Echo Mountain

A girl realizes her standout gifts as a healer in this exquisitely layered historical novel set in Depression-era Maine. After the financial crash forces a tight-knit family of five to move from town to build a cabin on Echo Mountain, a tree-felling accident puts 12-year-old narrator Ellie's father into a coma. The family's struggle to survive intensifies, made worse by fears about whether their beloved father--a tailor turned woodsman who, like Ellie, loves the wild--will ever awaken. Complex family dynamics loom large amid day-to-day matters: Ellie's mother and sister long for their former life and blame Ellie for her father's state; Ellie, who discovers a gift for healing, further upsets them by trying to startle her father awake. When a dog leads Ellie to "the hag," a woman who knows about cures and is herself suffering, the girl lends a hand, resulting in further tensions, this time within the interconnected mountain community. Via strongly sketched cabin-life cadences and memorable, empathic characterizations--including, perhaps most vividly, of the wilderness itself--Newbery Honoree Wolk (Wolf Hollow) builds a powerful, well-paced portrait of interconnectedness, work and learning, and strength in a time of crisis. Ages 10-up. (Apr.)

Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Gr 4 Up—The Great Depression took many things from Ellie's family-her parent's jobs, their house, and their comfortable lives. They moved to property on Echo Mountain to start over and rebuild. And what the Great Depression didn't take, the mountain did. Ellie lost the family that she once knew. Her mother and her sister, Esther, weren't meant for life on the mountains, they said. And her father has spent the last several months in a coma due to an accident from a felled tree. Ellie carries the emotional burden of taking the blame for it and the physical burden of handling the manual tasks in his absence. But while the mountain takes, it also gives-carved trinkets, plants for healing, and friendships found in unexpected places. Wolk crafts an uplifting story of resilience and determination during a time when morale is incredibly low. She illustrates how people are multifaceted, and not always what they seem. In this novel, family can take many forms—the one you're born into, and the one that finds you when and where you least expect it. The narrative does contain subtle but direct details involving maggots, blood, and wounds that will intrigue the most reluctant of readers but may be too much for those with a weak stomach. VERDICT A heartfelt read and recommended first purchase for all collections. You can tell readers that the dog doesn't die at the end.—Alicia Kalan, The Northwest School, Seattle

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

"Lauren Wolk has woven a mesmerizing, poignant tale—a story laced with grit and pluck about having the courage to carve out one's own life. Brilliant." -Lynda Mullaly Hunt, bestselling author of Shouting at the Rain and Fish in a Tree

★ "[A] magnificently related story of the wide arc of responsibility, acceptance, and, ultimately, connectedness.... A luscious, shivery delight." -Kirkus, starred review

★ "Fans of Wolk's previous novels, including the Newbery Honor book Wolf Hollow, will once again relish the author's evocative and touching language and her gift for revisiting history through the lens of fulsome and fascinating characters. In this complex, memorable novel, Wolk explores themes of social responsibility, modern versus traditional medicine, biological versus chosen family and more." -BookPage, starred review

★ "Complex and fiercely loving, Ellie is a girl any reader would be proud to have as a friend.... Woven with music, puppies, and healing, Wolk's beautiful storytelling turns this historical tale of family and survival into a captivating saga." -Booklist, starred review

★ "A girl realizes her standout gifts as a healer in this exquisitely layered historical novel set in Depression-era Maine.... Via strongly sketched cabin-life cadences and memorable, empathic characterizations—including, perhaps most vividly, of the wilderness itself—Newbery Honoree Wolk builds a powerful, well-paced portrait of interconnectedness, work and learning, and strength in a time of crisis." -Publishers Weekly, starred review

"A timely novel about surviving economic crisis but not today's: Wolk's tale is set in the Maine woods during the Great Depression. Soothing and exquisitely written." -People

"Every child learns at school about the dislocation of families during the Great Depression. Novelist Lauren Wolk brings readers into one such stricken household in Echo Mountain, a lyrical and affecting story.... Amid our own dislocations with the coronavirus, this is a book that will soothe readers like a healing balm." -The Wall Street Journal