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Summary
Summary
2019 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People Honor Book
2019 Jefferson Cup Award Honor Book for Young Readers
The Best Children's Books of the Year 2019, Bank Street College
STARRED REVIEW! "Beautiful and intelligent historical fiction in the vein of Christopher Paul Curtis, Vince Vawter, and Mildred D. Taylor. A must-have for school and public library collections." --School Library Journal starred review
Nate's family has a secret, and it's wrapped up in a song. The problem is, his preacher father hates music, and when he catches Nate hanging around downtown Bristol with musicians like Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family, he comes down hard on him. So Nate sets out in search of himself and the song he thinks will heal his family. Set during the "big bang" of country music in the late 1920s, Nate's journey of self-discovery parallels that of a region finding its voice for the first time.
Author Notes
Ronald Kidd is the author of 13 novels for young readers, including the highly acclaimed Night on Fire and Monkey Town: The Summer of the Scopes Trial. His novels of adventure, comedy, and mystery have received the Children's Choice Award, an Edgar Award nomination, and honors from the American Library Association, the International Reading Association, the Library of Congress, and the New York Public Library. He is a two-time O'Neill playwright who lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-8-In 1927, the "big bang" of country music occurred in a hotel in Bristol, TN, when folk artists like Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family were recorded for the brand new Victrola record players. For 13-year-old Nate Owens, these recording sessions open up a new world of technology and music, both of which are forbidden by his preacher father's strict beliefs. As Nate struggles to understand his father and the mysteries of his family's past, he runs away from home, rides the rails, and eventually finds work as a car mechanic for A.P. Carter and Lesley "Esley" Riddle, scouring rural Appalachia for songs to record. This remarkable novel deftly winds history and fiction together in a compelling and moving story of music and identity. From unionization clashes to racial segregation, religious snake handling to mass poverty and unemployment, this historical novel explores the rapidly changing world of Prohibition-era Appalachia with incredible nuance and thoughtfulness. Through Nate's honest and engaging first-person narration, Kidd crafts a voice and a journey that is, like the Carter Family's songs, both old and new, rooted in tradition yet fresh and distinct. VERDICT Beautiful and intelligent historical fiction in the vein of Christopher Paul Curtis, Vince Vawter, and Mildred D. Taylor. A must-have for school and public library collections.-Molly Saunders, Homewood Public Library, AL © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Thirteen-year-old Nate's preacher father hates music, but it captivates Nate, who becomes friends with the musical Carter family and other musicians in town. When Nate leaves home, he discovers his father's music aversion is related to the death of Nate's two-year-old sister years ago. Set in 1927 Tennessee, this novel satisfyingly incorporates real history, capturing a boy's poignant coming-of-age as well as a fruitful time in country music. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
With the birth of country music as his backdrop, a boy searches for music's place in his troubled family.Thirteen-year-old Nate Owen's father, pastor of the Church of Consecrated Heaven and Satan's on the Run (located in a tent on the empty lot next door), preaches relentlessly that music is a sin. Nate can't understand why. There's plenty of music in the Bible. Nate's family has been broken since Nate's sister died when Nate was only 2, and Nate wants out. It's 1927. Nate lives in the divided town of Bristol, which straddles the Tennessee/Virginia state line. That summer a man from Victor Records comes to record mountain music for the very first time. Nate, captivated, can't keep away. Gradually, and believably, he becomes friends with and then an employee of the soon-to-be-famous Carter family, musicians from nearby Scott County. The Carters and the fictional characters are white, but Lesley Riddle, a real black man who helped A.P. Carter find songs, makes an important contribution, helping readers understand that while Bristol's downtown sign read "A Good Place to Live," that was true only for white residents. Nate tells the story in retrospect, so his voice often reads older than 13, and sometimes Kidd can't resist throwing in a bit too much of his research, but the real history melds seamlessly with Nate's family story, and the emotions ring true through the hopeful but bittersweet end.A solid, worthwhile read. (Historical fiction. 10-13) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.