Other editions of book M. C. Higgins, the Great

M.C.'s family is rooted to the slopes of Sarah's Mountain. His great-grandmother escaped to the mountain as a runaway slave and made it her home. It bears her name, and her descendants have lived there ever since.When M.C. looks out from atop the gleaming forty-foot pole that his father planted in the mountain for him -- a gift for swimming the Ohio River -- he sees only the rolling hills and shady valleys that stretch out for miles in front of him.And M.C. knows why his father never wants his family to leave.But when M.C. looks behind, he sees only the massive remains of strip mining -- a gigantic heap of dirt and debris perched threateningly on a cliff above his home.And M.C. knows they cannot stay.So when two strangers arrive in the hills, one bringing the promise of fame in the world beyond the mountains and the other the revelation that choice and action both lie within his grasp, M.C.'s life is changed -- forever.In 1974, Virginia Hamilton dazzled the world with her powerful account of a young man's coming of age trapped between heritage of his mountain home and his desires for the future. Twenty-five years later, M.C. Higgins, the Great remains the only novel ever to win the Newbery Medal, the National Book Award, and the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award.It is truly an American classic.

M.C. Higgins and his family have lived on Sarah's Mountain for generations. His daddy says that one day it will belong to M.C. But the spoil heap (the pile of waste, or slag) that strip coal mining has left behind is slowly but inexorably creeping towards M.C.'s home. Maybe the "dude" who is collecting mountain voices and songs will make M.C.'s mama a star singer and the family will have to travel with her far away from their mountain home. Maybe Lurhetta Outlaw, the young teenage girl wandering alone in the woods, will be a catalyst for change. The characters in the story are best described by her: "You all are the strangest people." And indeed they are. There are the six-fingered witchy people said to possess unusual powers: M.C.'s daddy whose relationship with his son is cruel yet loving; and M.C. himself, who when he first spies Lurhetta on the wooded mountainside stalks and attacks her and finally establishes a cautious friendship. The author paints a rich picture of the life of a teenage boy who is desperately trying to hold on to his traditions, "as well as his dreams for the future." It will take a strong and motivated reader to follow the plot through the three-day detail-filled story of M.C.'s attempt to save his home and his family from disaster.