
schools and libraries. Toni lives in Arlington, Massachusetts.
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon
Giveaway Details:
1 winner
will receive a finished copy of LIGHT COMES TO SHADOW MOUNTAIN, US Only.
Ends August
22nd, midnight EST.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
Week Two:
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