Lord of the Mountain

July 1, 2018
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)

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January 1, 2019
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.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from August 1, 2018

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

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